Tingle Tuesday: “What’s an ASMR?”

    The first time I saw the term, I had no clue what it meant, how to pronounce it or what to make of it. After months of watching my happy little tingle videos, seemingly overnight their titles all contained a four letter…something: ASMR. Now, I didn’t know what an ASMR was (read: azzmer) but I avoided the term like the plague. At first I wasn’t sure if the term was used to distinguish the type of video I had been watching with something completely different (like something more sexual in nature.) However when it became so prevalent, I eventually looked it up.

It was then that I learned that Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) was a semi-scientific term to describe a perceptual phenomenon characterized by a tingly feeling that begins in the head or scalp and flows through the body causing it to relax. It was a term that was more or less made up in 2010 by healthcare IT worker Jenn Allen and promptly dismissed by the clinical community as nothing more than “pseudo science with a medical sounding name.”

While it was nice to have an “official” name connected with the sensation, I have to admit, I was a little confused by the lack of knowledge surrounding it. It wasn’t new. I knew that much having experienced it since I was seven, but if it wasn’t new then where was the research to back it up? If it was a type of biofeedback response that was elicited in medical practices as way to help people relax and cope with pain, why was the scientific community so keen to deny it or act like it wasn’t real?

As someone who had worked in the medical field for nearly a decade and continues to write about a variety of medical subjects, this made no sense to me. I couldn’t help wondering if the phenomenon that YouTubers were calling ASMR had another name at some point, one that was recognized by science but no one knew what it was. Was there some fundamental piece of the description missing that would cause some researcher somewhere to say, “Oh, you mean…” and fill in the blank with a well-thought out but obscure Latin term that no one had ever heard of before or was the real problem the fact that people were turning to YouTube to get a good night’s sleep?

I suspected it might be the latter and thus began my quest for answers. In September of 2013, I wrote my first article on ASMR, it was a local piece that simply introduced the phenomenon to those who may not have heard of it before. I began following the social media feeds of several ASMRtists and learned that several of my friends were already familiar with the sensation as well giving us permission to discuss it in the way that only “tingle heads” can.

In the months that followed it became obvious that the ASMR phenomenon was moving more into the mainstream, but I was still irritated by the fact that few reports I saw went beyond “tingle tales” or the connection between ASMR and Bob Ross. I watched well-regarded physicians offer possible explanations for the sensation with a shrug as if they really had no clue as to what was going on and commentators who acted like the whole thing was a big joke. Oh my Lord, people this can’t be that hard, I thought to myself. Someone is going to have to track this thing in and figure out what is going on.

Little did I know that I would become the “someone” who would do it.

Until next time, tingle on,

J-

Follow Julie Young on Twitter: @JulieYoung14

Follow Julie Young on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjulieyoung

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Read this blog post at: www.thewaterwhispers.com

Read The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR: http://www.amazon.com/Idiots-Guides-ASMR-Julie-Young/dp/1615648186/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432674500&sr=8-1&keywords=Idiots+guides%3A+ASMR

 

 

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Until next time, tingle on!

Julie

 

 

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Tingle Tuesday: Meet Jelly Bean Green ASMR!

Hey Everyone!

    I came across this amazing ASMRtist whose commune role plays (though unconventional) really work for me. I reached out and asked her to tell us a little about her work and ASMR experience. I hope you will find her as delightful as I do!

1. Do you go by Jelly Bean Green or do you go by another name as well? I go by Jellybean or JB.

2. According to your “Draw My Life Video” you were born in the Northeast but eventually moved to the southern portion of the country, is that where the “y’all” comes from or is that merely a catchphrase you wanted to use for ASMR purposes? It took about a year of living down south before I started saying “y’all” non-ironically. I remember it just slipped out in conversation one day and it felt completely natural. As a northerner, I had used “you guys” my whole life, but now I alternate back and forth. When I started my channel, I knew from the beginning that I wanted a signature greeting. “Hey y’all,” seemed sweet, simple, gender neutral, and wasn’t being used by anyone else that I was watching at the time.

