You did it! You made it to your very first Cuddle Sanctuary event, and got to enjoy a new and interesting experience. Congratulations!

Did you notice how you felt as you left? Take a moment to check in: how are you feeling now?

After the Social

The Oxytocin High

Many of our attendees leave our socials feeling completely blissed out. After an evening of connection, cuddling and community, you may notice that you had a really good night’s sleep, or found yourself in really good mood the following day (or days!).

If that is your experience, what you are noticing is the wonderful effect of oxytocin, also known as “the cuddle hormone”. It can reduce stress, enhance sleep, and give you an overall sense of wellness (amongst many other amazing things). It’s pretty amazing stuff – enjoy it!

Lots to Chew On 

Besides the oxytocin boost, you may have left the event with lots to think about and process. I know I left my first cuddle feeling like I had just experienced something life-changing. You may be flooded with emotions or memories, questions, answers, ideas… Know that this is all just part of the journey, and that any response you have is absolutely valid!

Coming Down 

Because our cuddle events are filled with connection, along with that comes some vulnerability too. That can make a bit of an intense experience for many. As with any encounter with intensity, it can take a little care to ease back to everyday life.

Another factor to consider is your body chemistry. As oxytocin slowly leaves the system, and the euphoria subsides, some of us come down a little differently than others. You may find things to be smooth sailing, or you may experience a little crash afterwards.

If you’re feeling a little low or blue in the day or two following the cuddle, or if you’re feeling what I call a “hug withdrawal”, know that it’s normal and that you’re not alone. We have a few tips to help make leveling out a lot easier.

Tips for a smoother transition

1) Take care of your body

If you’re experiencing a drop, now is a good time to pay extra attention to your physical wellness. Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water, getting ample sleep, and eating healthy, nutritious meals. This will help your body maintain a foundation of balance and stability.

2) Make plans for continued connection 

One of the ways to pre-empt a “post-cuddle drop”, is to create another opportunity to look forward to soon after. Giving myself something to anticipate perks me up and keeps me from getting the blues.

The tent pole analogy helps me visualize this clearly.

If you can imagine a single tent pole holding up a large canopy, the slope of the canopy as it drops to the ground can be very steep.

Not quite what I pictured – but you get the idea!

That’s how coming off from a cuddle event can feel like: a bit of a roller coaster ride. However, if you insert another tent pole (and perhaps another, and another) soon after, the canopy will not droop as much, and stay supported and held up high. And perhaps with enough tent poles, you could even keep it off the ground completely.

What it could look like with a lot more support

There are many ways to find continuation or other “tent poles” of connection. You can schedule some quality time with friends, or join us for an Affection Spa or another event (we have these every Wednesday and once a month on a Saturday night just for this reason!).

If you found us on Meetup, I find the comments section in the event posting a wonderful place to connect with other attendees after coming to an event. You could also continue to be a part of our cuddle community on our Facebook page.

There’s lots of tent poles to be found everywhere. All it takes is a little bit of awareness and planning ahead.

3) Create closure

Finally, the best way to round off a powerful experience, is to find closure around it. It may help to talk to a friend about how the event went for you!  For me, I find writing and journaling a particularly helpful way to process, summarize and conclude the experience.

We welcome you to write us at support@cuddlesanctuary.com to let us know how the event was for you. There is also a quick customer feedback survey to fill us in on how the event went for you.  We love hearing about what went well, but knowing what didn’t work for you is also incredibly valuable – it makes our events even better!

Of course, if you had a fantastic experience, the perfect way (we think!) to tie it up with a bow, is to share it with others. You can leave us a review on Yelp, Google, and on Meetup.

Rest assured, there are no wrong ways of experiencing the “after” of any the event. Your feelings about it are perfect the way they are, so whatever it is, be gentle with yourself, and know that it’s all a wonderful part of the journey.

In any case, I hope you’re feeling proud that you put yourself in the very vulnerable place of experiencing something new with us at Cuddle Sanctuary. We’re really glad you joined us and hope that we will see you again real soon!