History

The idea for Snuggle Salon was 10 years in the making. In 2006, I became a certified Cuddle Party Facilitator after traveling to San Diego to take the Foundations of Facilitation course offered by REiD Mihalko, Marcia Baczynski and Len Daly, the founders of the international organization Cuddle Party.  For the last decade, with the tireless help of a devoted support team ( aka Team Cuddle ), I have been offering the internationally recognized workshop called Cuddle Party. Cuddle Party taught me how to create a new culture where consent-based, non-sexual, non-romantic, physical intimacy could occur.

The first Cuddle Party I ever attended in 2005 left me feeling truly validated and appreciated as a human being — not for the way I looked or for anything other than that I was willing to share a simple embrace with someone else who desired it. The first person who asked me to cuddle was a 60 year old woman. Our interaction was sweet, friendly and affectionate. She and I became friends afterwards. The next person who asked me for a cuddle was an Asian guy. Being from the Southern US, I didn’t think I was attracted to Asian guys, and that experience changed my mind. Of course — I did not act on my attraction, but the experience taught me something new about myself.

Since 2006, I have facilitated over 100 Cuddle Party workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can find my regional Cuddle Party website here:  http://cuddle.theplayfulcircle.com. Former participants continue to tell me how the experience has changed their lives. I believe Cuddle Party has gone a long way to normalize consent-based physical affection for both men and women by creating the opportunity, in a supportive environment to learn how to set and maintain boundaries around the kind of welcomed, non-sexual touch that they desire. It is a laboratory in which to practice saying no to requests for touch they would not enjoy and, of course, yes to requests they would enjoy! Cuddle Party offers simple yet powerful rules to empower ourselves around intimacy and touch. Snuggle Salon has created the Cuddle Party experience in a one-on-one therapeutic and educational setting with trained professionals.

In addition to providing non-sexual snuggling, intimacy and basic human affection — the services we provide include:

  • how to listen carefully to your partner’s boundaries
  • how to ask with confidence and clarity for specifically the kinds of desired non-sexual touch
  • how to get clarity around your own boundaries
  • how to hear no gracefully, without taking it personally
  • how to negotiate for a win-win
  • instruction and practice in gentle verbal boundaries assertion
  • how to listen to your internal guidance system and change your mind when something is not working
  • how to stay present and ask for specifically what you want

Finally, we hope to bring these services to under-served communities including senior centers, nursing homes, universities, corporations and other organizations that could benefit from a different perspective on human intimacy by creating a culture of welcomed authenticity, and the opportunity to create bonding based on trust. We hope to be of service to the joy that simple human affection and intimacy can bring.

Hoping to snuggle with you soon!

Yvonne

Founder, Snuggle Salon

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