3. You mention that you have experienced ASMR (or whatever you called it) all your life. How old were you for the first experience you remember? What was that initial trigger? My earliest memories of ASMR involved my older sister, who also experiences ASMR. When we were very young, she and I used to pretend to give each other medical exams. I was sick or injured often as a child, so medical exam personal attention has always been a huge trigger for me. As one viewer, Kevin T., pointed out to me, the sterile environment of a medical setting creates a sort of sensory deprivation situation that can really magnify ASMR triggers.

4. How did you describe ASMR back then? Like a lot of people, I totally took ASMR for granted—it seemed such a natural and fundamental aspect of my life experience that it didn’t occur to me to examine it or evaluate it at the time. It was just a feeling I felt, no more unusual than hunger or anticipation. Looking back, though, the two most significant responses that ASMR induced in me were sensations of feeling safe and special, like I was being actively and deeply valued.

5. In the same video, you talk about having serious struggles with school. Were you ever diagnosed with any LDs? If yes, would you care to elaborate on them? I have no learning disabilities that I’m aware of. As a young student, my only major academic challenge was a lousy attitude when it came to learning subjects that I wasn’t interested in. My struggles in school were almost entirely to do with social anxiety, and I still struggle with that today. I distinctly remember sitting in class, day after day, and being overwhelmed by this pervasive sense of wrong-ness, like I just didn’t belong there, and I felt like it must be obvious to everyone. Social anxiety, for me, translates to a very palpable sense of physical awkwardness and displacement. In groups of people, I tend to feel like a too-small shoe that’s been forced onto the wrong foot, or a corner piece that’s been jammed into the middle of the puzzle.

6. Do you know if your son experiences ASMR? I’m not certain, but my guess is that he does not. While my son (he’s three) enjoys a good cuddle from time to time, I’ve never seen him be “blissed out” by any of the typical ASMR stimuli. He gets irritated if I spend too much time washing his hair, and it always makes me laugh, because I think to myself that there are at least a few thousand people out there who would love to let me wash their hair and he’s just barely tolerating it.

7. What caused you to make the jump from merely being an ASMR viewer to being an ASMRtist? I was going through a very challenging and transformative time in my life, and I was eager to explore creative outlets that might reconnect me to parts of myself that I’d been out of touch with for a long time. As a longtime ASMR video viewer, I had considered the possibility of becoming a content creator almost from the beginning, but I had always rejected the idea because of a long list of fears and anxieties that popped up when I thought about it (What if I’m not good at it? What if no one likes my work?). Ultimately, though, when I looked at my reasons for not doing it, I realized that I didn’t feel good about reasons like that governing my life choices.

8. What was it like to make that first video? Were you nervous? Who are some of your ASMR mentors? I was definitely nervous. I was a newly single mom going through an extraordinarily difficult financial period, and I had decided to invest a significant amount of money (for me) on a $100 microphone. I knew that investment would be worth every penny if my new channel was successful, but spending that money would be a huge sore spot on my conscience if the channel tanked. I was quite literally gambling on myself, and it was both very exciting and frightening.

As for mentors, I owe a huge debt to Heather Feather, Lauren Ostrowski Fenton, and Emma from Whispers Red. All three women responded very thoughtfully to questions I sent them before launching my channel, and all three dropped in with messages of support when my first videos were being published. I also have a very special place in my heart for a friend and viewer named Melanie. In the two years I had been watching ASMR videos, I kept seeing Melanie’s feedback pop up in the comment sections of my very favorite content creators, so her presence became sort of a barometer for me—if Melanie was there, I knew I’d probably love the video. I remember being so thrilled when Melanie commented on one of my videos for the first time; it was a real marker of success for me, and it told me that I was achieving the aesthetic that I was aiming for.

9. What are your primary ASMR triggers today? My biggest video triggers are face touching, lights, and all things personal attention. My biggest “real life” trigger is eye exams.

