Mental Health and self care is very important to incorporate in your everyday routine to be able to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. When things get overwhelming at school, sometimes we can tend to forget to take a second for ourselves. When I have a very busy week or couple of days, the hardest part for me personally is trying to fall asleep at night. My mind starts to make lists of things to do and I find myself laying awake until 2:00am thinking about all my work. A couple of months ago, I came across a relaxing technique that changed the way I reduce stress in my own like.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response or more commonly known as ASMR is a sensory response individuals experience in response to different audio and visual stimuli. It has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years on social media on mediums such as YouTube and Snapchat. There is such a large range of different kinds of ASMR such as whispering, tapping, role play, mouth sounds and more. Not everyone enjoys or responds to the same triggers and so the process to see what works for you is somewhat of a “try and error”. Most of my exploration of ASMR was done on YouTube. I was already on YouTube most nights before falling asleep and so i slowly started to incorporate into my bedtime routine. When you experience ASMR, I think the best way I can describe it is like tingles that start in your brain and go down into your spine. Again, it doesn’t work the same for everyone! Some individuals might feel it differently or experience relaxation differently.
Some people even claim that ASMR might have healing properties for individuals with chronic pain or addiction but this has not been able to be confirmed medically. Although ASMR has not been scientifically proven to have healed anyone, it is none the less a very good alternative to other forms of relaxation. I believe it’s always a good idea to explore different ways and methods to relax and unwind that work best for you, because finding a balance between work and personal “you” time is incredibly important not just for your time at university but for your entire life. Also, if I hadn’t continued exploring different relaxation techniques, I never would of found ASMR which is now an integral part in my routine. The way people practice self care can be different for everyone and there are so many different methods such as baking, journal writing, drawing/sketching, watching television, and so many more. As ASMR has shown us, you do not need to follow the conventional relaxation techniques. There are so many alternatives to fit everyone’s lifestyle and personality.
Here are some popular ASMR YouTube channels I recommend checking out:
Gibi ASMR
ASMR Darling
Gentle Whispering ASMR
WhispersRed ASMR
EMOJOIE CUISINE
References:
Barratt EL, Davis NJ. (2015) Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR): a flow-like mental state. PeerJ 3:e851 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.851
SaveSave