Unwind Your Mind: The life-changing power of ASMR

by Emma WhispersRed

Simple daily practices to harness the healing power of sound

A mind-tingling massage, ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian response is a form of sound healing that helps to ease stress and anxiety, improve sleep and enhance social connection.

Join the millions experiencing the deeply calming, multi-sensory sensation with celebrated ASMRtist Emma WhispersRed as she reveals how to unwind your mind and harness the power of ASMR in everyday life.

'Our studies now provide scientific evidence in support of the idea that ASMR is relaxing – it isn’t just people telling us that ASMR makes them feel relaxed, their physiology is telling us the same thing too... Emma’s insights will encourage and guide others to discover the potential benefits and power of ASMR' Dr Giulia Poerio, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Psychology, Self Help, Health, Personal Development, Spirituality

5 pages, Audible Audio

Published August 8, 2019

Reviews

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting insight into ASMR, the way it has taken off in popularity and how it can be a useful tool for many who experience it, especially in terms of helping with sleep, anxiety or even a distraction from tinnitus. This also provides a nice insight into people who are more sensitive, both in an overall sense, as well as to sounds. There are lots of thoughts on ways to incorporate ASMR into your daily routine, many of the exercises revolving around mindfulness and being present in the moment. Obviously if you don't like ASMR, these won't be things you are drawn to, but if you do there are some nice and fairly practical ideas on how to do this. If you are interested in ASMR in theory, but don't enjoy listening it, I would suggest buying a physical copy of the book, not the audio, as it is read in Emma's AMSR-style way, which I enjoy, but not everyone will. I'll leave a link to Emma's video where she discusses the book incase anyone is interested:
https://youtu.be/5dV0_OMxEZw

This article isn't related to the book, but covered some things I've been thinking about since finishing it, so I'll leave the link here:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Than a Feeling
Review of the HarperAudio audiobook edition (August 2019) released later as the Harper One paperback & eBook (November 2019)

Unwind Your Mind is a combination memoir, history and self-help book on the ASMR ( Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) phenomenon. Emma WhispersRed describes her own personal experience with the sensation and her gradual discovery of its online community and its history. The internet has allowed for this previously private experience to become a shared one. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in the pre-internet age, experiencers would never meet any one else in real life who also had the sensation. Most would then not discuss it further when met with puzzlement and disinterest by others. This has changed quite dramatically in the past 10 years or so and also with the sensation having been assigned a name. There is now a gradual trend towards academic studies to examine the sensation which has been shown to demonstrate the beneficial effects of a relaxed heart rate and a meditative state.

Emma WhispersRed is the ASMRtist performance pseudonym of Emma Smith, who lives with her family outside of London, England. She is one of the veterans of the ASMR performance world having amassed over 900,000 YouTube followers in 7 years. Emma narrates most of this audiobook edition except for a brief passage narrated by Kristin Atherton.

Trivia and Links
Emma Smith's co-authored research paper More than a feeling: Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is characterized by reliable changes in affect and physiology is available online here.

On a personal research note, I have been collecting instances of ASMR in fiction and have tagged those on a fiction shelf. If anyone reading this comes across further examples I would be very happy to hear about them. Thanks in advance!

Example passages will usually describe a tingling sensation triggered by sound (usually a calm voice or a tapping/friction sound) that moves down from the head into the body (shoulders and spine) such as:

"K...R..." said the nursemaid, and Septimus heard her say "Kay Arr" close to his ear, deeply, softly, like a mellow organ, but with a roughness in her voice like a grasshopper's, which rasped his spine deliciously and sent running up into his brain waves of sound which, concussing, broke. A marvellous discovery indeed - that the human voice in certain atmospheric conditions (for one must be scientific, above all scientific) can quicken trees into life! - excerpt from Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

I was listening to the quick regular tapping of a woodpecker when slowly a chill feeling seemed to grow up from the small of my back to my shoulders, in a constricting spasm like a shudder, and at the roots of my hair a tingling sensation began and ran down over the surface of my flesh, leaving me goose-fleshed and cold, though I was damp with sweat. - excerpt from the short story The Old Chief Mshlanga in This Was the Old Chief's Country by Doris Lessing.

