What even is pain?

This hands-on, brain-on workshop invited participants to explore the physiology, psychology, and emotional dimensions of consensual pain. Through discussion, guided exercises, and playful experimentation, we unpacked why so many of us seek out pain on purpose - not as punishment or endurance, but as a pathway to presence, power, intimacy, and transformation.

Grounded in neuroscience and lived experience, the workshop began by demystifying pain as a sensory and emotional process. We talked about how pain is perceived in the body and brain, how context and mindset radically shape sensation, and how the same stimuli can register as unpleasant, ecstatic, meditative - or all three.

From there, we moved into structured, optional activities using rubber bands, negotiation, and partner-based observation to explore:

• What kinds of pain feel interesting, challenging, or pleasurable to you?

• How does it feel to give pain - to observe another’s response, to hold responsibility?

• What does communication look like before, during, and after a painful exchange?

By the end of the session, the room had shifted - from careful curiosity to gleeful participation. Partners were snapping bands on each other with wild enthusiasm, laughing, flinching, learning. It was nerdy, tender, surprising, and full of trust.

This was a workshop not just about pain, but about clarity. About presence. About becoming more fluent in the body’s language - yours and your partner’s. Participants left with a sharper sense of what pain can mean, and a deeper capacity to navigate it consensually, creatively, and with care.