The first ASMR video I was shown was of a girl licking and sucking on these plastic ears over microphones.
It was weird.
It freaked me out.
I felt super uncomfortable.
A couple of night ago, I was helping my baby sister move in and she confessed that she has been listening to ASMR videos in order to go to sleep. She said they really help her relax and fall to sleep. The thought of her watching videos of a girl licking a fake ear made me SUPER uncomfortable. Haha.
What is ASMR? It is defined as a “calming, pleasurable feeling often accompanied by a tingling sensation”, ASMR occurs in response to certain stimuli and has also been likened to a ‘head orgasm’. The stimuli that trigger ASMR vary from person to person, but some of the most common ones are said to include whispers, white noise, lip smacking, tapping on hard surfaces, brushing sounds and even the sound of someone eating.
Yesterday, I felt REALLY stressed at my day job. I just didn’t want to be at work. I wanted to cry and run out of there. I thought of things that relaxed me so that I could calm down. One of the things that relaxes me the most is getting my hair brushed. I thought that if only I could have someone here in my cube brushing my hair, that then maybe I could calm down.
Then the thought popped in my head…ASMR. Is there hair brushing ASMR? A simple search on Google revealed that, YES, there is hair brushing videos all over the web and on YouTube. I decided to listen to the first one that came up on my search. It has 8.4 Million views to date, so it couldn’t be that bad? Right?
At first, when I started listening, I felt weird AF. As soon as the video started, I started to relax and feel this tingly sensation in my scalp. It was crazy how I could legit FEEL the hair brushing on my OWN HEAD with just listening to it.
It is so crazy how well it worked for me. I was looking around the office like “Y’ALL THIS IS HAPPENING TO ME RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE, AND Y’ALL HAVE NO IDEA!”
But, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to me. I am a music lover. I am OBSESSED with music. There are times that I listen to certain songs and I start getting the same tingly feeling. Sometimes, when I listen to a song I have never heard before, the hairs on my arms stick up and I feel relaxed, calm, and happy.
So, I guess, that ASMR was sort of made for ME or for people like me. And it works! And it’s crazy that I ever doubted it i the first place.
I probably won’t be listening/watching to any ear licking and sucking or people eating pickles any time soon, but I do know that I will be listening to these hair brushing videos to calm down during work from now on.
Have you tried listening or watching ASMR?
What are your favorite ASMR videos, channels, or types of videos?
Do you still feel uncomfortable listening or watching ASMR?
Let’s chat in the comments below!
