I love to plant seeds of positivity to make the magic of a cuddle last once my cuddlee and I part ways.
Perceptual blindness and perceptual awareness can work together to trigger positive thoughts once they’re paired with common place experiences and visuals.
Previously you would physically ‘see’ a fluffy cloud rimmed with bright sunlight, but your brain wouldn’t process it. Although it’s a pretty thing to see, it is commonplace and ‘unimportant’, so the brain filters it.
But in the midst of the happy brain-chemical pump of a glowing session, I can attempt to pair that fluffy glowing cloud with those feelings by saying the visual trigger ‘when you see ___, remember how we enjoyed each other’s company and feel these feelings again’.
The hope is that the brain, once primed this way, will convert that perceptual blindness to perceptual awareness, and the neural pathways that lit up in my presence will echo those feelings anew when they see this commonplace beauty. Even if they don’t remember why. That’s why I refer to them as blessings, they cost nothing and could potentially have an accumulative positive effect long after the appointment itself.
Cuddlees, have you noticed these kind of after-effects?
Cuddlers, do you have similar techniques? Please share!