Panacea Workshop Dungeon

Today (a Monday), I walked into the office at 8am with an extra spring in my step, and feeling happy and energetic. This, my friend, is not the norm when it comes to me and Mondays, so you can just imagine how good my weekend was. So, let me tell you all about it!

On Saturday I went to the first ever Panacea Dungeon Workshop, which was held at a very well known dungeon in East London during the day. This event was hosted by the London UK Polyamory Munch group, which you can find in FB (it is private and by invitation only, so it may be a tad difficult but not impossible to join). I have only been part of this group for a few months, but I have already built some good relationships with some amazing people, so I can’t say enough good things about this group so far. I feel like BDSM is going through a wave of popularity at the moment (thanks to hideous shows like Bonding currently showing on Netflix) but polyamory is still something of a taboo. I know a lot of my vanilla friends relate poly relationships with Mormon-like cults but that is as far from reality as it can be. Poly relationships come in all shapes and forms, and if three or more people are loving each other and not harming anyone else, then who are we to criticise? As poly gets a bad rep more often than not, I feel people are more sceptical and worried to come out as poly in the open. Communities like this are a safe haven to those who live this lifestyle,and I feel privileged to be able to share my time with people who open-minded, kind and loving.

Anyway, moving on to the event. It was held between midday and 6pm and as it was held in a dungeon, you were expected to wear fetish gear. No problem here, except that it felt extremely weird to be getting dressed in latex whilst finishing my cereal! The entire event was all about kink/fetish workshops. These covered a wide range of topics, from rope, needle-play, violet wands as well as jealously in Poly relationships. In total they were 10 workshops, all taught by some of the best people in the scene. The level of knowledge that I witnessed was impressive, to say to least.

My OH and I signed up for only two, because we didn’t want to feel rushed – however, looking back, it would have been nice to have signed up for more as there was not much to do in between the lessons. Most of the dungeon was occupied by the workshops, so you couldn’t really play much either as most of the equipment was in the main dungeon space. The two classes we did were the Intro to Needle Play, and Rope for Sex.

Intro for Needle Play was the main reason I signed up to this event as this is a fetish I have been eyeing up for a few years but didn’t know how to venture into it. The workshop was done by the highly experienced needle specialist Rachel aka Miss Gigglepants and her wonderful assistant Darn. Both were charming and very informative. They covered the basics from hygiene to basic biology, and equipment – they were able to demonstrate ways you can introduce needle play into your bdsm lifestyle in a way that was easy to follow. Miss Gigglepants also was selling a starter kit for only a tenner, which I immediately bought and she was even so kind as to have a ‘small scene’ with me and my OH, so that we both knew what we were doing going forward. Now let me tell you this, I am not the biggest needle lover out there, but the feeling I experienced was something completely new and highly addictive, I will talk about this more in a future post, but needless to say, I think I found my ‘kink’.

The second workshop was Rope for Sex, which was instructed by the lovely Will Marlowe, who is known as one of the best riggers in the scene. The session involved learning three different knots that exposed different body parts which makes sex accessible while being tied up. My OH particularly enjoyed this class, as he knows the basic of rope but needed some inspiration about ways we can incorporate rope play into the bedroom. The knots were easy enough to master quickly but they were as impressive and useful as the most complicated of knots. Will also had two helpers with him, so we were never stuck for too long before someone came to rescue us (or me, I should say, as I was the rope bunny).

Even though it felt weird at first to be going to a dungeon so early on a Saturday, it actually was a perfect set-up. In most bdsm night events, you tend to feel like you are sacrificing one thing over another. You are either watching your drink intake so you can focus and play safe, or you are dancing and drinking away and then miss out on some ‘other fun activities’. Having a day event meant we could focus on just play, and then we had the rest of the evening to go out and party, which is exactly what we did (hello Slimes!)

If I was to mention anything negative, I would say that there were maybe too many classes. It would have been nicer to maybe have 5 or 6 classes that were longer so you could actually take your time and not feel rushed. It was also quite crowded, so maybe limiting the numbers would be a consideration. With that being said, this was such a fantastic event, and one that I hope they continue to run. BDSM is a lot about skills, whether on a technical or on a psychological level. Workshops like this allow us to learn about other play styles and well as to expand our current knowledge. It is also really nice to be in a space where everyone present is also looking to learn something new. Unlike club events, there were no drunken behaviour or people who were pushing their luck – this was a space where everyone had the same goal- to learn and expand our current abilities.

Their next ‘dungeon party’ (this is more of a dance/club event) takes place in June 22nd. If you want to learn more about their events, you can check their website here. They run regular munches as well, which is a perfect way to meet other like-minded people, for those who are poly or are looking into it.

I would like to personally thank everyone who was behind this event, as it was honestly one of the best I have ever attended and I hope they run another workshop in the near future.