WHAT IS IMPACT PLAY?

Yes - it is painful. But it’s the kind of pain that lives on the edge of your comfort zone, not beyond. When done with care and intention, this zone of sensation can open the door to an altered state of consciousness - a deep, embodied experience where awareness shifts, the mind quiets, and the body moves into a rare mind–body flow. It feels f*cking good.

Impact play is a broad term for any practice where the body is intentionally struck for sensation to a different degree of intensity. While flogging is perhaps the most iconic form, impact play also includes spanking, paddling, caning, and many other techniques. Flagellation played an important role throughout the history of mankind, dating back to Roman times.

People often describe feeling refreshed, renewed, grounded — and more “like themselves.” This is because the human body is built to handle bearable pain, and this experience can reset the nervous system, offering both psychological release and physical benefits. It often takes only a few sessions for the nervous system to start turning “edgy” pain into genuine pleasure - because our bodies learn to cope with discomfort by transforming it into pleasure.

But why? The explanation lies in our neurobiology: pain and pleasure travel along overlapping neural pathways and release many of the same neurotransmitters. When the “set” (your mental state) and the “setting” (the environment and relationship) are right, the body can reinterpret certain sensations as pleasurable - even euphoric. The Gate Control Theory of Pain describes how the nervous system can modulate incoming pain signals, deciding whether to fully register them as pain… or transform them into something else. That “something else” is where the magic of impact play happens.

As a psychologist with years of professional experience in altered states of consciousness, my aim is to open a space where your nervous system can reset and your mind can journey. This is not a secret - this website is dedicated to share knowledge on how to take this beautiful journey in the safest possible way.

I look forward to taking you there on my blog or in person.