[Ryszard · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in ASMR, it is the first book you definitely should read. You will find out, what ASMR is, how to benefit from it and how to implement it into your daily life. But in my opinion, it is actually Emmas wonderful personality that makes this book a masterpiece. You can sense it almost in every word and in every sentence you read. So make sure you sit commutable, grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy this spiritual journey through the ASMR universe.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come soon. Truly loved this book!

[Brenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook of this and loved it.

[quinnster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting, but it was interesting to read about the beginnings of ASMR. I used to listen to a lot more, but recently haven't been despite knowing how relaxing it's been for me in the past. Maybe I'll go back to it!

[Emily Danielson]

I enjoy listening to and watching several ASMRtists on YouTube for relaxation and to help me fall asleep at night, so when I saw this book, I was super excited to read it. I enjoyed the first portion of the book where it delved into what ASMR is and how to incorporate it into your daily life. However, as I read on, it became more of a guide on meditation (which I don’t agree with unless it’s meditating on God’s Word) and doing activities such as mindfulness and affirming statments such as „I am enough”, which I couldn’t disagree with more. I still found this to be an interesting read so I just docked two stars.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been aware of ASMR as a self-therapy technique for several years now, and have used it myself. Emma is one of my favorite ASMRtists on YouTube and when I realized she had written a book, I was very interested in reading it to learn more about her as a person and about this fascinating and complicated topic from her perspective. Having already been familiar with ASMR, I wasn't sure how much I would get out of this book, but I came away with way more than I thought I would!

If you have never heard of ASMR or are just starting to explore it, this book would be a good introduction to the concept (and, ASMR aside, could be helpful in other ways, which I'll talk about later). Emma is a well-known and trusted content creator in the ASMR YouTube community and the wider ASMR community. The book is easy to follow and understand, and I found the way Emma describes ASMR and the nuances around it to be spot on (at least in my own personal experience).

If you haven't experienced ASMR or aren't sure you have, the closest thing to describe the sensation would be what Emma talks about called "frisson," which is basically the chills you get when something uncanny happens or if you listen to a piece of music and it sends what feels like anticipatory tingles all over you. That isn't ASMR (mainly because it is doing the opposite in giving you a rush instead of calming you), but the physical feeling is similar to some ASMR experiences.

This book discusses:
• Scientific study surrounding ASMR
• What is ASMR and and what is mistaken for ASMR, as well as the complete opposites of ASMR (such as "misophonia" or "misokinesia")
• Common misconceptions and awkwardness surrounding ASMR
• How Emma herself found ASMR and uses it in her own life
• Types and nature of triggers people gravitate to and the differences between those
• Finding the triggers that work for you and how to explore this new world
• Using ASMR in your daily life by adapting familiar meditation or affirmation techniques to have a more ASMR-related focus
• Testimonials and experiences from ASMR

Overall, I felt this quote about halfway in summarizes why reading a book like this can be beneficial and worthwhile for anyone:

"I believe we all have an innate understanding of the concept of ASMR and that it isn't very different from so many things that are naturally incorporated into our lives already because they help us to feel good. We just need an explanation that makes sense for us as individuals."

The exploration of ASMR is another way to gain self-awareness, and this had never occurred to me before. But, strangely, it is also about regaining a kind of self-awareness that we may have long forgotten. ASMR is heavily centered around bringing us back to a time(s) in our life before the complications of growing up interfered. It's about the small pleasures of life, and looking at the world through curiosity and innocence, and I think because it has these connections to memory and our senses that that is why no one person has the same set of triggers or is comforted by the same kinds of sounds—what we hear has to blend with what we've grown to associate with comfort (like "coming home" in a way) through our life experiences, particularly when we were children. Essentially, it's rooted in nostalgia. For some people, this may not be a happy journey for them if they were neglected; however, ASMR can work for them, too, in that, instead of rekindling long-forgotten comforts, safety, and feeling valued, it lets them experience now the comfort, safety, and feeling of being valued that they did not receive then.

This is coupled with the fact that platforms like YouTube allow people to receive these comforts from a non-judgmental, uninvolved party through videos. As Emma says:

"Sometimes you just need kindness without any conditions attached."

