May 14, 2021

Somatics and vagal toning are two known ways of reducing anxiety and regulating the nervous system. Somatics is, very basically, gentle movement and/or intentional bodily engagement, while vagal toning refers to the act of stimulating the vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve and a fundamental component of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. Many BDSM (bondage and discipline, “sadomasochism” and/or dominance and submission) practices, including aftercare practices, focus explicitly on sensation play, ritualization, routinization, and other experiences that directly and creatively engage the body somatically and work to tone the vagus nerve. This presentation reviews what we know so far about somatic practices, vagal toning, and BDSM/kink play, and focuses on first-person narratives and auto-ethnographic accounts of the intersection of mental health, neurodiversity, disability, trauma recovery, and the kinky bodymind.