Sunday, March 16, 2014

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

Story time! 

Once upon a time I went to a Transiberian Orchestra concert with my then roommate. It was amazing. It was the kind of amazing that was kind of spiritual and kept sending intense chills through my body. This intense sensation would wash over in me waves from time to time as I was listening when some chord or chorus particularly spoke to me on deeper level. After a while I noticed that every time I felt this intense sensation my roommate sitting next to me would shiver. I asked her what was wrong and she said she kept getting a cold draft. She thought she was sitting over a vent. I paid attention the next couple times it happened and the correlation became clear. Every time the intensity of the experience would wash over me, my roommate next to me would feel the energy washing through me as a cold sensation coming from my direction. I was the draft. It seems like a crazy story, but the correlation was very real.

Last week I learned about ASMR: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and that story instantly came to mind. I think what I was experiencing is similar, but this is a different thing, too. Do you get chills in the back of your head when someone brushes your hair or when you run your hands through a bowl of sand of a bag of rice? This is that. And there is an entire community around it on youtube and around the internet. Some of the videos are simple "trigger videos" of people brushing things on the microphone to cause that sensation in you, the viewer, or running their hands over different textures and whispering a story. Whispering is a big trigger for a lot of people, so it's a huge part of the community. Even if you don't experience what some refer to a "braingasm," the effect can be extremely relaxing. 

There are also videos, like the one I present to you here, that provide a kind of psychological release, as well. The video below is by a woman who refers to herself as Heather Feather. In the video she plays the role of a kind of brain maintenance professional and throughout the course of the video she unlocks compartments of your brain and cleans out the negative things she finds there such as guilt which she brushes away and negative thoughts she clips out. The video is binaural and much of the experience's magic is listening to it through headphones. She moves around various parts of your mind and you hear her in different areas as she's working. The video is for sleep and relaxation. I was awake until almost the very last moment, but so completely relaxed and in a wonderful state. The sleep I got afterwards was amazing.

I haven't listened to a lot of other vides, but on a site called ASMR Hub there is a lot of variety. I tried out a short Chakra Opening video that was nice and there are some MP3s with guided meditations and things. Every video isn't for every person and the whole concept isn't for everyone either, but if it seems like something that you might find relaxing, comforting, stimulatinng, or in any way useful, I encourage you to explore places like youtube and channel's like Heather's or spend some time browsing the Hub. I'm glad that I was turned on to this by a friend who recently discovered it. I look forward to discovering new ways to use it as a tool as I learn more about it and find more resources. 


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