To me, this is one of the contradictions of human nature, where we crave feeling comforted, safe, valued, and enough as we are, but we often find it easier to accept this from strangers or acquaintances because there are fewer or no dynamics, motivations, or feelings coming from the other person (similar to how talking to a therapist can be more helpful and enlightening than talking to a friend or family member).

My favorite chapter was "Chapter 4: Healing Principles and ASMR" because it was largely devoted to self-awareness, being in the moment, personal responsibility, and empowerment, which are topics I feel very passionately about, having written my own book devoted to them. I was so surprised and delighted at how much Emma's thoughts and conclusions echoed mine in these areas, and felt a kinship with her. Yet, because she is obviously not me, she expressed these concepts differently, which allowed me to re-explore these thoughts and conclusions from a familiar but slightly altered perspective.

There was also some intriguing discussion on what being a healer is in this chapter. I am familiar with being a healer of sorts, having done some mentoring (this work is what resulted in my book), being a certified Jikiden Reiki practitioner, and a few other classes I've taken and research I've done. Yet, I have never really stopped to consider the word "healer" very deeply, so this was eye-opening and likely something on which I'll do more pondering.

Additionally, I felt that this chapter and some areas of "Chapter 5: Your New ASMR World" could be most helpful to someone who reads this book out of curiosity, but who may not necessarily be interested in ASMR as a self-care option, which means there is something for everyone in this tome, regardless of the overarching topic of ASMR. Although Emma always brings it back around to how these things are related to ASMR for the purposes of the book, the basic concepts and insight she gives in these areas would be useful to anyone who is looking to understand more about themselves, how they interact with and view the world around them, and even how they understand, view, or interact with other people.

I also got a lot out of "Chapter 6: Make ASMR Sensitivity Your Superpower" because this gave me some good insight on how I could use ASMR principles to further my work on personal responsibility when it comes to my self-care and emotional state—or, as Emma puts it:

"You can be your own comforter just as effectively as you would comfort another person."

I feel this is so important nowadays because, while it's okay to go to others for comfort, it is also vital to have those coping skills within yourself, and made a note of a few new things I learned from Emma that can go into my "toolbox" for that purpose. In particular, reminding myself that if I feel my brain treading into unhealthy spiraling, next time I can give ASMR methods a try to bring my awareness back to the present, back to myself (as Emma says, not as "a distraction from myself" which is a really important distinction).

I found the trigger descriptions interesting, mainly because although I know a lot of the common triggers, particularly the ones that work for me, I didn't really understand the other triggers and couldn't fathom why someone else would find them comforting. So, even if I still can't relate to people for whom those triggers work, I at least understand a little better why they might find comfort in them.

Another favorite area for me was idea that I could intentionally create an ASMR experience for myself any time I want without the use of videos if I am feeling anxious, overwhelmed, too much in my own head, or just am curious about what sound an every-day object might make, all of which had never occurred to me before.

I also enjoyed the section (and other bits sprinkled throughout) about sound healing (such as Tibetan bowls) because that is an area I don't really know much about and a method that in the past I haven't really gotten much out of personally. I now understand a little more about what is behind it and might be willing to try it again as a healing option; however, my tendency not to gravitate toward them may be a simple fact of that their sounds just don't resonate (haha, pun intended) with me as a healing tool whereas ASMR sounds do:

"ASMR sounds, similarly to sound healing instruments, are a transition or alternative to being alone in meditation."

But, aside from that, this quote also hit me hard because I had never considered before that ASMR is basically on par with meditation but with the added comfort of sound to create a more comfortable "silence," similar to what a Tibetan bowl might do (aside from the tone frequencies associated with that which are meant to have healing properties), so that gave me more things to ponder.

I also really enjoyed this quote because it made me think about my mind differently:

"Remember, your mind is a tool for thinking when it is needed. When it is not, this is a time for feeling and being in our environment, or one we create for ourselves that is calming."