10. Are you still pursuing a nurse’s degree? I am pursuing a nurse’s degree, though I’m currently on a bit of a break. I recently completed all my prerequisite courses and I’m preparing for the exam that will determine my position on the waitlist for the program I’m applying to. All the programs in my area are extremely competitive, so I’ve got a fairly long and challenging (and very exciting!) road ahead of me.

11. Do you apply ASMR techniques in your “bedside manner” with patients? I’m not working directly with patients yet, but I am very curious to see if any of the ASMR stuff translates. I’m definitely interested in the potential for the practical application of ASMR in therapeutic settings, and I’m excited to see where we are with exploring things like that in a few years when I’m entering the medical field as a professional.

12. How has your theater experience helped your ASMR career? In almost every way possible. Acting training has obvious benefits, and my writing and directing experience has been a big help in creating scenarios that feel structured and logical. I also have a background in improv, and that’s been really useful in helping me maintain a natural flow on camera despite most of my videos being just broadly outlined before I shoot them. There are a lot more benefits to my theater background that have less to do with education and more to do with simple experience. Off camera, years of rejection and harsh feedback gave me some preparation to deal rationally with some of the more unkind things that people say about my videos in public forums. Similarly, years of ego-stroking from friends and contemporaries in the theater world have helped me to keep a reasonably level head about all the positive comments I get on my videos.

I feel very lucky in that I’m definitely in a minority—a relatively small percentage of people with degrees in acting (I have a B.A. in Performance) can say that they are actively using their degree to earn any part of their income. I do feel proud that I found an innovative, non-traditional and satisfying way to make that a reality for myself.

13. What advice would you give a new ASMRtist? Develop a clear idea of why you want to make videos and remind yourself regularly. There are a seemingly endless number of ways to get overwhelmed, distracted, or lost in the woods, and a reminder of why you started could just be the light you need to get your bearings.

14. Can you share with us some three things most people may not know about you?

a.) what is your all time favorite book?

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

b.) Favorite band?

My tastes have evolved a lot over the years, but I think the two artists who will never stop being magical for me are Tori Amos and Ani Difranco.

c.) Favorite comfort food?

Creamsicles.

15. Anything new on your channel my readers should look for that you would like to share? I have a pretty long batting list of both traditional and unexpected videos planned. I’m also collaborating with another channel, Classy Dog Films, on an upcoming role play, so viewers can expect some very cool VFX with that one.

16. Do you really spend time thinking about the character in order to develop it properly?  I remember reading some advice on writing a while back, where the author said that writers shouldn’t get too bogged down in describing their characters—much better to choose a few unique, signature details (a bulbous nose; wide set eyes; mouth breathing; a hobbling gait; etc.) and let the reader’s imagination fill in the rest. Along the same lines, Scott McCloud, in Understanding Comics, wonderfully illustrates the ways in which characters become more relatable or universal the more simply they’re drawn.

When creating a character for a video, I usually apply those same concepts and just adopt a few signature quirks or mannerisms (like the Commune woman’s “right on”), then let the viewer fill in the rest.

17. You and I are very similar in the fact that Ilse was your first ASMRtist. What is it about her that appeals to you so much? what other ASMRtists do you like to watch/listen to? We were very lucky; she’s an awesome first ASMRtist to be exposed to! She has such a natural, sincere way about her, and that’s so comforting. When I first started watching ASMR videos, I was very self-conscious about this “weird” new thing that I was getting so much enjoyment out of, so the gentle sincerity of certain artists like Ilse and Maria was especially assuring. Interestingly, that same self-consciousness made me totally intolerant to humor in ASMR videos at first. Any little jokes (like Heather Feather’s wonderful “Easter eggs”) made me self aware in a way that felt very embarrassing until I became more comfortable with ASMR. Now I can barely remember what it was like to be embarrassed by my love of ASMR and I am a huge fan of innovation and humor in ASMR videos.

