| View the newsletter at Mailchimp: Your First Cuddle Party Facilitator Newsletter 🧸 Cuddle Party® Connection Circle Newsletter – Issue #1 July 11, 2025 🌟 Welcome from the Community Engagement Team! Hello Cuddle Party Facilitators (and soon-to-be Facilitators)! 🧸💛 We’re thrilled to launch the very first Facilitators Edition of the Cuddle Party® Connection Circle—a newsletter created just for you. Our goal is to support your practice, share helpful resources, celebrate our amazing community, and help us all stay connected as we grow 🤗 Thank you for being such a vital part of the Cuddle Party movement! ✨ 🔦 Spotlight: Meet Your Head of Community Engagement  ✏️ Name: Ramis Lao 🌈 Pronouns: They / Them 📍 Location: Mexico City, Mexico 🎂 Age: 36 🫂 Favorite Cuddle Party Agreement: #6 – You are encouraged to change your mind 💬 Why did you decide to become a Cuddle Party Facilitator? I’d been hosting cuddle puddles for two and a half years, but I started feeling like I needed more structure and support. I had attended a couple of Cuddle Parties with Yoni Alkan, and I knew I wanted to facilitate the way he did. Becoming a Cuddle Party Facilitator has helped me feel more confident and better equipped to support my participants in understanding how to create and hold a safe space together 🫶🏽 🌀 What’s your favorite part of facilitating Cuddle Parties? Oh! That’s easy—the Closing Circle. I love listening to participants share their experiences. It’s beautiful to witness their transformation—from feeling nervous or unsure at the beginning to feeling open, connected, and surprised by how meaningful the experience was 💫 😬 What’s the biggest struggle you face as a Cuddle Party Facilitator? I tend to get anxious before a party because I want everything to be perfect. My biggest challenge is making space for imperfection and accepting that I can’t control it all. Learning to be flexible and honest has helped me feel more relaxed at the start of each event—which, in turn, helps everyone else feel more at ease too 🌿 🎮 Fun Fact: Ramis Makes Video Games! I design and develop video games! It’s a love-hate relationship—it brings me joy, but it’s also the hardest thing I do. Our first published game is called Party Demon, and right now we’re working on a second game about a team of cats trying to defeat the robot overlords 🐱🤖 🌱 Tips for Growing Your Cuddle Practice How to Promote Using Instagram Instagram can be a powerful tool for growing your cuddle practice—if you use it intentionally. The platform has a large audience interested in mental health, community-building, self-care, and alternative forms of connection. Here are some practical ideas to help you promote your work on Instagram in a way that feels authentic and effective: 1. 🎥 Use Personal Reels to Expand Your Audience Reels are one of the best ways to reach new people. The good news? You don’t need to be a professional filmmaker. What really resonates is relatability. Share your personal stories and even your struggles. Talk about why you became a Cuddle Party Facilitator. Start each Reel with a simple hook that grabs attention. For example: 🗣️ “This Saturday, I experienced my first 15-person spooning train!” 🗣️ “Got Cuddles? Here are 5 ways to offer them to your close friends!” 🗣️ “Did you know cuddling can reduce anxiety and help you feel more connected? Let me explain.” You could even show glimpses of your cuddle spaces—or even your Cuddle Parties (just make sure to get clear, informed consent from anyone who appears in your videos!). Just be sure your tone feels genuine—avoid sounding too polished or “salesy.” Authenticity builds trust. 2. 📆 Stay Consistent (Not Constant) You don’t have to post every day to be successful—but consistency really matters. It’s better to post once a week (say, every Wednesday) than to post five times in one week and then disappear for a month. Create a rhythm that works with your life and energy levels. Start small. If you overextend yourself, it’s easy to burn out. Ask yourself: 👉 What’s something I can sustainably create that provides value and feels doable with the time I have? Also, be patient. The first few weeks might feel awkward or frustrating—but keep going. Once you’ve posted consistently for a couple of months, it’ll start to feel natural. Need inspiration? Check out pages like @cuddlist or @nectoma for ideas. 3. 🎨 Use Simple Branding to Be Memorable Social media is crowded, so it helps to have recognizable branding. Don’t worry—this doesn’t mean you need a fancy logo or high-end video production. Branding just means: ✨ Finding your voice ✨ Defining your style ✨ Repeating it consistently For example, maybe you feel most comfortable recording casual front-facing videos where you talk about the emotional benefits of cuddling. Maybe you like bringing a bit of humor into it. That’s your signature style! Lean into it—and keep using it until people start to recognize your vibe. Remember: As a certified Cuddle Party Facilitator, you can use the official Cuddle Party logo in your promotions! Below, you’ll find details on how to access these resources. 💛 Final Thoughts That’s it for now! I hope these tips make your Instagram journey feel more enjoyable, grounded, and aligned with who you are. Remember: This isn’t about perfection—it’s about showing up with heart. And if Instagram isn’t your preferred platform, you can still adapt these tips for any other social media you love! Happy posting! 🌈🧸 🛠️ Tech Tip: How to Access the Resources Section at CuddleParty.com Did you know that, as a Cuddle Party Facilitator, you have access to a special section of the website filled with helpful resources? 