(^41)
Women.’ Eventually, Emma invested
in increasingly sophisticated micro-
phones and cameras and had her
Tingle Shed built and soundproofed.
The turquoise-painted building at
the back of Emma’s garden is
where she films her videos.
Like a professional studio, her
camera equipment is always set
up and ready to go, with various
backdrops to add variety to her
films. Most importantly, the Tingle
Shed is away from the hustle and
bustle of the family home, so she
can record in silence.
So sensitive is the equipment
that Emma avoids filming within
an hour either side of eating,
because the microphones will pick
up the slightest stomach rumble.
FILMS THAT
CHANGE LIVES
EMMA receives a percentage of the
profits YouTube earns from brands
whose adverts appear on her vid-
eos. Although she won’t reveal the
exact figures, two years ago she
was able to give up her day job, run-
ning a business with her husband.
Mostly, she insists, she is driven
by the constant stream of messages
she receives from her followers,
who tell her that her videos have
changed their lives.
‘They say the videos have helped
them feel less anxious or depressed,
or helped them cope with pain and
loneliness,’ she says.
But she’s quick to point out that
‘ASMR should never replace tradi-
tional therapy or medication. If
people need it, they should always
seek professional help.’
That said, she admits: ‘One day,
I’d love ASMR to be a registered
complementary therapy, like reiki
or sound healing.
‘It’s a relaxation technique, a form
of mindfulness, and there’s plenty
of scientific evidence for the men-
tal and physical benefits of slowing
the heart and breathing rate.’
But is there a more sinister side
to these videos? The breathy
tones used by mostly attractive
female ASMRtists have led to accu-
sations that the practice is simply
‘whisper porn’.
Emma has no time for such inter-
pretations. ‘You could be talking
about how to clean a kettle and
some people would find it sexual,’
she asserts.
‘Initially, I did get some emails
asking me to do certain things, but
once they realised I was never
going to, they stopped.’
Emma concedes that not every-
body experiences the tingling feel-
ing. ‘My husband and daughter
don’t get the tingles,’ she says.
It’s thought that perhaps up to a
third of the population do, though.
And even those who don’t can feel
a deep sense of relaxation from
triggers which provoke memories
from childhood, such as noises
associated with nurture.
‘Soft, caring sounds, such as hair
brushing, make us feel comfortable
and safe,’ Emma says.
68 MILLION WAYS TO
TRANSFORM YOUR DAY
WITH SOOTHING VIDEOS
HERE are Emma’s top tips to
make ASMR work for you –
whether you need help getting
to sleep, a method for calming
anxiety, or simply as a way to
unwind at the end of the day...
WORK OUT YOUR
OWN TRIGGERS
EMMA recommends thinking
about times as a child when you
might have felt ‘comforted,
absorbed, or dreamy’, such as
‘someone stroking your hair or
whispering in your ear’.
‘Now, ask yourself if there’s
anything in your environment
around you that you find
particularly comforting,’ she
says. ‘Do you subconsciously
play with your hair or fiddle
with a piece of jewellery?
‘When you become tired and
overwhelmed, what places
do you retreat to? What it is
that brings comfort to you?
Is it a sound or a
texture, perhaps?’
If nothing
occurs to you,
she suggests
taking three
simple triggers,
such as a piece
of crinkly plastic,
like a wrapper, a
small bowl of dried
rice and a large
make-up brush.
‘Find a quiet, calm
place to sit and take
three long, slow
breaths in and out,’ she
says. ‘Take one of the sound
triggers – the wrapper or the
rice – and slowly and carefully
make sounds with it. Notice how
it makes you feel.
‘Next, take a touch trigger, for
instance the brush, and use it to
draw shapes on your forearm –
up and down, round and round
in circles. Is there a sound you
liked the most? Did you enjoy
any of the touch prompts?
These could be your triggers.’
For Emma, stroking her face
with a make-up brush is enough
to calm her instantly.
The key, she says, lies in
noticing what’s around us and
becoming more aware of the
impact it has on our
senses. Then we
can begin to
incorporate the
sensations we
find relaxing
into our
daily lives.
WHERE TO FIND
YOUR TINGLES
IDEALLY, try to be somewhere
comfortable with as few
distractions as possible.
Watching a ASMR video in
bed right before you go to sleep
may help.
However, it’s not necessary to
be alone, she says. You can
experience the full effects of
videos in a public place, maybe
on your journey home.
Emma recommends wearing
headphones to drown out
background noise.
Next, decide what video to
watch, and there are plenty to
choose from. When you search
‘ASMR’ on YouTube, there are
more than 68 million results.
Emma suggests thinking of
sounds you might normally feel
comforted by and search from
there. If you don’t know what
these are, try videos with the
most common triggers, including
gentle tapping, brushing,
crinkling and whispering.
Many people choose not to
watch the visuals at all and just
listen to the sounds. There are
also many sound-only playlists
on Spotify and Apple Music.
MAKE IT PART OF
YOUR ROUTINE
EMMA swears by a nightly
routine, watching an ASMR video
as she gets ready for bed and
using ‘self-soothing’ techniques
such as stroking the inside of
her arms with her fingertips.
Even an activity as mundane
as making a cup of tea affords
an opportunity for ASMR. While
stirring the tea, ‘listen to the
gentle clink of the spoon
against the cup.’
If this is beginning to
sound a little absurd,
Emma acknowledges that
this is a common initial
reaction. ‘It’s so alien to
people that you can
sit for half an hour
watching someone
tapping on a cup,’
she says. ‘So many
people would see it
as ridiculous.’
But she urges everyone to
put aside their prejudices and
give it a try. ‘Lots of us are
caught in a trap of being busy
all the time and feeling anxious
if we’re not doing something for
a moment,’ she says.
‘ASMR isn’t just about
experiencing the tingle, or
physical sensation. It’s a way
of taking a small amount of
time to focus on yourself and
feel calmer.
‘And in this incredibly hectic,
stressful world, we can all
benefit from that.’
lUnwind Your Mind: The
Life-Changing
Power Of
ASMR, by Emma
WhispersRed, is
published by Rider on
Thursday at £14.99.
Order for £11.99
before September 30
on 0844 517 0640
or at mailshop.co.uk.
Millions of fans say they’re
soothed by her weird videos
of scratching nails, crinkling
paper and gentle murmurs...
So can
Emma really
whisper all
your worries
away from
a hut she
calls the
Tingle Shed?
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