I used to be VERY uncomfortable being naked around other people in groups. Then one day I found myself at a gathering in which many people were naked together outdoors. So I tried it... and broke through something ... over a period of days. It felt very liberating and healing / opening to do so, and I'm super glad I did so. Then, over the year, I would frequently be naked with groups of people at a large public hot tub at a spa ... and also at outdoor hotsprings. Now being naked with groups of people feels quite natural and normal for me -- in the right contexts. It isn't associated with sex or romance. It's just simple old nakedness.
Cuddling with platonic friends may never be something which is widely accepted as perfectly normal and natural (although I think it would be wonderful if it did). But many of those who have found our way into such platonic cuddling feel similar to how I felt upon getting over my discomfort with public nakedness -- an exhilarating feeling of liberation at first, followed by a feeling-thought which if spoken may go like this.: "This is so utterly natural and wholesome and good; it's a shame others feel inhibited by it or uninterested in it. It may do them some good."
As for associating cuddling with romantic feelings ... you know, I wonder if as a culture we're maintaining too sharp a distinction between "romantic" feelings and behaviors and "platonic" ones? At best, when I cuddle with a close friend, I experience much of the same warm inner glow of tenderness and affection as I do with a lover-partner, only with the platonic friend that energy does not get translated into ... well, sex.
In any case, I know I'm a bit of an adventurer (and very curioius!) when it comes to intimate relating. I could also spend half an hour or an hour silently gazing into the eyes of a very close friend -- or a new acquaintance -- (a practice the Sufi poet Rumi is thought to have engaged in with his muse, Shams). --
http://www.innertraditions.com/the-spiritual-practices-of-rumi.html
I've thought a lot about cuddling and romantic or sexual touch, in large part because I belong to several communities that really emphasize touch. I have come to the tentative conclusion that my distaste for platonic cuddling has to do with how I experience touch in general. I have very strong personal boundaries, a very defined sense of my 'space' and 'not my space'. I seem to have been born this way. My parents have many stories from when I was very young about how picky I was about who I wanted to hold me. My parents never made me stay with someone I did not want holding me. I also have had the sadly rare experience of having my boundaries respected by parents and other authorities. (It breaks my heart how rare this is.)
Touch feels intrusive to me, even when that touch is wanted. I have to mentally and emotionally welcome people into my space when I touch, or am touched. I usually have to know someone at least a little bit before I want to hug them, or be hugged. While I can tolerate being hugged by strangers - I understand they usually mean mean well - it's never been enjoyable for me. They feel like invaders to my space - nice invaders who don't mean any harm but invaders none the less. And unwanted touch feels like an invasion - physically, mentally, emotionally. I am good at enforcing my boundaries and this helps prevent experiencing much unwanted touch. Mostly I deal with people who like to hug everyone and who don't always get how unpleasant an unwelcome hug can be. Most learn and respect that difference once they know it is a thing. Some just feel rejected no matter how I explain so I have to let them remain in their rejection. (It was very helpful to me to realize that I can feel very rejecting because of my strong boundaries around touch and that I have few problems enforcing those boundaries by rejecting someone's offer of touch. I don't enforce my boundaries any less but I do so in a more explanatory, tactful way.) And my dominant love language is quality time - physical touch and gifts are my least used love languages.
So the idea of cuddling someone I don't know is really hard for me to wrap my head around. I don't even like hugging people I don't know. Intellectually I can get it. I know lots of people who enjoy cuddle parties and platonic cuddling. But at any deep level, my understanding just fails. Most casual touch in Western society (hugging, etc.) I experience as unwanted contact from people who I have agreed to be in my space.
I know I have very strong boundaries - I think this is a good thing that has prevented much heartache for me. But it also makes touching and being touched very fraught for me. Who I let in, who I mingle physicality with deeply tied to who I want to exchange energy with. Touch with people I don't know well enough is deeply draining. I intellectually understand that others can find it filling instead of draining.
For me, being naked and feeling comfortable in that nakedness does not impact how I experience touch or make cuddling with friends more appealing. I do know many people who find being naked and comfortable unclothed among others is a freeing and liberating experience. I am comfortable being naked in venues where that is an option. I don't need to be naked but will happily do so if that makes sense. I don't mind if people see me naked. I can see how being comfortable naked might impact how some would feel about cuddling but for me it makes no difference. (I also really, really don't get naked, platonic cuddling.)
The intimacy of friendship and that of romantic intimacy (and by intimacy I refer to more than sex but rather the whole emotional, mental and intellectual connection) both feed my soul, and I need both to thrive. However, they feel very different to me. They don't shade into each other for me internally. Many of my lovers, most actually, have been friends first (and have stayed friends after breakup). But that romantic connection, and sexual connection too, 'switches' on and off for me.
Finally, I have experienced the intimacy of eye gazing. I find it to be a bit artificial. In my experience, while eye gazing does produce a feeling of intimacy and closeness, unless those feelings are supported by other actions of closeness and getting to know someone, that feeling rapidly fades. I think it is a shortcut to intimacy that can be helpful but also ephemeral.