"Cuddle Parties"

                 Membership in the Minneapolis chapter of “Cuddle Parties” is growing by leaps and bounds. More and more people are joining and attending the groups’ monthly meetings to “explore communication and boundaries.”

                On a recent night, bedding is spread across the floor and members cuddle with complete strangers or those they have just recently met. Candessa Hadsall said “There are rules for how you are to behave in a cuddle party.” Asking permission to touch, she said, is the most important of all. “I’d like you to know for tonight ‘No’ is a complete sentence,” she stated. Hadsall believes there are benefits both in learning to ask for what you want and saying no to what you don’t want. Many psychologists, physicians and Cuddle Party members say that cuddling releases oxytocin, a feel good hormone released in our brains that reduces stress and blood pressure.

                A chapter member who is a message therapist said, “Everybody wants to be held, it’s just a human need that we have.” He continued, “There’s something about hearts connecting. I think society makes it all sexual but it’s just lovely to drop in and just breathe together,” he said.

                Two hours into the session, they are all totally tangled up on the floor with people they’ve just met, in what they call the “silverware drawer.” (I get it. Everything/one all jumbled together or spooning).

                We used to just play “Twister.”