ASMR – otherwise known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response – is something that you may have never heard of before.
But it’s a worldwide phenomena that is helping millions of people to unwind, relax and sleep.
I first came across ASMR in 2015 on YouTube whilst looking up meditation videos, I was struggling to sleep and found these kind of videos helped. An ASMR video was suggested and I clicked on it, not sure what it was and experienced tingles, and an overwhelming feeling of relaxation.
I looked it up, and saw that Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is what happens when a certain sound, or visual element omits a response, which is a calming feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation. This tingle is said to originate in a person’s head and can spread to the spine and the rest of the body.
But it’s not for everyone, not everyone experiences it either.
It’s also still a relatively new thing, it’s not been ‘officially recognised’ although in 2018, ‘in the first study of its kind into the physiological underpinnings of ASMR, researchers from the University of Sheffield and Manchester Metropolitan University found that those who experience the phenomenon had significantly reduced heart rates while watching ASMR videos compared to people who do not experience ASMR.’
So why am I telling you about ASMR?
Well, it has been a huge help for me over the past five years, the videos help to relax me, help me to sleep, de-stress and and unwind and with the world being a bit scary right now, I thought what better time to introduce you to something that may help you to relax.
So, like I said, it may not be for you, my husband Henry for example does not experience it all, but I love it.
ASMR may be evoked by something like a noise such as a whisper, or soft spoken voice, or even something like someone eating (personally not for me at all!) Or by something visual, like seeing someone brush their hair, or trace the letters in a magazine, or point something out on a map for you…
When I discovered ASMR, I realised that I’ve been experiencing this for my whole life without realising, it was a feeling I’d received when being shown something by someone with a calming voice, or when someone plays with my hair, etc…
But for some, it may sound a bit strange. Weird almost, and ASMR gets a bad rep online sometimes, some may not understand what it is, and a lot of the time it gets misconstrued as sexual.
However, I don’t see it that way at all, and that’s not it’s intention- it’s something that I use to unwind, and relax, I like videos like make up videos, or just chatting, I guess like an normal YouTube video but with a softer spoken voice, I find it calming and it gives me something else to focus on, I find that it works as a distraction when I’m feeing anxious.
I wanted to speak to someone who was a bit more knowledgeable about ASMR than me, and what better person to speak to than a content creator called Cheryl who not only has been making her own ASMR videos for the past few years, but also set up and runs The ASMR Collective, a website and platform to bring together the ASMR community and educate others.
I love Cheryl’s videos, I find them SO relaxing, and she’s my go to ASMR-ist (which is the name given to ASMR Creators) so I was so excited when she agreed to chat to me, I wanted to find out a bit more about her journey on YouTube, and what she could tell anyone who had never heard of it before.
When did you discover ASMR?
I first ‘discovered’ ASMR after researching relaxing videos on YouTube. I’m not sure why I decided to search for relaxing videos in the first place, but I was deep into the YouTube rabbit hole when I stumbled upon Lita’s Massage Clips.
Lita’s voice lulled me into a deep state of relaxation and made me feel calm and sleepy. This is what we now call unintentional ASMR because the video was not intended to induce ASMR in the viewer when it was first released.
I then stumbled upon intentional ASMR videos from YouTube’s recommendations. I think the first intentional ASMR videos I discovered were produced by GentleWhispering and ASMR Requests, but I can’t remember for certain…and the rest was history!
However, looking back, I have always experienced ASMR. I used to make my mum trace up and down my arm for hours when I was little. I also used to ADORE my geography teacher’s monotonous voice which my friends found ‘boring’ but their boring was my ASMR heaven…I almost fell asleep every lesson!
What made you want to create ASMR Videos?
ASMR videos on YouTube helped me through a two-year period of depression and anxiety; I had some extremely low points during that time and ASMR comforted me to sleep when I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts.
Also, I’ve had tinnitus since I was a teenager, so I have always fallen asleep to background noise, like the TV.
When I bought a smartphone, I swapped the TV for YouTube and used ASMR to drown out the ringing (I don’t notice the ringing as much anymore).
I’ve always had a desire to help people and I wanted to create ASMR content to do so, but I didn’t have the confidence to follow-it through back then, that was until the person I was dating at the time permanently left the country to go live back at home and I was really upset. I needed a passion project!
I thought to myself, `I have nothing to lose’ so I picked up my iPhone 5 and on 2nd October 2017, I recorded ‘ASMR DJ Tapping & Soft Spoken’. The video and sound quality was awful but recording and interacting with my first 100 subscribers gave me a buzz! The video is no longer public because it makes me cringe so much haha!
How has ASMR helped you?
In so many ways it’s unreal.
ASMR has helped me with self-development. I am a firm believer that we should all assess our behaviour every so often and strive to be the best we can be. ASMR style videos including: guided meditations; rambles about mental health; positive affirmations have all helped me on this journey of self-discovery.
- ASMR has opened me up too many opportunities including making new friends from different corners of the world.
- I have also been fortunate enough to make a little bit of extra pocket money through adverts on YouTube.
- ASMR has enabled me to give back to the community through my blog the ASMR Collective. This is how I support ASMRtists and ASMR lovers. It’s a passion project!
- ASMR has given me a creative outlet and a way to express myself.
- It’s helped me to fall asleep through some really tough times.
- And finally, it’s given me purpose.
How would you describe ASMR to someone who doesn’t know what it is?
ASMR, for me, is a deep sense of relaxation. It is very much like mindfulness meditation, where you are so entranced in the present moment that you feel a sense of calm and well-being.
It’s the feeling you get after yoga where you’re all floaty and relaxed.
It’s the feeling you have after a nice massage that turns you to jelly.
Who are your favourite ASMR creators to watch?
How long do you have? There are so many wonderful content creators out there and I cannot list them all and certainly do not want anyone to feel left out.
I mainly get triggered by soft-spoken videos combined with tapping, but it’s all about the voice for me.
I usually have ASMRtists on rotation; I can tell you who I have been watching recently:
AmandineTheWolf
Crystal ASMR
NYC ASMR
ASMR Zelda
Peace and Sararity
A Random Guy ASMR
The French Whisperer
Miss Vindicat
Let’s Find Out
Lucy Ann ASMR
Gentle Whispering
Taproot ASMR
AlexAuASMR
I was so excited to speak to Cheryl and I love her passion for the community and supporting other creators, I also love her description about feeling all ‘floaty and relaxed.’
ASMR is a very personal thing, and it has helped me in so many ways over the years and is helping me more than ever at the moment during these anxious times.
I thought I would share some of my favourite creators for you to check out,
I hope this post has been interesting though, and if it sounds up your street please go check it out, as it may help you to seriously relax right now!
Do you experience ASMR?
