H is for Health

This thread rounds out the January threads...

Health -- the mental , emotional , and physical health of both parties -- is perhaps one of the most important aspects of the D/s relationship.

Both sides sharing in the responsibilites of keeping and maintaining their health and overall well-being to be able to participate in the lifestyle as much as the rest of their day to day life whether that is one and the same or not.

I have more to say on this .. but shall leave it open for others to chime in before I post more..

Others comments are greatly appreciated.

I think this speaks to my feelings about this. . .

'Love' is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own." (Robert Heinlein, character Jubal Harshaw in Stranger in a Strange Land

Whether it is mental health, physical health, well being, the imperative is that ifyou really care about the person you must care about all of these things and do what ever you can to see that they are taken care of.

There are many aspects to this particular one there wolfscout.

Mental: Are you ensuring your partner has considered all the aspects of whatever particular type of play involved. Does it cause a trigger for the submissive to feel abused. Will it cause a trigger for the Dom to become abusive?

Physical: This goes to exercise and diet as well as safety. Is your partner taking care of them self with proper nutrition, and ensuring that they do the needs they are able to do within their own physical limitations to stay limber, to stay well circulated so that in a middle of a scene the Dom doesn't have a heart attach as well as the sub develop a chemical imbalance due to the change in body chemistry during a scene. Also safety in a scene. The activity that will be done, does the sub, or the Dom for that matter know all the safety precautions for the activity they are about to participate in?

We could discuss the financial health of a partner, but there is a financial Domination thread currently in flow I believe covers that.

What about the health of the lines of communication between partners. Are they open, are they clear. Do one or the other hide their feelings/thoughts?

Good subject wolfscout, I look forward to reading others inputs as well.

hrm...

mental health :
* Do you support your Dom/Sub before and after sessions ?
* Do you continue that support from one time to the next ?
* Do you provide avenues for you partner in fun to learn and grow with you?

Physical health:
* Do you ensure that your BDSM accessories are all clean and prepared for the next use? That is a big one .. especially if there is more than one who plays.
* Do you try to keep abreast of your Dom/sub 's physical health with in reasonableness?
* Do you try to enhance there wellbeing at all? this increases your own at the same times especially if you are life partners.


Emotional ..
During Aftercare and beyond.. do you do all that you can do?
( yes, I adapted it. )


Just things to think on for others to possibly add to the thread.

This is a good subject, but I would like to take a different view for a moment. So far everything mentioned so far is the BDSM side interacting health wise with the rest of your life. What about life's inevitable influence on the BDSM side.

As much as we may care for out sub, or sub caring for a Dom, there are going to be times when they become sick, hurt, or otherwise unwell. I know for me personally that when my sub is sick I do all that I can do help her recover, not just because i care for her, but because it is the thing to do. I will admit at times that I find it very hard to carry on in the Dom/sub relationship when she is ill.

Also, I think we will all agree that there are times that life takes precedents over the D/s relationship, say even over shadows it. This can be anything from someone in the relationships health to the health of another ailing loved one.

So, how far do you let an outside health issue take precedence over the relationship?

-Haven

The outside health issue in our case required that the Ds and BDSM were to be shelved.