Ready to take your practice off the ground? Whether you’re a solo explorer or a dedicated rope enthusiast, the Suspension Intensive is back with a dual-track curriculum designed to challenge your technical skills and deepen your connection to the art of rope.
Choose your path between the Self-tie Room and the Aerial Room, featuring instruction from GrowlinWolf, Jane, Hazel, Chaska, InkednPierced, and Cat.
Below you’ll find the class schedule and class descriptions/requirements for RING’s 2026 Suspension Intensive!
The event takes place on July 11, 2026. Presale tickets are live here!
Class Descriptions & Requirements
Self-Tie Room
Intro to Self-Suspension
Requirements:
Participants should be comfortable with basic hitches, have attended an introductory rope class, and have 4-6 hanks of rope.
Description:
Self-tying offers a unique way to explore rope through body awareness and intention. This class provides a beginner-friendly introduction to self-tying and self-suspension, with a focus on building foundational skills and approaching the practice with care and curiosity. Topics will include handling rope on your own body, physical and mental safety considerations, risk reduction, and the basics of building supportive harnesses for suspension. Participants will also discuss the role of spotters and ways to safely support someone engaging in self-tying. This class is intended for those interested in exploring self-tying themselves, as well as those wanting to better understand and support partners or community members who practice it.
Building Your Suspension from the Ground Up
Requirements:
Please bring rope and gear. suitable for suspension, safety shears and an open mind. You will also benefit from coming with an upper-body and lower-body harness that works for you. For my self-suspenders, I recommend the butterfly harness and some sort of hip harness or basket for the exercises.
Description:
So you know how to load an upline, now what? In this class, we will explore what we already know about upline attachment and work on actually getting into the air and making basic shapes in static suspensions. This class is geared towards self-suspenders, but tying pairs can benefit from it as well. We will cover managing load, finding relief points, and knowing when it is time to come down. This is an excellent class for those who aren’t quite comfortable moving into the transitions class, but would like to get their feet wet!
Open Rope
Pain Processing
Requirements:
Enough gear and rope for suspension + 1-2 hanks for additional fun. A blindfold may be useful if the participant has experience and comfort using it to heighten sensations. Participants who plan to suspend must have intermediate-level upline management and harness knowledge (or have taken Building Your Suspension earlier in the day). This class can also be taken from the floor and audited for future reference.
Description:
This session will focus on how we process pain and discomfort during a self-suspension. We will cover various breathing techniques, grounding exercises, and sounds that allow the body to feel safe when under distress and allow you to keep going. We will address how to cope with chronic pain flares and hypermobility throughout your self-tie/bottoming journey.
Aerial Room
Suspension Safety
Requirements:
– Must be proficient at a single column, basic frictions, and understand how to extend rope. We will not stop to teach this.
– Must have rope suitable for suspension.
– Both the top and the bottom must have attended a Rope Basics class with RING. (If you have not, please reach out to Jane well ahead of time)
– Must agree to put safety and consent before anything else at all times.
Description:
In this class we’ll discuss foundations of suspension including safety considerations, equipment, negotiations, anatomy, and body maintenance, and so much more. Please bring a notebook or journal to take notes in and comfy clothes. The majority of this class will be lecture with demonstrations of concepts. Lastly we will begin to build a suspendable chest harness for all body types.
Upline Management
Requirements:
Please bring rope suitable for suspension, safety shears, and a weighted bag. You will need to know a single-column tie. We will not teach this in class, so please practice in the meantime!
Description:
In this class you’ll learn everything you need to know about uplines for partial and full suspensions. We will go over various styles of lock offs, the difference between using a ring or bamboo, locking off from the top and the bottom, lift techniques for all bodies, as well as using leftover rope to continue your ties.
Bottoms, it is vital that you attend this class as well to be able to identify a safe and proficient upline. Remember, you’re as responsible for you’re own safety as well as your top. You will gain confidence in your own suspensions as well as a working knowledge on how to handle your own uplines.
First Flight
Requirements:
Please bring rope suitable for suspension and safety shears.
We prefer that this class be attended by folks who were able to make the Suspension Series classes that were held previously. If you were unable to attend and would like to participate in this, please message us.
You will need to know a single-column tie, a suspendable chest harness, and basic uplines. We will not be teaching a single column in this in class, so please practice in the meantime!
Description:
Let’s be honest, whether it’s your first time or first flight altogether with a new partner, it comes with a mixed bag of exciting and anxious feelings. The first two classes in the suspension series have focused on the technical skills of harnesses, uplines, and safety measures; in this third class, we will put all these concepts into practice to achieve lift-off.
The class will include a summary of technical and safety considerations, tips for tying to your partner’s body, and active communication throughout the suspension. In addition, instructors will guide attendees through suspension in a small group setting. If you want to complete your first suspension or hone your suspension skills, this is the class for you.
Transitions
Requirements:
You will need to know a suspendable chest and hip or mermaid harness (other lower body ties can be used for comfort and accessibility), and uplines, and have practiced basic suspensions. I will not be teaching any of these elements, but I am happy to review specifics with folks ahead of time.
Please bring at least 8 hanks of suspendable rope and your shears. Anyone without shears will not be allowed to tie during the class.
Description:
In this class we will discuss adjusting levels to create our first suspension sequence. Cat, and Jane will review proactive communication, building confidence, safety, active bottoming, and upline management with moving parts. If you are aspiring to suspend but not ready quite yet feel free to come watch!