There are as many ways to do D/S as there are people, so you really need to know what your partner wants, doesn't want, is comfortable with, is afraid of, and so forth. A lot of submissives will have great trouble telling you what they want.

For some of them, this is because they don't really KNOW what they want. Or, perhaps, they know how they want to feel, but they aren't sure what it is that will make them feel that way.(Click here for more)

Darksensations has now opened their new Factory Showroom, which is open to the public at East Street, Bridgtown, Cannock, Staffordshire, located just off the Main A5 and 2 minutes from junction T7 M6 Toll, it has good access routes and lots of free secure parking.

The showroom is open from 10am until 7pm Mon-Sat. (sorry the building is an old church and we can't open on a Sunday)(Click here for more)

In August of 1874, a hard rain of grasshoppers blanketed the Kansas prairie up to four inches deep in some places. They ate through everything in sight, from clothing hanging on the washline to entire vegetable gardens.

My friend Susan probably felt like one of those vegetables as she went to her first BDSM munch, describing the scene as, "Doms to the left of me, Doms to the right of me, Doms in front of me, all vying for my attention." If brushing them off like grasshoppers on a hot summer day was the worst of it, Susan never would have told me this story. But it was far worse; many of them were quite simply, Dominants Behaving Badly. (Click here for more)

So you're a nice guy. You think that people should be treated with respect and courtesy, you find violence, particularly violence against women, reprehensible; you would never, under any circumstances, raise your hand in anger against someone you love.

And now your partner is asking you to tie her up, or call her names, or spank her, or even "rape" her. All this goes against everything you believe. What do you do? (Click here for more)

My name is Sadie and I'm fat. That is, fat and beautiful. Zaftig. Rubenesque. Soft and cuddly, and really fun to hug. I am a size 24, and in general, if you don't like it, you can lump it. It helps that I am also in fabulous shape with calves of steel and six pack abs (which can't be seen under my tummy, but I know they're there)

This is a little bit about me and a lot about everyone who has body image issues. It's a lot about women, and a little about men. It's about how I came to love my body, and also how body image and self-esteem function in the D/s context. When I started thinking about writing this piece, I wasn't sure if I had anything useful to say. After all, as my friend Elizabeth told me "you have the best body image of anyone I know, thin or fat." (Click here for more)

"The UK's leading manufacturer of high class bondage gear", Dark Sensations specialises in bondage equipment and bondage gear. So if you're looking for cuffs, straightjackets, harnesses or gags, this is a good place to start. With the maxim of quality at an affordable price, Dark Sensations is one of the UK's leading bondage and fetish shops.

With the maxim of quality at an affordable price, Dark Sensations is one of the UK's leading bondage and fetish shops. (Click here for more)

It is an unusual dinner party. The hostess inspects the hands of half the guests, then allows them to carefully wash the hands of their partners with a bowl and jug of water. Therese, the hostess, is wearing a black dress with a cane hanging from one side of a belt and chains hanging from the other.

The ritual is simply the beginning of another Thursday night at Israel's only sado-maso club, the Dungeon. (Click here for more)

On the edge of edgy sex, racial BDSM excites some and reviles others.

Mollena Williams is gregarious, the kind of woman who makes a point of saying, "How are you today?" to the Walgreens cashier. She has a short afro and laughs easily. She works as an administrative assistant and at night, she pens her theater performances. She is also a masochist.

Williams is part of San Francisco's BDSM community (shorthand for "bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism"). By definition, a masochist receives pleasure from experiencing certain types of pain. (Click here for more)

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Mahatma Gandhi

What better way to find your own service persona than at a full weekend Servants Retreat. Renowned lifestyle educator Catherine Gross designed Servants Retreat as an intense, interactive weekend that focuses on different emotional and intellectual areas of service and self.

The small group retreat will provide you with tools that may allow you to find your own unique answers and to bring the power of everything you are into service. (Click here for more)