Suspension Experience

I thought I’d write something about my suspension experience, I didn’t want to do it straight away as wanted time for my thoughts to gel and not be tinged by post suspension euphoria. After nearly two weeks I think I’m ready to put fingers to keys.

Origins
I’m not sure where I first encountered the suspension images, many people cite the film; A Man Called Horse. I can’t say that particular movie left a lasting impression; after all it was a very long time ago, it may of planted a seed in my fertile childhood imagination though.

My first tangible yearnings to suspend were initiated after reading modern primitives, hardy original I know. But that’s the way it went down. Friends and family were bemused when I told them (Not that I would bring it up in polite conversation, people would see my piercings and conversations would veer off in the ritual and rites direction) it was something I’d like to do, they just didn’t see the point in doing something like this, some even proclaimed my insanity. For me, getting lumbered in 9-5 hell with a mortgage seems crazy, so I suppose its just a case of different strokes.

I had a steely determination to do a suspension, despite what older and ‘wiser’ people had to say. Somehow this had be hard wired in to my brain. At this time (the early 90’s) the Internet access wasn’t widespread and the Web was in it’s infancy, so accessing information required actually going out in to the real world and asking people. Piercing/tattoo studios were the obvious place to start but yielded little but hearsay and conjecture (perhaps I was just going to the wrong places )  – So my suspension would have to wait.

About ten years later I met Libby,  she had suspended twice and introduced me to people that would eventually be able to provide this experience for me. This was just all just serendipity, sometimes life gives you more than just lemons!

If I was going to a suspension I wanted to loose weight and get fit, both physically and mentally. So I decided to quit drinking, eating healthy food and start exercising – Beer (and red wine) was my biggest weakness, but after a couple of months I got used to not drinking. It worked well as I lost over 50 Kilos in the eighteen months leading up to the suspension.

The actual suspension day arrived and the weather was perfect for hanging from a tree! I’d been fasting for 48 hours which was probably the most demanding preparation for me, loving food as I do! The first day was pretty easy, but food was never far from my mind on the second. But if it meant a better experience it was well worth the sacrifice.

Chilling Out Before Setting Up

The chosen location was on the south downs near chanctonbury, which is an amazing place and well worth a visit even if you don’t intend to swing off of a tree! It only took 25 minutes to get their from Brighton, but about the same time to walk up the hill from the car park with all the kit! Once we arrived at the spot; located under the canopy of the wooded area on a steep incline, we sat down and rested for a while.

Quentin had to climb the tree, which he admitted wasn’t his favourite part of the procedure as he suffers from vertigo! We waited on the ground with baited breath whilst he did this.

The Tree All Rigged Up

I laid out the trusty red blanf and Quentin prepared to do the marking up, this didn’t take very long at all. We were then ready for the piercings and hooks. The flesh hooks being used for this suspension are 4mm ones made by micromutazioni which can be found over on the shop.

Marking Up

The piercings themselves were pretty intense but that was to be expected given that we were piercing at 6 gauge, and it has been a while since I’ve had any piercings. Each hook was inserted and the only thing I could feel was the coldness of the steel. Once all four hooks were in place we were ready to suspend!

Hooks In

I stood up and Quentin attached me to the rigging – It was time to take a deep breath and prepare to get some air! I felt relaxed as I was slowly winched up and the next thing I can feel is the weightlessness and being gently being pushed. The feeling is quite unlike anything I have experienced before.

Stretchy Skin!

I’m not sure how long this went on for (somewhere around ten minutes as I’ve gathered from the video footage) as I seem to have gone somewhere else for the duration of the suspension and my sense of time totally changed. The ‘place’ was a good place, certainly somewhere I would like to visit again. The next thing I was aware of was being brought back down to earth! Once on the ground I had a drink and some fruit. I was bloody hungry after not eating for two days!

Back On The Ground

After a short chill-out Quentin removed the hooks, cleaned and dressed the wounds. I was then good to go! After clearing up we had to scramble back down the hill with all of the kit in hand, which seemed trickier than on the way up! The rest of the day was spent relaxing, a few hours later I removed the dressings on my back and cleaned the entry/exit points. After a few weeks the wounds have healed nicely, just leaving eight small dots on my back.

Suspension "Wounds" Three Weeks On

And that was pretty much it; no dramas to report, just a really nice suspension experience. Quite unlike anything that I’ve done previously and something I will probably end up doing again! Well I have my own hooks now and it’d be silly to let them sit idle for too long!

I promised some more pictures and here they are. (Gallery after the break)

Still a little redness is nothing compared to:

Having a “sleep” may not be the best idea during a tattoo eh?