🎉 Whether you’re looking for support, tools, or past communications, the “Resources and Communications” section is your go-to hub for staying informed and connected. Here’s how to access it: 🔑 Step-by-Step Instructions Go to cuddleparty.com Click on “Facilitator Login” in the menu  Log in with your facilitator username and password  Once logged in, click on “Resources and Communications”  That’s it—you’re in! 🙌 📚 What You’ll Find Inside Inside the Resources section, you’ll have access to: 🧑💻 Facilitator support video calls: Join live support calls every Tuesday (3–4 PM CT) and Wednesday (8–9 PM CT). Everyone is welcomed! ✉️ Support email addresses: Need help? Email us with your questions or concerns—we’re here for you. 📰 Newsletter & email archive: Stay updated with past communications and announcements. 🎥 Tutorial videos: Step-by-step guides to help you navigate the Cuddle Party platform with ease. 🧷 Cuddle Party logos: Official branding assets for your promotions and event materials. 📊 Annual Report videos: Explore how we’re building Cuddle Party into a resilient, thriving community. This is the best way to stay on top of everything happening at Cuddle Party 💛 Take a few minutes to explore it—you might discover something new and helpful today! 💬 Community Q&A You asked, we’re answering! 🧸 Q: A facilitator reached out for support recently with the following question – “I had a cis woman participant express her feeling it should be policy that any person experiencing an erection should be responsible to move away from a cuddling partner. She also feels this is so important that it should be stated in the Welcome Circle.” A: “Erections are a natural body reaction, so we do not shame penis owners for something that naturally may occur when they are feeling good in their body. If the participant is uncomfortable about the possibility of feeling an erection, she can communicate that discomfort to her partner in advance or in the moment it happens. She can set her own boundaries in advance to not be close enough to that part of her partner’s anatomy to feel it, if it should happen. She has the power to set her own boundary to ensure the thing she fears will not happen to her. She can be the big spoon cuddling from the back, she can cuddle only in the top half, with separation between the bottom halves, or always make sure to have a pillow between them. She can lay her head on her partner’s chest at a right angle. There are many options. We will not police erections. Cuddle Party is a platonic sex positive space. That said, any time she is uncomfortable with any aspect, she needs to communicate that to her partner and also to her facilitator if she would like assistance on a case by case basis in the moment. The agreement we ask for is that the sexual energy is not sought out and not furthered if it happens. The further agreement we ask is that if you are uncomfortable, you will communicate that, and your partner will respect your true answer and your boundaries. If these agreements are broken, it is time for the facilitator to step in to re-establish the structure. If it were me, I would let her know that I have never felt my partner’s erection unless they wanted me to feel it by rubbing against me. At which point they are breaking the agreement and seeking further sexual energy. Their actions may be outside of the agreements, but their natural body reaction is not. I have been told by multiple partners after the fact that they had experienced a calm erection and I had no idea. If you as the facilitator have any personal experience that may relate in cuddling with penis owners in your community and feeling safe, that may help her. The bottom line is to give her tools and help establish self-confidence to hold her own boundaries and ensure safety herself as she wants something beyond the container we set up.” — Mary Sorensen, Cuddle Party’s Executive Director 📩 Have a question for a future issue? Send it to: community@cuddleparty.org 📸 Call for Contributions — We Want to Feature You! We’re putting together some new marketing videos to help promote our updated Training Curriculum—and we’d love your help! Do you have a story, testimonial, picture, or video you’d be excited to share with the Cuddle Party community? Send your contributions to: community@cuddleparty.org ✨ For pictures and videos, please be sure to include signed consent from everyone who appears in them. The videos will become part of our Cuddle Collection, a compilation of resources that all of you will be able to use to promote your events! You can also be featured in an upcoming issue of the Connection Circle Newsletter! Whether you want to be in the Spotlight section, offer tips from your practice, or simply share a moment that made your heart glow—we’d love to hear from you 💛 Let’s celebrate each other and shine a light on the beautiful work happening in our community! 💌 With Love and Connection Thanks for reading this first edition of the Cuddle Party® Connection Circle for Facilitators! Whether you’re just getting started or have been facilitating for years, I’m honored to be in this community with you. Let’s keep building spaces of care, consent, and connection—together 🫶🏽 With warmth, Ramis Lao (they/them) Head of Community Engagement |
Cuddle Connection Facilitator Newsletter #2 2025 -08-15
Check out the newsletter on Mailchimp platform: Cuddle Party Connection Circle #2 🌟 Welcome back to the 2nd issue of the Connection Circle! Hello, current and soon-to-be Cuddle Party Facilitators! 🧸💛 We’re thrilled to be back, bringing you all the...
