40
ations and physiotherapy to
learn to walk again. ‘It forced
me to stop,’ she says. Coinciden-
tally, 2010 was also the year the term
ASMR was first coined in America.
Two years later, suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder and
struggling to sleep, Emma looked
on YouTube for something to soothe
her and found a video of rainforest
sounds. ‘Then I found ASMR videos
and realised there was a name for
something I’d felt my whole life.’DISCOVERING
HER SPARKLES
FROM childhood, Emma had
experienced a sensation she likens
to ‘pins and needles, but a really
pleasant version.’ She calls them‘sparkles’ and says that after the
feeling has passed, ‘it’s as if all the
tensions in the body are released.’
So she began to make her own
videos, initially just using an iPad
to film herself speaking. ‘I just
introduced myself,’ she says. ‘It
was really wobbly and amateurish.
I didn’t expect anyone to watch,
but people responded straight away
and were really kind, telling me I
had a nice voice.’
Initially, she made her offerings
infrequently and didn’t monetise
them. ‘I used them as a little escape,
something just for me,’ she says.
But gradually, her following
increased and she began making
videos every week. ‘I didn’t tell
friends and family – I didn’t even
tell my husband. Everyone found
out when I appeared on LooseWHERE IT
ALL BEGAN
EMMA, who lives in South London
with husband Nam and children
Mia, 15, and Bo, nine, was living a
frazzled life as a small business-
woman before she discovered
ASMR. ‘Like a lot of women, I was
worn out,’ she says. ‘I was constantly
running around doing things for my
family and had no time for myself.’
That changed in 2010 when she
was involved in a car accident. Her
injuries resulted in a long hospital
stay, followed by a year of oper-E
MMA SMITH is standing in the
small, soundproofed building in
her back garden that she calls
the Tingle Shed. Piled around
her are intriguing props: folded
squares of fluffy fabric, a white
doctor’s coat, loose hair exten-
sions and boxes filled with rice.
Surrounded by cameras and highly sensitive
microphones, she runs her long, crimson-
painted nails back and forth across the sur-
face of a sequined make-up bag. ‘Hello beautiful
you,’ she whispers, slowly and encouragingly.
‘Relax. Be calm.’
The gentle scratching of her nails and the
hypnotic tone of her voice are pleasantly sooth-
ing, certainly.
But to the hundreds of thousands – sometimes
millions – of devotees who watch her videos,
they’re nothing short of an addiction.
Better known online as WhispersRed, Emma
is Britain’s leading practitioner of ASMR, or
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, the
triggering of ‘brain tingles’ which trickle
down the neck and spine and promote a sense
of deep relaxation. Followers claim it helps
them beat anxiety, insomnia and stress.
To activate the tingles, 40-year-old Emma uses
a variety of stimuli, which could be anything
from the sound of her brushing and snipping a
lock of artificial hair to the pleasing crackle
her fluffy microphone covers make as she
touches them. She gently scrunches plastic,
taps surfaces and crinkles fabric while whisper-
ing in her mellifluous tones.
Sometimes the mother of two even acts out
different roles, dressing up in a doctor’s uni-
form and pretending to check the viewer’s ears
and eyes with a bedside manner to pacify even
the most terrified hospital-phobe.
It may sound slightly bonkers, but the
20 0 million views and 800,000 dedicated sub-
scribers her hypnotic videos have amassed
on YouTube over the past six years sug-
gest otherwise.
In her most popular video, Emma
screws and unscrews the lid on a jar
and runs a chopstick through a
bowl of dry rice. It has been seen
almost 12 million times since she
posted it a year ago.
Recently, ASMR has exploded
from a niche online movementBy Polly
DunBar
into a genuine phenomenon,
and one which has transformed
Emma’s life. Business is boom-
ing and brands are clamouring
to sponsor her videos. She has
hosted live ASMR events, and
presented a podcast series fea-
turing model Daisy Lowe and
musician Professor Green which is
sponsored by Fuze Tea. And last
month, she released a series of
ASMR audiobooks.
Every day Emma gets recognised
on the street by devoted fans who
frequently stop and thank her for
helping them sleep or making them
feel calmer.
Now she has become the first
‘ASMRtist’, as she describes her-
self, to write a book about its power.
Unwind Your Mind, out next week,
is the story of how she discovered
this extraordinary phenomenon,
with an element of self-help for
those interested in exploring it.
Billed as an ‘entry-level’ guide
to ASMR, it offers exercises and
tips for how we can all find our
own sensitivity, which she says
will ‘promote self-awareness and
self-development’.QUOTES
of the week
‘I f****** (don’t care
if I get fined) love
Test cricket.’
Ben Stokes
tweets after his unbeaten
century helped England clinch
an unbelievable Ashes victory
over Australia at Headingley.‘Here is a man who
cannot stand the
Queen and wants to
get rid of her, asking her
to use constitutional
powers he does not
respect to overrule
a democratically
elected Government.’
Tory Iain Duncan Smith
attacks Jeremy Corbyn over
his bid to stop Boris Johnson
proroguing Parliament.‘When I hear the name
Boris Johnson, for
some reason the words
“rope” and “lamp-post”
come to mind.’
Author Philip Pullman
sparks anger with his criticism
of the PM – he was later
forced to apologise for his
choice of language.‘Advert not
gone to plan?
Call us to
secure your place on our
marketing course. We
even accept thick cops.’
Inspector Aaron Clarke’s
mocking response after
Derby University urged
under-achieving students
to join its policing courses.‘The only real difference
between men and
women in the kitchen
is men don’t have to put
up with this nauseating,
antiquated bull****.’
Chef Neil Rankin
reacts after Marco Pierre
White said women
were not strong enough
to carry heavy pans.‘If you’ve got the sea
and a bloke then he
has to take his kit off...
I think it’s unnecessary.’
Veteran actress Anne Reid
believes there is too much
male nudity on TV.‘Cornucopia of failure.’
Broadcaster
Jeremy Paxman’s
description of former
Prime Minister Theresa May.SHED YOUR ANXIETIES: Emma Smith in the hut where she
makes her hit videos. Below: Stroking the microphone cover‘I leap out
roaring, feel
a hammer
blow to my
ankle and
end up
whimpering
like the
Cowardly
Lion I’m
portraying.’
Bake Off star
Prue Leith
who snapped
her Achilles
during a skit
for the show.
craig hibbert / getty / alamy