My YouTube subscription list is about forty artists deep right now, so I’ll just share a few of the content creators I’ve been listening to most this past week: Kiki of Hermetic Kitten, Dmitri of MassageASMR, Laura Lemurex, and Olivia Kissper.

18. Anything else you would like to add? I’d like to give a mention to one of my very favorite non-profits: The American Widow Foundation (http://americanwidowproject.org). And, on a separate note, I’d also like to remind everyone that buying used clothes is a great way to save money, limit waste, and help minimize the amount of money that funds sweatshop industries.

If anyone would like to visit my YouTube channel, they may do so at https://www.youtube.com/user/JellybeanGreenASMR.

Tingle Tuesday: Let’s Kill Them With Kindness

     I am, what I consider to be, a passive consumer of ASMR content. I do not really subscribe to any particular channel. I do not comment on videos or respond to posted comments. I try a bunch of different artists (though naturally I have some core favorites like everyone does.) I appreciate their efforts and have been known to drop a private note thanking them for their work or complimenting them on a particular video. However I generally refrain from making requests or criticizing their efforts. My mother always said, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” and it’s a pretty good rule of thumb. No one enjoys hearing something negative, creepy or rude especially when they have gone to all the trouble to provide something for FREE to help us relax and get some sleep, so who are we to be jerks in return?

While I hope I am not in the minority, it is disheartening to me that yet another ASMRtist has made the decision to leave the YouTube community due to the amount of haters and trolls who have plagued her channel and essentially bullied her from the career/hobby she loved. While Springbok was not among my “go to” ASMRtists, I certainly screened her work and felt she had a lot of talent to offer the community. She struck me as earnest, gentle and kind so I am appalled by some of the things she addressed in her Farewell video and feel compelled to stand up for good citizenship within the ASMR community.

Once upon a time, my youngest son said “Unless you are looking for a dissenting opinion, do not post anything to social media.” He was about 13 at the time and I kind of laughed at his assessment, but in the days, weeks and months that followed, I couldn’t help noticing that he was right. I could say “I think Robert Plant is the greatest singer ever” and people would come out of the woodwork to tell me I was wrong and that Freddie Mercury, Elvis, Roger Daltry, etc. deserved the title. Did I ask? No. I was simply offering my thoughts. I’m not saying that their choices are not just as valid as mine, but I did not open the subject up for debate. It was a comment, not a question. When people post their truth, it is not for us to scrutinize and criticize. It’s a take it or leave it proposition. If an ASMRtists content worked for you, great…chances are they want to hear about it, but do you REALLY think anyone who put their heart and soul into filming and editing for hours wants to hear “This sucks!” or “What’s wrong with you?” “I like your other stuff better!” “What’s with all the noise at 27:05?” This is not “constructive criticism” this is simply being nit picky that their FREE content isn’t to your standard and quite frankly, I think the ASMR community is better than this.

Obviously, we can’t prevent perverts or creepers, trolls or haters from walking the planet, but we can control our reaction to them. We all know that you can catch more flies with honey rather than vinegar, so let’s kill them with kindness. Do not respond to hate with hate. Rather respond with love. When someone says “you’re stupid, vacant or a loser,” either say nothing at all or tell them to have a nice day. If you engage in their game, you are only pouring fuel on their fire and giving them more material to work with.

ASMRtists are by nature, sensitive people. If you have watched many of their “Draw My Life” videos, read their blogs or listened long enough, you know that many of them have endured tragic circumstances and through ASMR, they are trying to give back to those who gave them so much. Yes, they make the decision to become public people, but they do not sign up to be ridiculed. Some of these people are painfully shy and have found YouTube to be their little window into the outside world and to have a social connection with others. It is a shame that people feel compelled to say things that are “fundamentally flawed and rhetorically dangerous” and quite frankly it says more about you than the one donating their time, talent and effort to trying to help others.

