I’ve talked quite a bit in the past about how I use sensory deprivation as a tool for hypnosis and mind control, but there’s another side to that story that I want to delve into today. Even if my goal is to put someone into a completely sensory deprived state, my preference in most cases is to take away one sense at a time, and there’s more than one reason.
Systematically taking away the senses induces a conscious sense of helplessness, which can be fun (not to mention useful) in a power exchange scene. But that’s only the first and most obvious reason. The second goes a lot deeper, and it serves as a good example of how I incorporate science – specifically neuroscience – into my kink and fetish play. Let me explain:
Our brains have areas set aside to manage each of the basic sensory functions. The auditory cortex, for example, manages sound. The visual cortex handles sight, olfactory bulbs govern smell, etc. There’s a fascinating thing that happens in these brain areas when one of the senses is offline.
Neuroplasticity is some pretty high level stuff, but the concept itself is simple. Imagine you’re on your way to work and there’s an accident ahead. Your GPS gets this information and automatically changes your route to bypass the obstacle. Neuroplasticity makes the same thing happen in your brain. When one sense isn’t responsive, the others will reroute themselves, spreading out to occupy the space that’s available.
This is how someone with blindness can still have a keen sense of spatial awareness even though they cannot physically see what’s around them. The other senses contribute cues to the visual cortex that create a mental image of the room, making it easier to navigate. This is incredible because it happens without any conscious thought.
Now let’s circle back to a mind control scene so I can add another layer to the story.
When I deprive you of your sight for example, there is often a momentary panic response. Your body will strain and your conscious brain will immediately seek out input from the other senses to better understand the situation. The momentary panic confuses your consciousness, tricking your brain into imagining things that aren’t really happening. This happens regardless of the sense that is taken offline.
To further confuse you, I might prolong the process by taking away a sense while overloading others. A blindfold robs you of your sight while I slowly introduce a scent. The scent could be a soothing one such as lavender, or a jarring one like bleach, depending on the mental journey I am taking you on. But let’s make it even more fun.
You’re fully restrained and temporarily blinded. I’ve introduced the scent of lavender to calm you, and now I add a constantly-changing frenetic soundscape to the mix. Classical music mixed with screeching heavy metal guitars. Perhaps the faint sounds of high heels clicking on a hardwood floor, or the distant chatter of a conversation you can’t quite make out.
Now I have achieved simultaneous sensory deprivation and overload. When I turn the sound off in your noise canceling headphones, your mind is racing with input and the silence itself becomes deafening.
A warm breeze – or a cold one – washes over your face. You don’t know the origin.
After a few painful moments of silence, I whisper into your ear, “Relax, you’re safe.” and your entire body strains to hold on to the sensory input.
These are a few examples of how I might incorporate mind control play into a scene. The possibilities and potential combinations are endless and they can be altered in infinite ways to keep the scene fresh and disorienting. You know me as the Sentimental Dom, but one of my subjects used to call me a “soothing sadist”.
Let that bounce around in your head for a while.