New Culture Michigan (Ann Arbor, Detroit)

***RSVPs on meetup do not relfect actual number of registrations/attendees. We always have at least 10 attendees, often more like 15. Must buy tickets in advance at link in description, or email me in advance to ask to do a walk-in payment. This fills up fast!***

Join us for an afternoon of connection, relaxation, and empowerment through consensual, platonic cuddling!

Cuddle Sanctuary is a collective healing space for meeting our basic human need for physical connection. It’s one small part of building a culture in which consensual touch is accessible and abundant beyond sexual and romantic relationships.

Doors open at 2:45pm. In order to participate in cuddling, attendees must be here by 3:05pm, so that we can begin the opening circle.

The event will be facilitated by Juno Aventurine (they/them), a workshop organizer who focuses on consent, authentic relating, connection, and conflict skills. They’re also a former professional cuddler who was trained to offer therapeutic platonic cuddle sessions to people in need of touch.

You must register for this event on the Center Peace website, in order to come: https://www.centerpeacehealing.com/all-events/cuddle-sanctuary-01112026

Tickets are $15 for those who can pay. However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. If the cost is a barrier, please contact Juno to register without paying.

More About the Event:

Cuddle Sanctuary is all about self-care, community care, and healing the pain of touch deprivation.

We all need touch for our well-being. It’s well documented that cuddling releases the stress-reducing and pain-relieving hormone oxytocin (“the love drug”), creating feelings of relaxation and even bliss. When done in alignment with our genuine desires, cuddling is a form of co-regulating our nervous systems with other people, and a natural way to cultivate wellness through human connection.

Cuddle Sanctuary is also an empowering workshop where we practice consent by asking for the kind of cuddling we authentically want, saying “no” to what we don’t want, accepting rejection with gratitude, and negotiating our boundaries.

Everyone is at choice in this space. This means you’re encouraged to tune in to your body and ask for what you truly want without shame, because there is nothing shameful about your needs and desires. It also means that no one has to cuddle with anyone else who asks them to, or cuddle in any particular way. You get to decide what you want to do with your own body, and you have the right to change your mind about cuddling at any point in the process.

To facilitate this, there will be an opening circle at the beginning of the event in which we’ll practice rejection (both giving and receiving). We’ll also spend a little time getting in touch with what our specific cuddle desires are, communicating them, and seeing where our desires might overlap with each other.

During the opening circle, we will go over the community guidelines for the space, which you can read beforehand here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OSp18szX3clxnsrWUdpQ8ylQdJQUlUuvp2qL3tuTLmw/edit

After the opening circle, participants are welcome to ask for and engage in platonic cuddling in any way they’d like. All forms of platonic cuddling are legitimate here! Cuddling can be holding hands, spooning, sitting against each others’ backs, laying your head on someone’s stomach, touching palms, interweaving arms, and so much more.

Finally, Cuddle Sanctuary is an opportunity to experiment with going outside of your comfort zone when it comes to who you cuddle with and how you cuddle. If you’re feeling a little adventurous, you’re encouraged to try out a form of cuddling that you don’t know if you’ll like, challenge your expectations, and experience something new.

Near the end of the event, there will be a brief closing circle where attendees can share a little about their experience and their desires for the next time they attend Cuddle Sanctuary.

Accessibility Info

• Please refrain from wearing perfume, cologne, or other scented things to the event, because many people have debilitating scent sensitivities.
• The main entrance to the building is wheelchair accessible, as well as the bathroom and the room where Cuddle Sanctuary will take place.
• The space is designed for cuddling on the floor, which is newly carpeted (very fluffy and soft). There will also be blankets on top of the carpet and big cushions available for use.

If there’s anything you need to make Cuddle Sanctuary more accessible, please reach out to Juno before the event to see if we can come up with a solution.

Juno’s email: junowayward@gmail.com.

Circling is a form of embodied mindfulness relating in which we practice un-withheld present moment connection with self and others. In this practice, we try to answer the questions: “What is it like to be me right now?" "What is it like to be you?" "What is it like to be with each other right now?”

I was recently trained in a specific style of Circling called Transformational Connection, and I want to offer this practice to all of you through an Introduction to Circling workshop.

During this 3-hour introduction, you’ll receive instruction and coaching in Circling, as well as practice of the guiding principles through pair activities and an hour long group circle. You will gain valuable skills and tools that can build more depth, understanding, and connection in all of your relationships, as well as expand your own consciousness.

This introductory workshop is required for you to attend any future Circling Practice groups that I hold.

There are several Guiding Principles of Circling that help us stay in embodied presence, such as sharing how you're impacted by others in the space, staying at the level of feelings and sensations, owning your experience, getting other people’s worlds, and leaning into your edge. You can read about all of them here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VvaKloIni1tgsYOed5l4Zo3e66wtS1uJqZvJ8ISgWIM/edit?usp=sharing

More about Circling from The Circling Guide:
“We go into Circling with the shared desire to ‘know and be known’ in all of our humanity, whether our inner experience be glorious or unbearably painful. It involves meeting you exactly as you are in each present moment. We hold whatever arises—both in you and in ourselves—with a degree of wonder.”

“We attempt to understand what it’s like to be in another person’s skin, while simultaneously being true to ourselves. It’s about seeing people for who they really are and ‘getting their world.’”

Register:
In order to attend this event, you must register at this link (this date is free): https://forms.gle/RW7pj48jxpAdus5z6
Only 8 spots available.

This event takes place at my home in Royal Oak, MI, where I host many community events. Address will be sent out to those who register.

Note: RSVPS on Meetup do not reflect actual number of registered attendees.

I hope to see you there!