Meet Amy Grinnell: The Connecticut “cuddlist” who gets paid $80 an hour to snuggle.
“It’s very professional and it’s very meaningful, the work that we do,” she said, speaking to the Connecticut Post. “People are very much deprived of touch.”
Grinnell admits that it “seems ridiculous to pay someone to give you a hug,” but the effects and benefits are quite real.
Research has shown that oxytocin, aka the “cuddle” or “love” hormone, will help relieve stress and anxiety — and even lead to increased feelings of spirituality.
“The joy and wonder of touching another person is amazing and wonderful,” she said “There’s such a joy in helping people feel connected to society and the universe.”
Cuddling sessions usually start out with a conversation between the cuddlist and clients, who — according to Grinnell — are typically males between the ages of 40 and 60.
“First they have to agree to the code of conduct,” she said, adding that there’s no sexual activity involved. “Then we have a screening, a phone screening or an email screening or both. We make sure that the client is on the same page.”
Grinnell, who works through cuddlist.com, says “boundaries are always there” to make everyone “feel safe” — but that hasn’t stopped her husband from worrying.
“At first he was very, very concerned and a little bit upset about it,” she told the CTPost. “We talked about it and he was very hesitant to say he was OK with it because of the intimacy he thought was involved.”
Grinnell’s hubby eventually came around after she explained to him the impact that cuddling apparently has on people.
imary sense organ,” she said. “People have said that touch is the ‘mother of all senses.’ Mental health and general well being and evolutionary survival has depended on us being interconnected.”