It implies that feelings aren't in our mind or can somehow be separated from the mind. I mean, feelings are in our mind because they are generated there, but I think what Emma is saying is to be more cognizant of separating the "thinking" (analysis) purpose of one's brain from "feeling" (awareness) purpose of one's brain, so we are using these two aspects for their individual intended purposes (rather than combining them to, for example, over-analyze our feelings). I don't know if I'm explaining this very well. Suffice it to say, the idea made an impact on me.

One final note: This is the only review I've ever done where referring to the author by their first name (rather than their last name or "the author") felt comfortable and natural for me to do; in fact, I tried to do otherwise because I worried that calling her "Emma" was too familiar a liberty to take, but that just felt awkward. I think this shows how warm and relatable Emma is as a person, a healer, and a writer.

[Adrienne Blaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My go-to audiobook for airplane travel and hotel induced insomnia. Not sure I can fully claim to have read the whole thing, when I have slept through perhaps more than half of the listening time.

[Emma]

Enjoyed this. Some interesting information included and read very well by the author

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Emma WhispersRed's book first interested me because I have experienced ASMR since I was a child. Having first heard the term ASMR a few years ago and then discovering the YouTube community, I was intrigued by a book on the subject. Roughly the first have of the book was what I had hoped for, some scientific facts, information, and history of ASMR - especially how the internet affected communication, content, and opportunities for study. So interesting!

Where the book suffered was the second half. While the book demonstrates a variety of uses and ways to incorporate ASMR for daily relaxation and stress-reduction (especially for those who have PTSD or the like), it lacks a biblical worldview to put all the pieces together.

In one interview in the book, Emma is asked by a reporter if it is selfish to think of yourself so much. And while Emma does acknowledge that there is nothing greater than living life for others, she argues that you have to love yourself first in order to love others. Much of the book commends positive self-talk. You are beautiful. You are worthy. Etc. Etc. There is much made of self-care.

Self-care is a loaded term. And, living in our modern age, we need to contend with it. As a believer, I do believe it is important to care for myself. But not because I am good or wonderful. It is because I am made in the image of God; He made me to glorify Him, and I am a steward of my body. I should recognize my own limitations (going to bed on time to be fully rested for the next day ahead is a good application for me!) to care for myself in order to be poured out for others.

There is much more than could be said on this topic, but that's enough for now.

Other concerns include eastern mysticism.

2 or 2.5 stars.

[Felicia Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I have touched on this already in the book; however, let me say it again: self-development, self-care and kindness is the number one most important job we have throughout our lives. However or whomever you are inside manifests itself in absolutely every aspect of your life, from how you think and how you behave to how you contribute to the world. I have heard it said so many times that living in service to others is the most fulfilling life there is and I wholeheartedly agree with this. But the only way to do that effectively and long term is to first nurture yourself to be the best you can." (p. 147)

Emma WhispersRed provides us with an art, or if you prefer, an artistic tool, for self-care and self-help. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, now commonly known as ASMR, is a relatively new phenomenon in dominant culture; people who have experienced the ASMR sensation in their childhoods or even before this generation didn't have a name and description for a tingly soothing feeling, known to start from the crown of the head and down the body, calming our nervous system. The world now has a scientific name for it, and the practice of ASMR has flooded social media, particularly YouTube, for the better.

Emma WhispersRed organizes her book into two parts: the first, More Than A Feeling which explains what it actually is and for what reasons it might be beneficial for people.

"...during my experience with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)... my mind was so busy re-living a past trauma and worrying about future events and current events that may or may not come. This caused a cycle of constant stress that just added to the issues. Through this there was no space to concentrate on how my body was feeling, so my mind and body were disconnected." (p. 71)

I do find Emma WhispersRed's words here illuminating - when anyone is under a severe amount of stress, anxiety, or any kind of consistent ailment - there is a tendency to become *out of body*; the body is neglected, abused, and disregarded. What ASMR can help with is re-sensitizing the body to sensation, a kind of physical therapy whose focus is on sound. Though Emma WhispersRed uses the word "healing" with trepidation, she does think there is a right time to use that particular word:

"Healing very simply means the process of regaining health. However, if we have the understanding that our health does not just include our physical body, it also means the process of gaining optimum health in body, mind and self or spirit. We can then understand that that to heal is an ongoing process of growth, self-understanding, acceptance and self-love." (p. 74)

The way "Unwind Your Mind" is written is very much like how a healer would write. While Emma WhispersRed adds little bits of information about her personal life, she does not overwhelm the text with this; her main concern is to clearly explain what ASMR is, how it is currently used (making sure to point out that yes, it is capitalized upon by those who do not have the best motivations and we should watch out for this), and how it has proved to be helpful (the book includes a handful of personal stories from ASMR users around the world found at the very end).

