Cuddle Club

A guided space for embodied connection

There is a simple human longing many of us carry: to feel safe, held, and met.

The Cuddle Club offers a carefully facilitated space where connection can unfold through presence, consent, and conscious touch.

Modern life often asks us to stay functional, composed, and independent — even when our nervous systems long for contact and co-regulation.

The Cuddle Club is an invitation to:

• soften into safe closeness

• experience touch without pressure or ambiguity

• practice clear boundaries and authentic choice

• feel what it’s like to be with others and yourself at the same time

• recalibrate your nervous system and develop a safe relationship to touch

  This is where regulation, trust, and aliveness meet.

Why join the Cuddle Club?

What happens in a session?

We begin by arriving — grounding, orienting, and setting shared agreements. From there, we explore:

• consent practices (yes / no / maybe)

• awareness of proximity, distance, and touch

• the theory and practice of nervous system regulation

• optional forms of contact such as hugs or supportive holding

• moments of reflection and integration

Touch is always optional. Watching, resting, or choosing self-touch are fully valid ways of participating.

Individual sessions follow a similar structure, customized to your speicifc needs and wishes. In them, the therapeutic effects of touch can be experienced on deeper energetic, emotional, and physical levels.

Is this space right for you?

The Cuddle Club offers guided experiences focused on connection, co-regulation, and belonging. It may be a good fit if you:

• long for safe, nourishing touch

• want to experience platonic closeness and intimacy

• wish to strengthen boundaries, embodied communication and self-leadership

• want to come back to your senses (literally) and get to know how your nervous system works

• are curious about co-regulation and presence

• want to feel connected without losing yourself

• are called to experience subtle energy flow

Many people leave feeling more grounded, connected, and at home in themselves and with others. LGBTQIA+ friendly. No prior experience is needed.

The Cuddle Club is not

The Cuddle Club is not sexual.
It is not a dating or flirting space.
It is not psychotherapy or life coaching.

Clarity, consent, and safety are what allow depth and softness to emerge.

Ways to Join

Group Sessions

Facilitated community experiences focused on consent, presence, and embodied connection.

Upcoming dates: TBA

Subscribe to the newsletter for updates.

1:1 and Relationship Sessions

For individuals, couples, and other relationship constellations seeking a more contained or personalized setting.

Location: A cozy studio in 1190, Vienna.

Sliding scale pricing*: 90 - 150 Euro for 1:1, and 50 - 100 Euro/Person for relationship sessions (both 60min).

These sessions are available by request.
Book your free 20min intro call directly or get in touch via the contact form.

*Lower prices are meant for people with a lower income, students, and minority groups.

Asena Boyadzhieva

FACILITATOR

For many years, I have practiced and guided somatic approaches such as contact improvisation, yoga and mindfulness, and holistic dance, alongside trauma-informed pedagogical work with individuals and groups carrying diverse personal histories. My background in cognitive science allows me to understand and work with the neuroscientific processes underlying conscious touch, co-regulation, and nervous system safety, while my embodied practice keeps the work grounded, relational, and humane. I hold spaces with clarity and care, creating conditions where people can reconnect with their bodies, meet themselves and others with compassion, and remember the resilience that already lives within them.

A systematic review and multivariate meta-analysis of the physical and mental health benefits of touch interventions – https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01841-8

Hugs and Cortisol Awakening Response the Next Day – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10094596/

Design and validation of a tactile aid to ease anxiety – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8906645/

Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9216399/

Does hugging provide stress-buffering social support? – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4323947/

The effectiveness of hugging in reducing depression and anxiety – https://media.neliti.com/media/publications/256751-the-effectiveness-of-hugging-in-reducing-d06b0e74.pdf

Receiving a hug is associated with the attenuation of negative mood on days with interpersonal conflict – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6169869/

New Findings on the Stress-Relieving Power of Hugs (popular article) – https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/202402/how-hugging-relieves-stress-new-insights

Curious to learn more?

Get in touch