West Coast Hug Emporium

Good to see more people out there spreading hugs in this world. I found some other Chalk Hug Circles out there and reading their story leaves me feeling inspired.

Full story
https://www.wolfnowl.com/2022/08/our-hugging-tree/?fbclid=IwAR0yflC5i1LoJunrvhpztSsf874G43s0hHMqCDU91ocx66pg5sJidSciEs0

OPEN TO ALL

Create your own chalk art with a positive message somewhere in your community.

Bonus points: Create your own hug zone chalk art
Extra bonus points: Stick around and give out some hugs

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STORY

It all started by accident...

As part of a street setup downtown with the West Coast Hug Emporium, we created an area where we could safely perform some of our more elaborate hugs (this was a legal requirement by the organizers for liability). We placed 4 traffic cones to create a square and wrote HUG ZONE on each side facing out.

What we didn’t expect was people stopping, not interacting with us, but rather taking the person they were walking with into the “Hug Zone” and giving them a hug. What we witnessed was a moment that the words hug zone had inspired in passerbys.

We were curious, what if we tried to make the Hug Zone more artistic, more legible and placed them in places and then left. What would happen? We recorded 24 hours of footage from a Hug Zone to find out. We were blowed away when we watched the interactions that happened at this Hug Zone, simply being inspired by the space and the words. We even discovered that regular hug zones in one location actually made people expect the Hug Zone or even use the space as a Hug Zone even when the chalk had washed away.

Now, I go around the city and place Hug Zones wherever I can, usually asking the local businesses for permission if it's right in front of their property.

The Hug Zone Project is open source. We encourage you to create your own Hug Zone in your neighbourhood. All it takes is some sidewalk chalk. Create more hugs in the world with a little bit of interactive art.

If I could make one request of you, and those of you that know me know that I don't ask a lot, my request would be SHARE THIS STORY. Let's spread a little positivity out in the world and see how far it ripples.

Find more Hug Zones on our Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/westcoasthugs/

Free Hugs for strangers is unfortunately still not a socially acceptable thing, but spreading positive messages.... still totally cool :P

“Keep doing your best!
That is enough.
YOU are enough.”

Happy National Hug Day!

Get out there and give someone a hug!

Some concise hug advice from our friends over at VYVE

Level up your HUG-literacy.

There are all kinds of hugs for all kinds of occasions and natural highs!

Did you know that hugs release a brain chemical called Oxytocin, which plays a role in bonding.

Here are three of our favourite hugs that you can try out today!

The Heart-to-Heart Hug:

Each person puts their left hand up. They then converge and bring their arm around the other's shoulder.

This hug connects people's hearts.

Feeling each other’s heartbeat together is a fantastic way to connect to this organ of Love!

The Cinnamon Roll Hug:

Get together with a group and form a circle. Join hands and pick one lucky person to begin the cinnamon roll! This person lets go of the hand to their left and rotates clockwise.

Each Person from their right continues the roll into the circle until everyone is wrapped around each other like a cinnamon roll!

Note: This hug is much healthier than an actual cinnamon roll.

The Hand Hug:

This is the simplest, lowest-commitment hug. After you ask, “would you like to share a hug?” and for whatever reason they respond with, “no thanks”, this is a perfect solution. “How about a hand hug?”, you can say.

To do a hand hug, simply present your hand upright with fingers together, then just wrap your thumb around the other hand in front of you. A salutation in the form of eye contact takes this hug to the next level.

Hug on vyvers!

Received this email this morning.

"There were a couple of fellows dressed up in costume at the corner of Commercial & E 6th in a hug zone on Sunday, September 1st. I came along and received the most wonderful hug from the taller fellow.

I am a senior and haven't had a hug for months or longer and this hug came just at the right time. I was so overcome with how good it felt that I didn't have a chance to thank the fellow. If you know who I am talking about please pass on my heartfelt gratitude as it made a HUGE difference in my life.

I think this is a wonderful thing that your organization is doing and I want to thank all of you who participate."

It's so wonderful to receive messages like these! Great to know our work is not going unnoticed.

Hugs are nice

We made a big SPLASH at a rather wet Car Free Day this past weekend

First hug zone of 2019 was placed at commercial and 6th last Sunday. I’m the neighbourhood? Let me know if it’s still there :-)

I find that 6 seconds is enough if you allow yourself to relax and breathe.

Big ups to the local Vancouver band Dinocats for this great song!

8 Hugs A Day LYRICS: I went to a new age doctor, she taught me a thing or two, about our bodies and living, about loving one another, our sisters and brothers, and how to keep ourselves in tune... (she told me)

From Hugs are nice:

The Story of the Free Hugs movement...

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-30129/this-viral-video-has-been-viewed-over-77-million-times-heres-the-story-behind-i.html

This Viral Video Has Been Viewed Over 77 Million Times. Here’s The Story Behind It "I made a sign that said 'free hugs' and went into the city, scared absolutely sh*tless. I had no idea what was going to happen."

Do you know what The Hug Zone Project is? It has been published quite a bit on our Instagram but not much on this page.

Have a read about the project and its birth on our website:
http://www.westcoasthugs.com/the-hug-zone-project/

The Hug Zone Project | West Coast Hug Emporium One day as part of a street setup downtown with the West Coast Hug Emporium, we created an area where we could safely perform some of our more elaborate hugs. We placed 4 traffic cones to create a square and wrote HUG ZONE on each side facing out.