It dawned on me, while reading, how holistic ASMR can be, even though it is primarily focused on auditory elements. Emma WhispersRed spends a couple pages discussing the concept of intuition, for example:

"Intuition - your 'inner knowing' - is having inner wisdom about something without the use of conscious thought... a very simple example of this would be if you meet someone and know 'deep down' that something is wrong and you want to ask. This is a natural intuitive response. However, conscious thought can then come in to tell us why we shouldn't say something. If we follow our mind here we are inhibited in this moment. By side-stepping our thoughts and telling the person anyway, we would be following our initial knowing or intuition." (p. 81)

The book explains concepts such as this but also provides a world of real, tactile, activities to do in order to hone in on your ASMR triggers. There are a host of different ways she provides, such as 'Earthing', or allowing your bare feet to touch solid ground (the soil, the grass) for a moment every day. If you can't do this, she provides visualization techniques to help you get there.

Part 2 is full of ways to begin living healthier by using ASMR techniques. Emma WhispersRed provides a day-night "schedule" which includes simple gestures to get you acquainted with how ASMR works. The brilliant thing is, she points out that you don't really need any supplies. You don't need to buy anything. You start with what you already have. I love that she includes a section on the ASMR Daydream; something I previously didn't quite understand.

"This exercise is an opportunity to have a moment to rest in a dreamy state - something we do too infrequently... daydreaming has been found to lower blood pressure and improve performance and working memory... we are going to focus on doing it intentionally to give our mind and brain a rest during the day. When we are daydreaming we usually arrive in a theta brainwave state..." (p. 159)

As you probably have gathered, "Unwind Your Mind" is full of practical information and useful guides to help you begin on an ASMR Journey. Once you begin searching, should you choose to do so, you'll find a variety of practitioners. As Emma WhispersRed suggests, choose one that you like and feel a connection to - there is no need to force a connection when one isn't felt. One of my favorite pieces of advice in this book is Emma WhispersRed's idea that ASMR should make you excited about getting up in the morning, excited about exploring life, your surroundings, the world. Even though this is extremely difficult depending on the situation in which you find yourself, ASMR doesn't ask you of anything except for you - you alone can begin to enjoy something, a sensory experience that may perhaps aid you in simply finding your breath.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the audio version of this very much! While I myself have only gotten "tingles" once, I find ASMR to be very relaxing & helpful in many ways. Emma does such a lovely job narrating here! This is a great introduction to ASMR and I'll be recommending this to others.

[Megan Goodsell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, Emma's voice is amazing, and it's hard not to fall asleep. she explains ASMR so well and I really related to it.

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start this review with the disclaimer that I am a huge fan of Emma WhispersRed, having first discovered her YouTube channel several years ago. I was thrilled to see she had released a book.

I borrowed the audiobook from my library and when I realised Emma would be doing a soft-spoken reading of the book, I was so pleased. This was a brilliant choice on the author’s part.

Throughout Part One of the book, I was all set to give a four or five-star rating. I really enjoyed Emma’s story about how she came to discover ASMR as a concept. I also really liked that she included the early research about ASMR, whilst being careful to reiterate that much more research needs to be done before we can make any scientific conclusions about ASMR. Emma, like me, is a big advocate for ASMR as a complementary therapy, and she provides plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this, much of which definitely resonated with me and my experience of ASMR.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t so keen on Part Two of the book. I found it very repetitive and the sneaky slip into Law of Attraction-style rituals was a little disappointing. I think I would have preferred if Part Two was removed from the book entirely, or if the lengthy descriptions of ASMR activities were condensed.

