Hey David! Welcome! This is such a good question and we’re working hard behind the scenes right now to help make some of these decisions more clear. A couple of things I’d like to suggest: 1) for working on the emotional dimension of tying, I always recommend that people work with familiar techniques/relatively simple technical concepts. Based on what you’ve described about your level, I’d check out the Floor Play category and find some inspiration there. Find a class that feels technically very easy (you can sort by levels within each category page, and looking for something that’s level 1, 2, or “open level" would make sense) and  then try to play with focusing more on connection and less on the ropes. If you want more specific/actionable instruction on connection than that you could check out “exposure and closure” or “the feelings game” for more specific ideas. These are “open level” classes and I linked them above for you!

Adrian I love this so much! The arc of this feeling and adapting over and over is so much of what I love about bottoming for rope ❤️you described it beautifully

ø Zero ø Ha, indeed! It is the gravest of sins!

ø Zero ø Curious if you’ve had a chance to listen to all of the finger hooking instructions in this tutorial? Would different rope handling make the tight space a non-issue? I’d say that it’s better to find a handling solution (or just back up one rung and re-tie) than to make your rope go slack and ask your partner to flex into it. FWIW, I un-tie/backup my rope in the middle of tying all the time if I realize that I need a little more or less space for something. Let me know if the finger hooking seems like it would help! 

This location looks dreamy 

This is totally to be expected (and kuddos to you for a daily practice!). I’ll sometimes bring some sort of beeswax-based balm with me to intensives or other rope events where I know I’ll be tying for multiple hours within a day. Also, if you get to a point where your skin is really raw but you want to keep going, a little bandage or athletic tape can help too! 

Do you mean that you didn’t feel like your hand itself had enough room to build the final rung of the ladder? 

I love this. I have a vague memory of attending something like this years ago in Montreal, but just as a visitor, so I can’t really say if it’s a regular thing there. I feel like folks in Phoenix, Arizona might also regularly organize something like this. Am I remembering that right, MisterNinja?