WINNIPEG — A professional cuddling service has snuggled up in Winnipeg.
It’s a fairly new business concept a B.C.-based company is hoping will take off across Canada.
The Cuddlery offers its clients physical contact — without sex — in seven different cities. Winnipeg is the newest.
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“We’re selling affection, well-being and support through cuddles,” said owner Marylen Reid. “We are linking clients with cuddlers.”
There are different services offered at different price points. They start at $35 for 30 minutes of cuddles, with higher prices for options such as skin-to-skin snuggling — “where the men and women wear shorts, while the women also wear a short top instead of a full pyjama,” the company’s website reads.
There’s also an “in-crisis cuddle,” if the client is in a panicked or emotional state. One option can set you back as much as $325.
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“We believe that it’s a service that is so important and we want to make it available for those who need it,” said Reid. “With the level of intimacy and what our cuddlers are giving, it’s a service worth much more than that.”
The service is similar to paying for a massage, Reid said.
The client and cuddler meet wherever they choose, she said. It could be at the cuddler’s home, the client’s home, or a public place.
“Some people like a light touch on the arm,”said cuddler Bonnie Timshel. “Some people like something a little bit more firm.”
Timshel and her fiancé Kristjan Anderson are both professional cuddlers in Winnipeg.
“People see it as a bit of a taboo to have physical contact with others,” said Anderson. “Maybe it’s just in the busy lives that we lead … we’ve kind of become further away from physical contact.”
Cuddle parties have also become a new fad, where a group of individuals get together at a host’s house or a safe environment. There are guidelines and rules set out that all participants must abide by.
A new app has also launched. Cuddlr shows others in the area who are looking to snuggle up to a partner.
The lack of touch is part of our North American culture, according to some psychologists.
“Researchers have shown that in one hour coffee meeting with friends, North Americans touch about two times,” said social psychologist Kelley Robinson. “In other cultures it can be about 100 times.”
There are also proven benefits to snuggling up to someone.
A 2012 study by the University of California’s San Diego School of Medicine found the oxytocin released by cuddling is effective in helping to manage depression.
“It’s good for our psychological health, it lowers our blood pressure, it makes us healthier, helps us cope with stress, helps us cope with pain,” said Robinson.
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