If Goodreads allowed for half-star ratings, I would have gone with a 3.5. It’s a good introductory resource in Part One, but Part Two was a slog to get through, and very much felt like filler to make the book an acceptable length.

I remain a huge fan of Emma and her YouTube channel. Several of her videos have been on my go-to playlist for years now. My slightly odd recommendation would be to listen to Part One, then sack off Part Two in favour of hopping over to Emma’s YouTube channel and just having a listen to some of her content on there. It’s really good, you won’t regret it.

Enjoy!

[meghann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the first ASMR videos I came across were of people chewing food, which I thought was just so unappealing. I don't want to hear people chewing in real life, so why would I watch a video where the sound is amplified? Somehow I found Emma's WhispersRed channel on YouTube, and then I saw what ASMR could be. Her videos are so soothing, and I fall asleep listening to them every night. I have actually only found one other ASMRtists that works for me. When I am feeling anxious or sad or even when I am doing just fine, I love listening to the videos at night while I drift off. Her soft voice is just what I need, as other ASMR videos with whispering are quite jarring for me. After reading this book, I understand why.

I really enjoyed Unwind Your Mind. There is a great explanation of the science behind ASMR and description of the studies that have been conducted. I enjoyed learning how Emma got her start, and of the trials of being in the new ASMR community before people understood it. I really appreciated the tips for using ASMR throughout the day, and how to create your own ASMR moments in real life. I really hope ASMR spas become a thing where I live, because I can't imagine anything better than a live personal ASMR treatment.

[Christine Sopko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to hear about the "tingle" sensation for some people. I wonder about using asmr in prisions, mental health, senior centers, daycare, or neonatal units.

[Silvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read books written by youtubers, since their quality tends to be quite dubious, to say the least. BUT (and this is a big but, and big buts don't lie), this is an excellent one, especially for ASMR viewers. As I'm sure many people did, I stumbled upon ASMR by chance, at a time when things were beginning to spin out of my control, circa 2017. It was then that I found Emma's channel through mere luck. I discovered what ASMR was and why certain sounds make me feel instantly calmer than others, and most importantly, how I could use it to soothe myself during bad moments. I found many other channels, but Emma's is the one I always come back to because I know I will feel a sense of calm and ground myself and be present and feel life as it comes, but with a sense of serenity. These things are terms overused in the self-help community, but with ASMR they get a whole new meaning. In no way ASMR is a substitute for medication and/or therapy, but if used, it can help loads. Also, even though there has been some research done on it, I hope that in the near future it is explored further, so it can be scientifically backed.

While reading this book, I found myself relating a lot to Emma's personal experiences when trying to overcome very difficult experiences. I think it's VERY brave to expose one's challenges in a book and use what you've learnt in life and, especially through ASMR, to try and help others. If anyone still wonders, being good, and trying to do good by others, is the one thing that will makes us feel whole. Thank you, Emma, and I hope you continue to enjoy making ASMR for a long time.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life is stressful. I know that's not breaking news. However the last few weeks have been stressful in an entirely different way. Stress can be harmful to your health, so learning how to deal with it in a healthy way is important. Everybody deals with stress differently, and Autonomous Sensory Meridian response (ASMR) is one of those ways.

Before I began listening to this audiobook, I had no idea what ASMR was or how it helps with stress. But in fact, I did know. I just didn't know that the sensation had a name. And I'd actually experienced the sensation before. My daughter does know what it is, and when I mentioned I was listening to a book about ASMR, she showed me a bunch of YouTube videos that were dedicated to different ASMR sounds.

Unwind Your Mind is great source to learn about ASMR. Emma WhispersRed does a fantastic job in explaining what ASMR is and its history. Listening to the audiobook was a great way to experience ASMR firsthand. Emma has a very soothing voice that almost put me to sleep because it was so relaxing. Emma explains how you can use certain techniques to apply ASMR to your everyday life.

I found this book to be fascinating. Unwinding my mind is something that is hard for me to do at times, and I intend to put some of Emma's suggestions to use. If you suffer from stress, anxiety, and/or insomnia, you might want to check this book out.


*My thanks to HarperAudio for a digital copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Moranda Bromberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very very happy this book was actually good! So often I read books or media released by my favorite content creators that is redundant and disappointing. Emma is a competent and passionate writer. There are so few resources on ASMR and it’s benefits. This book is an excellent additional.

