Spooning. The art form of a horizontal cuddle from someone you care about.
Spooning is not limited to 2 people. Spoon trains are common whereby a group of people cuddle each other in a line. Spooning also is not limited by gender, size, shape or age.
Parents can spoon children, friends can spoon friends, children can spoon their grandparents. I often spoon my cat. He crawls up on the bed and curls into my stomach when I’m lying on my side. It’s pretty great.
It is an important act of intimacy – it has even been known to save lives. Case in point: it’s a cure for hypothermia. One person whose body temperature is stable can heal someone whose body temperature is critically low with human heat.
There are 3 cardinal rules of spooning that must not be broken. If any of these 3 rules have been, it’s not spooning that you’re doing.
1. Spooning is not a means to an end. Spooning with an agenda often results in disappointment. You don’t spoon in hope of a bit of funny business or with the expectation of a relationship. Having said this spooning does occur in exclusive and intimate relationships, but this happens once boundaries between friends and lovers has been established.
2. There always has to be a big spoon. This doesn’t refer to the size of the person but rather their position. The big spoon holds the back of the person they’re cuddling.
3. Arms need to be taken into serious consideration to ensure proper spooning form. Common places for the arm that you’re lying on include under the spoonees neck, or tucked under your own head with your other arm holding the person next to you. If you fail to find something to do with the arm under your body, its quite likely your spooning experience will be sub par as your focus will be on your arm getting pins and needles or cramps. Think strategically and about comfort. If your arms aren’t when they should be then you’re not spooning and likely not enjoying yourself.
There you have it – the ins and out of one of the loveliest kinds of cuddle.
Ps- Cuddling is important not just because it makes you happy. It keeps you warm and your energy bill low. Check out this beautiful video about cuddling and find out more about human heat here.
Katherine Hui is currently the Social site editor at Green Thing, a web-based public service in London that inspires people to lead greener lives through creative content.
Before this, she worked as the Development Manager at Social Innovation Camp, an organization that encourages people to use web and mobile-based technology to mobilise social change. She oversaw 300 ideas submission and helped build 20 prototypes – five of which have gone on to get further funding or investment.
Katherine’s came over to the UK form Canada in 2007 for an MSc program at the London School of Economics. Before arriving in London, she managed a small environmental start-up in Vancouver called the Canadian Climate Change Alliance.
Katherine is football mad. She is a loyal supporter of Arsenal FC, plays for Islington Borough Ladies FC and coaches for Gunners in Islington in her spare time. Her second favourite hobby is kite surfing and she can sometimes be found chasing the wind.
