INDIANAPOLIS — Julie Young, author of Famous Faces of WTTV-4, Fifteen Minutes of Fame and co-author of The Idiot’s Guide to Catholicism has teamed up with YouTube personality and Toronto resident Ilse “The WaterWhispers” Blansert to pen The Idiot’s Guide to ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response)
“ASMR is a term used to describe a tingly feeling that begins in the head or scalp and moves throughout the body causing it to relax,” Young said. “It is caused by a variety of visual, auditory, and cognitive triggers including whispering, tapping, crinkling and other everyday sounds that people find soothing.”
If you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone. In fact, many people who have experienced ASMR throughout their lives are surprised to learn that the sensation has a name and that others feel it as well. They are also surprised to discover a thriving online ASMR community comprised of ASMR content creators such as Blansert that have turned their webcams into “tingle transmittors” for their fans who rely on their videos for natural and effective rest and relaxation.
“Some people refer to it as the Internet’s cure for insomnia,” Young said. Although she has experienced ASMR since the age of seven, Young did not know what caused the feeling or if everyone else could feel it as well. After a friend gave her a progressive relaxation/biofeedback recording, she realized it was possible to seek out triggers that could result in the tingly sensation and in 2009, she discovered Blansert and the early ASMR community on YouTube.
“Ilse was one of the first content creators that truly triggered me,” she said. “Prior to that, I listened to a lot guided meditations read in normal voices and coupled with nature sounds. However, when I read a description on one of her videos that promised ‘head tingles’ I instinctively knew what she was talking about even though I didn’t know what ASMR stood for at the time.”
After doing some initial research on the ASMR phenomenon and seeing it featured on ABC World News Tonight, Dr. Oz and in Time, Young determined there was more to learn and in early 2014, she approached Blansert and asked her to collaborate on a book that would examine ASMR from several angles and provide a starting point for future scientific research.
“This book offers an easy-to-understand explanation of what ASMR is, how it works and it’s benefits; an exploration of popular triggers and how you can use to get a good night’s sleep once and for all,” Young says.
Young will launch The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR on May 29 at Bookmamas, 9 S. Johnson Avenue in Irvington from 5-8 p.m. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR ($19.95) is available in paperback and ebook wherever books are sold. For more information, visit www.idiotsguides.com.
