The Pleasure in pain – the impact on impact play
Impact Play. One of the most popular forms of BDSM play there is and one of the most requested forms of play during my sessions (not too mention, a favorite of mine as well). The question is, is, why? Why do we all love this violent and harsh form of play? The paddles, the canes, the floggers, even the 6 foot bullwhips come out to play once in a while too. So delicious.
For starters, pain and pleasure are more similar than one would think and are deeply rooted in our biology. Pain starts in the central nervous system, which causes the release of endorphins, these endorphins released can be the cause of euphoria.
The pain of impact play for some creates an erotic rush, a high. Adrenaline kicks in, endorphins kick in and we are left with a sweet, sweet pleasure.
Now, most of the time our bodies response to pain is to automatically find a way to make it stop! With BDSM our minds know there is no real danger or harm going on, there is no broken bone that needs fixing, no burn that needs tending to, no real danger to what the pain is being caused by, no, this is an erotic pain being caused by another human being that we both know and trust (at least most of the time), because we at least have to be in a situation where we trust or our brains would not see the pain in the same light as it does and we would freak out and try and make the pain stop – a normal response to most pain.
This is called a “benign masochist” and there is one in all of us, chemically at least, because our brains are a powerful thing and due to what chemicals released, it likes to mess with us just a bit. Making pain and pleasure cousins in our minds.
There is also a straight up masochist – those who either gain gratification or sexual pleasure from the bodies response to pain. Being a sadist, these are often my favorite types of people. I love when someone enjoys what I do to them, it makes it sweet, though I still love their moans and groans of pain, knowing they’re enjoying it makes the empathetic part of me subside, allowing me to fully enjoy my sadistic tendencies without later regret.
There is also a psychological side to this as well. Just the thought of being spanked or hit with something can bring sexual gratification to someone. The act of discipline, of being hit because they were naughty. In a role play scenario I once was the school teacher (surprise surprise) and had to bend over my bad little school boy and cane him, 40 lashes for trying to look under the girls skirts. The whole time he had a raging hard on, with every lash he got harder and harder, as his ass became bruised and turned colors of purple, red and black, he simply reveled in it. He loved the thought of being caught doing something wrong and being physically punished for it. It excited him beyond all measure.
Another instance. I had a sub who once acted the brat just so I would punish them, they would not get sexually aroused, but just loved being punished by me, mentally they would get a high off of it. Their past trauma was one where they had been allowed to get away with anything and everything they did, his parents didn’t care about anything and he ended up in jail a few times, never being shown right from wrong, he loved that I punished him when he deserved it, when I gave him the attention that came with the punishment.
So along with chemicals, our psychology plays a very important role in why we love impact play.
It can be purely chemical, it can be sexual and it can also be a psychological high for someone. Either way – pain or pleasure, sometimes they can blend together and be one and the same so why not enjoy the ride.