Are there ASMRtists who have nefarious pasts? Probably…but I ask you, what  is the point in focusing on that? Should they be a bit more anonymous? Maybe…but that’s not my call and the decision to show one’s face should NOT mean that people are subjected to cruelty. Honestly, it never occurred to me (outside of research for the book) to surf the web for information about these people or to exploit it if I did find out something. It’s not my business! I care about them in the context of what they have to share with me within the ASMR community. No more, no less. If we have become email correspondents, then that is wonderful…but I still hesitate to presume on our electronic friendship. In fact, I can honestly say that outside of an agreed upon interview, I have only asked ONE ASMRtist ONE nagging question, but I preceded it with “You don’t have to give me a full answer, just tell me if I am on the right track.” This individual complimented me on my attention to detail and merely said I would have made a good detective. It was a non-answer, but it FELT like enough and after that, it never crossed my mind again.

My point is people…if the ASMR audience does not start acting like the community we know it to be, we are going to lose the upper hand on this. As ASMR becomes more mainstream, as it is talked about in the media, as books are written, it will attract the dweebs, geeks and weirdos of the world and more ASMRTists will feel scared, threatened and leave altogether. I don’t want to see that happen and I doubt you do either.

Let us stand strong to protect one another, to not get so wrapped up in an online media forum that we lose perspective that these are HUMAN BEINGS we are dealing with. If you are one of the more vocal YouTube viewers, don’t play into the hate. Have courage and be kind and let’s protect our ASMRtists…they are not a dime a dozen.

Tingle On,

J-

 

Tingle Tuesday: The ASMR Games

     When I was little, there were several games I used to play with my friends on the school playground that resulted in an ASMR experience for me. One was the old “cracking an egg on your head” in which a friend would fold their hands together and gently tap on the top of your head until they “broke” their hands apart and let the “goo” from their “egg” ooze down your hair and neck onto your shoulders. Like the Alphabet Game (which I often talk about) it helps if the person you are partnered with is exceptionally good at this game and is neither too hard nor too soft with their actions. (If they give you a bonus ooze, it was even better!) There was also “Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you have your cootie shot” and “plowing the garden” (Again, requires a soft touch in order to achieve the right result)

I could also achieve ASMR tingles when playing “Heads Up, Seven Up.” Now, I don’t know why this effected me this way but it was the moment of anticipation that tended to lull me into a state of bliss. My head would be down, my eyes closed and I would hear footsteps coming toward me not knowing if the person would actually tap my head or not. If I was lucky, the “tapper” would be a girl who would do it so gently I would barely feel it. Boys tended to take the opportunity to smack you up side the head.

However the one game that stands out to me the most, is the one I remember the least. Similar to the Alphabet Game, it involved a lot of back play and a rhyme that I have learned has a number of variations depending on where you lived or how you learned it. Some kids incorporated the egg cracking into this one but for my crew, that was a whole separate thing. The parts I remember the most involved drawing an X on the back, a question mark, maybe an exclamation point (but I can’t be sure), there was something about a knife in the back, during which your partner pretended to stab you gently and then raked their hands down your back saying “blood, blood” then they finished the whole thing by blowing on your back while saying “a cool breeze” and then pinching along your spine while intoning “to make you freeze.”

Now understand, I grew up thinking everyone experienced this wacky little feeling we now know as ASMR and its because of rhymes like this that I did. The person’s partner seems to know the reaction that the person will have when the rhyme is over, so it never occurred to me that it may work on some people and not on others. Our of idle curiosity, I googled the words I could remember just to see if anyone outside of my enclave had ever played this game before.

I was amazed.

