Kneeling has various social and religious connotations going back centuries, Christians, Hindus and Muslims alike all use one form or another of kneeling, as a sign of reverence, respect and obeisance to their respective deity. It has appeared in royal courts for centuries with bowing or kneeling your allegiance to those in power, reaffirming your lowered status.In this BDSM culture, the art of kneeling before another not only indicates reverence, respect and submission to another person it is also a sign of obedience, humility and strength. It depicts stature and dynamic, to kneel at the feet of a Master/Mistress or Dominant is to honour their superior position in your life. It is also very empowering to both sides, to offer oneself to another and indeed to be accepted is very rewarding in and of itself. It is how one exposes themselves for inspection and/or adoration or use even.
Kneeling before another in submission can be done in many ways or styles depending on the Dominants preferences or tastes. Some prefer hands clasped behind the head, some prefer open palms upon the thighs, others prefer hands to hold the toes, and even more prefer hands behind the back. The common trait however, is a straight back. Again eye contact differs from dominant to dominant, some preferring eyes downcast, some not. Learning the art in kneeling takes practice. Lots and lots of practice. You may laugh, I certainly did when I was told to practice kneeling on a daily basis, everyone can kneel, but I assure you, kneeling for any length of time in one straightened back pose is not easy.
To kneel with poise and grace takes time, settling into your body with your breath. Breathing in and grounding yourself, breathing out and stretching that spine to it’s impressive length. Feeling your chest swell with pride, as your ass rests lightly on your heels. It is a beautiful act of devotion and ritual and one that when done with intention and attention will make your Dominant proud.It takes a lot of core strength, focus of mind and breath, and in my opinion, grace and endurance to be able to hold this position for any length of time. Your thighs will burn, your back and shoulders will ache and slouch, your attention will drift and you will find yourself slumping without realising it in a matter of minutes. Here’s where stubbornness to please your dominant often comes into play, this burning ache to please your dominant will have you practicing this on your down time or alone time. It was suggested that you practice sidelong in front of a mirror so that you can notice your bodies positioning, start with five minutes at a time, move this up by two minutes every day and see how it feels for you, keep noticing your body and the breath. I’ve had submissives tell me they say the alphabet when in this pose, others who recite songs or poetry or a mantra over and over to keep their focus on something other than the task at hand.
Now, practicing kneeling for a dominant who is promoting your posture and your grace through this positional training is one thing, there are however the sadists among you, (cue the evil grins) who use this position as predicament fun or even punishment. I kid you not, these funishments are farthest thing from fun to be in. I’ve had Dominants speak of blindfolding their subs, pretend to leave the room and watch and wait for the sub to relax before they pounce.Kneeling on rice grains, beans, or salt for even ten minutes has me whimpering like a baby (but then I’m a wimp and I know it). Then there are the creative among you who bring out the beaded back support, looks pretty harmless you’d think, think again. Those wooden massage beads do NOT massage the knees. Then there is the bristle mat you’d find outside a door or even worse the metal one, I swear those are cruel. Remember when your kneeling, it’s not just your knees that are a point of contact it’s also that part of the top of the foot between your shin and your toes. Skin is thinner here and much more painful to kneel on tough unforgiving surfaces like mesh, wire, bristles, bamboo and the likes.Slouching when your kneeling in front of a sadist can and does often bring out the brutal reminder of a crop or other ouchy implement to the back, or the soles of the feet or even to the front of the body or thighs. These sadists will take pleasure in seeing your attention drift so they can unleash an unexpected strike to that oh so vulnerable area, and they won’t go for a lovely fleshy bit either oh noooo they will go for the most effective reminder possible. Evil {##~%^}Kneeling at your Dominants feet, is a beautiful act of devotion and servitude. For many it is a reminder of how you value this persons position of power in your life. For others kneeling is a form of freedom of self expression. Whatever kneeling is to you, is also a beautiful act for the one you are kneeling before..
