Healing experiences in Japanese rope bondage practice

Abstract

The regular practice of Shibari, also referred to as Kinbaku, a Japanese rope bondage practice, appears to have an overall positive impact on people´s lives and their personal development by providing practitioners an explorative space to bring subconscious patterns into conscious awareness where healing is possible. The aim of this phenomenological study was to find common healing experiences among practitioners of Shibari. Within a framework of 10 semi-structured interviews, the study explored phenomenological experiences of individual practitioners. The following transpersonal topics surfaced dominantly throughout the interviews in reference to potential healing experiences: transformation and catharsis, embodiment and empowerment, communication and community; elucidating healing and transformative potential of Shibari practice. The study contributes to a growing field currently being explored by transpersonal psychologists and BDSM enthusiasts and promotes a more expansive way to look at these experiences as a path towards human wholeness and awareness within the practice and beyond.