I was led to an ASMR subreddit in which people typed their variations on the lyrics and the accompanying actions. Many of them said that this was one of their first ASMR experiences. Considering it had been 36 years since I had played this game, it brought to mind several questions:

1. Who wrote the original rhyme?

2. How did they know what the end result would be?

3. Is this even more of an indication that people have known about ASMR-like experiences for far longer than we think?

4. If so,  how did they explain it?

I would discover that finding the lyrics to the rhyme was far easier than finding the poet behind them, but I did learn that this finger play could be used to calm temper tantrums according to one educational website. It also brings up the long running debate between ASMR and Frisson. Personally, I don’t understand what all of the fuss is about. Both a shiver and the tingles associated with ASMR (and goosebumps for that matter) are biofeedback responses that occur in much the same way. As someone who experiences ASMR and frisson and goosebumps, I can attest to the fact that I can achieve all three at the same time, any of them by themselves or a combination thereof. I become very sad when I see people bash those who ask about shivers and tell them that it is not ASMR they experience. Well….how do they know that for sure? After all, our triggers vary, who is to say that the way in which we recognize it does not vary as well?

Many of my friends from “back in the day” will say that they do not experience ASMR, but if you bring up these various playground games, it’s amazing how they not only know what you are talking about, but also the feeling they experienced as well. Now, I’m not suggesting that we are all tingle heads, but I think kids are way more in tune with their ASMR than adults will ever be. Some of us just hang on to it longer than others.

Tingle Tuesday: Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR can be pre-ordered on Amazon NOW!

I’m telling you…it pays to Google yourself every once in a while! You never know what you may find. Today, I was looking to update my author page over at Amazon and lo and behold I not only found out that my latest release, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Catholicism has three 5-Star reviews (from people I don’t know, even!) but I saw the pre-order page for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR! As promised it is coming May 5th and I can’t tell you how excited I am about this! No doubt we will be putting together a launch party here in Indianapolis for the book and I hope all of my Indiana tingle heads will join me for what is sure to be a fun gathering of minds! It is possible that I will be having some ASMR demonstrations at the event as well!

     So…here is the description as written on the preview page: ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and it’s a relaxed, tingling feeling that many people report having as a response to particular stimuli, such as close personal attention, tapping, or whispering. Although its experiencers say they have been aware of the sensation all their lives, it has only recently come together as a public phenomenon thanks to YouTube, where ASMRtists now post thousands of videos that simulate the ASMR experience and help viewers fall asleep when no other remedies work. The ASMR community is generous and connected, and often viewers will become content producers themselves in an effort to give back to those who have helped them.

Pretty cool huh? I really like the cover as well. I was really partial to the swirly design because for me, the tingles do not feel like shocks but a warm fuzzy feeling that swirls around me and I like the fact that the swirls seem to start in the eye, based on what someone is watching and then move into the brain. I really hope you all like it as well!

So my question to you all is, if you could have a three-minute personal ASMR session, would you sign up for something visual like towel folding? Something audio-based such as whispering, tapping or scratching or something tactile such as hair brushing, a hand massage, makeup brushes on your face or a few rounds of the Alphabet Game?

Tingle Tuesday: ASMR Book is coming in May 2015

      It’s official, I have heard from Alpha books that The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR is coming in May 2015. I have seen the book’s front matter already and I can tell you that I am super excited to share some information with everyone! (No this is not the cover BTW, I am just using it in the mean time until I know what the official one will be!)

What can you expect from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR? The book is split into five parts, which tackle a different aspect of the phenomenon:

• Part One – ASMR Basics: This covers what ASMR is, the science of sleep and why everyone is using it to distress their lives.
• Part Two – The Origins of ASMR: This section talks about some of the other alternative therapies that ASMR is related to or can be experienced within such as meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback, etc. This section also offers an overview of the ASMR community and its history.
• Part Three – Finding your triggers: This explains how to tap into how you receive information, asks you to recall warm, fuzzy feelings of your childhood, explores visual, auditory and tactile triggers and explains the brain wave patterns where the ASMR experience tends to occur.
• Part Four – Applying ASMR: This section is for those who either want to try and trigger people in everyday life (perhaps through their “bedside manner” or create content online as an ASMRtist.
• Part Five – Becoming part of the ASMR community: This section investigates the basic etiquette of interacting online with ASMRtists and other tingle heads as well as the realities of “going pro” and making money from your content.

