My imaginary cuddle companion

It's been thrown in these threads before. But now the concept takes on new meaning. Since physical distancing is currently in effect.

What do you use as a prop for your imagined cuddle buddy?

A pillow, a blanket, a doll, whatever. Anything that makes you feel good and relaxed.

Lovelight

Pillow, satisfies me about 45%. Though it's not always necessary for me to imagine anyone, or anything. If there's someone I'm feeling cuddly towards they might cross my mind here and there.

Also sometimes I don't need any cuddly physical props. Just mental/emotional stimulation is good enough. I do it on a needed basis and I'm also mindful to not over do anything, because it's possible to become desensitized.

Edit: Though those are things that I've been doing all along, or is it alone. Jajaja. So it's not a new concept to me. End edit.

I heard some find weighted blankets comforting.

cuddleNsqueeze

@Lovelight I do that too! I either think about someone and hug my blanket, get really warm, and hug a pillow.. sometimes if I am feeling down or lonely I watch a funny movie or I look up pictures of cats... but I imagine being held or think about times that I was held and just try to remember how that felt.

WKplatonic

I use my mind as my prop thinking back to my last physical platonic cuddling experience, resisting every single moment. Press the replay button as many times as needed and sit back and enjoy it.

Lovelight

@cuddle4health pretty much the same.

My pillow that is over 29 years old is often my imaginary cuddle friend. As I hug that pillow different memories of different people come back to me and relaxes me. Some of them are people I have dated many years ago. Others are folks I've cuddled with. But it's the good memories of my experiences with them that I feel when I hug that pillow.

So thanks for that insight @Lovelight ,@cuddle4health and @WKCuddles.

Using one's mind to stimulate an ideal situation or thinking of some one with whom you had a good cuddle experience and replay as many times as needed.

That's pretty awesome.

JoyfulHeart

There are occasions when, in a text conversation with a friend, they say something that amounts to a "word hug". This can sometimes give me the same feeling of warmth that I would get from a literal hug.

MrPaul

I replay the past memories of cuddle experiences, and combine those memories with imagined future interactions with the same as well as new partners that I had planned to meet, but put on hold. No physical props, just being at rest in bed when my mind can wander.

creek12

I huff 89 octane ggasoline and use my imagination

BoomerSpooner

@creek12 😂

creek12

Lol its a joke

geoff1000

The sense of smell is one of the most basic, because the brain sits above the nasal passage, and information from it is less filtered. When creating, or recreating, a cuddle experience, a physical prop may be useful ; but an olfactory one, may be more effective.

The trick is probably to reserve such smells for real and virtual cuddle sessions, so the subconscious brain reinforces the association.

@barrista I feel you on that" word hug "thing. It's really how descriptively you use language so the other person can feel you touch then emotionally.

@MrPaul replay of past good memories is very soothing. It's like our own internal audio player.
@creek12 as @geoff1000 suggests smell is important part of the way the brain received information from the environment. That's clean gasoline isn't it? One of the best kind of fuel you can put in your car. Well if you can find something of similar quality for the brain and keep that imagination going. Hey why not? Lol.
Thanks again.