It references the few studies that have been done into ASMR but it also references relevant other studies. Emma connecting through practice of ASMR and its use as a tool for mindfulness. I think this connection is essential to how the ASMR community can expand this tool. This book makes ASMR feel even more legitimate.

For me, I have always known it to be a real and helpful thing since I was a child. Reading this book was life affirming and comforting for me in so many ways.

Seeing ASMR as a mindfulness tool will be essential to bringing it to the masses. I truly think one day it can be seen as a noninvasive treatment along with other therapies for anxiety and depression instead of pharmaceuticals. ASMR has truly changed my life and I think Emma does the topic so much justice in this lovely book. I love her even more after this!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listening to this book has been a beautiful experience 😌✨ Emma's story and gentle teachings about ASMR are so illuminating, calming, uplifting, and gently healing. I'm happily surprised by how much I loved this book because it just sort of fell into my lap. I smiled and picked it up out of my recommended reads because my guy is a "tingle-head" and has told me about how soothing ASMR can be. Soon after starting the book, I was drawn to the concept myself! It's been so calming and inspiring. I feel like I've found a kindred spirit and friend in Emma and the ASMR community in general. There is a sense of such quiet and calming beauty, positivity, nurturing, wellness, gratitude, and perception. I started reading this, but then quickly switched to the audiobook to get the whispered effect of Emma's calming voice. It's a book I will definitely keep coming back to 😊💞

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've listened to the audiobook version of this book (highly recommend, read soft-spokenly by the mother of asmr herself Emma/WhispersRed) and the best part of this book while being informative about the asmr experience, it also works wonders for tucking me into bed which is how I got into asmr in the first place. I've probably listened to it 5-6 times through and have fallen asleep at different sections but feel I've gotten enough sense of the book and topics to make my review. If you're a fan of Emma's youtube content and interested in hearing a soft spoken ramble about asmr this book is absolutely for you.

[Jacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book was really insightful! It detailed everything from how ASMR as a community and an experience was started and recognized, to where we’re at today. I also love how this book included different ways that ASMR can help you in your everyday life, whether it be by helping you relax or helping you be more mindful and things like that. More research needs to be done in this area and I think it could lead to a lot of interesting findings about our brains and how they work.

[evierose · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was nice to read a book about something I am interested in and that has helped me in my life. I don't usually read nonfiction, but I had to pick this up since I adore Emma. I think this book would really help those not as familiar with ASMR. I'm now inspired to incorporate more ASMR in my life by doing it on myself. For some reason, it didn't occur to me until reading this that I could do so.

[Black Flamed Candle Books 🕯️📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how this was written academically with many studies but easy to follow and understand. It was very interesting and of course, relaxing with Emma’s soft spoken narration (I listened to the audiobook). I loved the facts and anecdotes as well as personal stories and experiences included. It was such a joy to read and listen to.

[Maike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audiobook was phenomenal, I highly recommend it. This book is perfect for people who enjoy ASMR, but I also recommend it for people who are interested in the concept of ASMR or mindfulness. When I started the book, I would never have thought it would improve me as much as it did, especially in the field of self appreciation. Overall, definitely worth reading.

[Rachel King · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, comforting and with a number of practices you can do at home. Lacked the scientific content that I bought the book for but it did feel like a hug in a book or an ASMR experience of its own.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book, Yes it is a Life changing thing to anyone who gets deep enough into the subject mater to feel and actually experience it first hand. grief counselor and a little ASMR can be a very useful tool in helping people to just relax, and let things go.

[Kirie-Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Read while taking "personal time" for myself (usually while crocheting) and it was so relaxing.
If Emma read more, I probably would listen to every audiobook she does, her voice always makes me calm and relaxed.

[Gette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure I understand ASMR now but I’ll check out some YouTube videos. The reader’s voice was soothing.

Rating system:
5 - Absolutely loved it!
4 - Enjoyed it / Interesting read
3 - Good / It was okay
2 - Could be better / Wasn’t that interesting
1 - Why did this even get published?