In addition, the book will give you a list of the Top 100 ASMR artists, a sample role play and guided meditation, several do-it-yourself prop ideas and plenty of tips from the top ASMRtists all over the world! I can’t tell you how hard Ilse and I worked on this book and we sure hope that everyone enjoys it. I’ll be back next week, with a very special announcement about my future projects within the ASMR community.

 

Tingle Tuesday: My top Five ASMRtists

Today, I thought I would talk a little about the top ASMRtists that trigger me. As most of you know, this is a very subjective thing and not a one-size-fits-all proposition. While I am sure most of these names will be familiar to a lot of my fellow ASMR experiencers…if you are just starting out in the world of ASMR…here are a few names to know! (For the record…these rankings are based on who I discovered first, second, third and so on and do not reflect a preference of one over another.)

    1. WhisperSweetie: WhisperSweetie’s “Hand Relaxation Number 2” was the first ASMR video I ever watched (and promptly fell asleep to.) It is only about 15 minutes long but it was enough to knock me out and I would probably be sleeping still if it were not for that music at the end! LOL I can still remember debating about watching it as I didn’t know what “Asmr” (read as a word and not an acronym) was. However…I suffer from terrible tendonitis and carpel tunnel so this video works like a tonic for me and her subsequent “Hands Relaxation Number 3” is the perfect length for a short cat nap!

     2. WaterWhispers Isle: Dear, sweet Ilse….my co-author and fellow journey woman on my latest literary adventure was the second ASMRtist whose screen name I could remember and whose videos I sought out. During one of our early phone calls (after she let me fan girl for a few minutes) I told her that I was addicted to the way she says “umm hmm.” (If you are familiar with her work, then you know what I am talking about.) She laughed and said she gets that a lot and this exchange totally broke the ice between the two of us. I had to laugh though the first time we were brainstorming some ideas for the book and I said, “Where did you find that?” to which she answered, “Let me look that up for you.” Now of course she said it in her “regular” voice…but again…if you know her videos you know how that sentence sounds and it was the biggest triple trip ever!

    3. ViniVidiVulpes: Violet is my hometown ASMRtist. We are both from the Hoosier Heartland and although she is a bit of a mystery, I have dreams of running into her on the street. Violet’s videos are not as frequent as other ASMRtists, but she was the first one I found that had an hour long video that enabled me to get a really decent amount of sleep without watching the clock. Violet keeps her videos fairly simple, but her soft gaze, gentle smile and deliberate movements always make viewing them worth my time. I highly recommend her.

   4. Heather Feather: Although I have been watching Heather for a looonnnng time (well in ASMR time, it would be considered a long time) I have to admit that I almost didn’t click on her videos because her big soulful eyes seemed so sad to me. That being said, I am sooooo glad I did! I have had the pleasure of watching Heather grow from a cat food-balancing camera operator into one of the Coppola’s of ASMR content creation. Heather has upped the ante for everyone and is constantly looking for ways to push the art form forward. I am proud to say that she and I have chatted in the past and she has been very complimentary of my work on this book. Definitely worth checking out. (Don’t let the costumes scare you off! LOL)

   5. Olivia Kisspers ASMR: Another dear acquaintance with whom I have had the pleasure of exchanging messages with. This woman’s hands are hypnotic and I dare you to stay awake for long! Olivia’s videos have come a long way in the past year and like a lot of ASMRtists, it’s interesting to see where someone begins and how their art evolves. Olivia has been a quick study and if you do manage to listen to a lot of her commentary on her videos, you will find that she has a very dark sense of humor at times. ha ha! Many of the long-time ASMRtists do and that’s great. They are constantly looking for ways to incorporate new ideas for old triggers and it is obvious that Olivia has a lot of fun with it.

Tingle Tuesday: ASMR Book Cover Concepts

Hello Everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you some super exciting news about the upcoming ASMR book. Only a couple of people have seen these and nothing is official yet of course, but I wanted to show you some of the possible cover designs for the Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR. When I was asked what I would like to see on the cover, I offered a few thoughts and these were some of the ideas the cover team came up with. While I have no influence on which one will make the final cut, I am curious as to which ones my readers and fellow Tingle Heads  like best. I will also offer what I like about them and who knows…maybe your pick will wind up as the end result. Ready?

1. Because so many people describe the ASMR sensation as “sparks” or “shocks,” I like the idea of the cover representing something that looks a bit sparkly and something that reflects the neurotransmitters in our brains. Short, simple and to the point. It is also very similar to other ASMR illustrations I have seen which makes it fairly identifiable. What do you think? Do you like it?

 

2. One thing I really like about this one is the fact that it appears that the ASMR sensation extends beyond ones brain and it breaks up the solid background. I have to admit that this also reminds me of those little static electricity balls that we used to put our hands on and watch as the electrical currents “found” our fingertips. I also kind of like the connection to the brain and the added detail of the organ itself. Is this one your favorite?

 

3. The thing that I find awesome about this cover option is how different it looks from any other ASMR “illustration” I have ever seen. I like the added color and I especially like the way that the swirls almost originate in the eye which lends itself nicely to the idea that we watch these videos on YouTube. It implies the multi-sensory aspect of ASMR. What do you think of this one?

 

4. This is another fairly simple concept, but I really like the glowing brain and the way that they extend the illumination beyond the head. It’s not as colorful and I am a little worried that it doesn’t illustrate “what” ASMR is, but it does offer an image that is extremely eye-catching. Tell me, would you buy the book based on this cover?

 

I will be very curious to read what you have to say about these covers and which ones you like the best. Just remember that there is no guarantee ANY of them will be the final cover. (When I know what it is…I promise that I will announce it here first!) Until next time, keep calm and tingle on!

JY-

Tingle Tuesday: General Update and Thank Yous

    Hey Everyone!

I am so sorry that I have been so bad at posting (I say that every time though, don’t I?) but I have been hard at work on the edits for “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR” and I cannot wait to see this book in print! I hope you all will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and I am in hopes that it will answer some questions, spark a few major scientific studies and help everyone learn a lot more about this phenomenon so many of us experience!

I won’t lie, it has been a LOT of hard work and for my efforts, I managed to give myself an ulcer. How’s that for irony? I wrote a book about relaxation and gave myself an ulcer! But I am on meds, trying to take it easy and still deliver the manuscript on time! I think it is scheduled for publication in Spring of 2015. (As we get closer to the actual date, I will of course let you all know what’s going on.)

So many people have been so helpful in the writing of this book and I cannot thank them enough. There was simply not enough room in the book to acknowledge everyone I wanted to, so I want to thank my family for putting up with me as I buried myself in my office and talked about tingles morning, noon and night. I want to thank all of my friends who politely asked “How is the book going?” and probably regretted that question when I launched into my diatribe. I want to thank Dr. Craig Richard who kindly read over a lot of the chapters and offered his insight into my scientific narrative. Even though I have a bit of a medical background, I can’t thank him enough for the extra set of eyes. I also need to thank Ilse Blansrt for spending hours on the phone with me and becoming like a soul sister to me, Heather Feather for generously answering so many questions, Olivia Kissper for reaching out and contributing her thoughts to the book, and every tingle head who sent me personal messages and said thank you for doing this. I hope that throughout these 270 pages you learn far more than you ever knew before about this phenomenon: what it is, why it seems to work, what is going on in the body at the time of the tingles, why certain things are so darned appealing to us, and how we can use ASMR techniques in our every day lives.

I promise to try and update a little more regularly now that I am coming to the end of the writing portion of this project and I will start offering some thoughts on some of my favorite ASMRtists in the near future and where I think that this art form can go from here. Until next time…tingle on!

Julie