Hello! I hope your New Year has started off with a bang! I feel like I have been ticking things off my to-do list left and right, how about you? Now that the holidays are over, many of us feel like we have to get back to our regime or complete neglected tasks that were shoved to the back burner…well at least that's the way I feel. At the moment, everything seems to be going at a good pace, but before I get too “in-over-my-head”, I like to remind myself to take it slow, and enjoy the hygge season. If I get too overloaded with tasks and stressful activities, I know I will end up crashing and burning. I think everyone can relate to some extent.
There are lots of different ways that people can relax, for example, you can meditate or get away by taking a walk, reading a book, or taking a hot bath. Sometimes I just like to sit in my recliner and watch a video on YouTube. I know that staring at my phone is going against the grain, as it seems that all signs point to putting the phone down and reconnecting with nature, but I don’t get sucked into social media much these days, so I think I’m doing okay. My daughter’s 9-year-old friend jokingly says, “Girl, I need to put the phone down and touch some grass,” because she is aware of her phone usage.
We will be discussing more on the topic of our favorite sources for relaxation on the podcast tomorrow and I hope you join us, but until then, here's a little list of my treasures I have found on YouTube that I really enjoy.
ASMR
If you don’t know what ASMR is, then you are in for a treat…or maybe you won't like it at all. The funny thing about ASMR is that it’s kind of like coffee, you either love it and can’t live without it, or you hate it. So what is ASMR anyway? It stands for autonomous sensory meridian response and to break that down into layman's, terms the sounds that you hear (or visuals) give you a little tingly feeling. These sounds are usually whispering, gentle tapping and crinkling. They are called triggers, which can calm some people but there are a small handful of people who have a severe adverse reaction to it. I can't tell you exactly when ASMR became a thing on YouTube but it's been around for a while and it seems that as time goes on the videos just get better and better. There are very basic videos where the host of the YouTube channel might have a video in which they manipulate a multitude of objects in order to make the sounds. There are even videos of the host reading or telling a story. The videos that hold my interest the longest are in-depth role-playing where scenes are acted out.
My favorite to-this-date is linked below. Diane, over at Moonlight Cottage, takes ASMR to a whole new level. In each video, she has an entire themed set she has created, and she acts in character with scripting. The triggers are integrated throughout the video. Since Diana's from France, she has a lovely and calm French accent. I applaud her set designs as they are very charming down to every detail. You can tell that she pours her heart and soul into the design, props, and costume.
Guided Meditation
If you have ever struggled to meditate then a guided meditation would be a great place to start. Guided meditation allows you to relax your mind but still stay focused enough on the act of meditating. There are many forms of guided meditation, some are simple breathing exercises and others more complex. Joe T - Hypnotic Labs is a channel on YouTube that provides videos with a detailed journey. There is a pretty picture on the video, but there is no actual video - you will want to close your eyes for these!
I have a hard time meditating if the speaker has a booming voice, or uses too much inflection. Joe T keeps his voice level and is in mid range so he is easy to hear, but not alarming. His guided meditations have just enough detail to keep me engaged, but calm enough that I can easily fall asleep if I allow it. To be honest, I usually fall asleep during his videos.
Affirmations
Again not all of these videos have an actual video to watch. I like to put this one on in the background and just let myself hear the positive affirmations while I am working on other things, or when winding down for the night. Jason Stephenson creates videos that are long, but even if you only listen for a little bit at a time, you can get the benefit. This particular video is one that I find myself going back to again and again. The whole video is an ongoing stream of “I am” statements.
Music
There are a lot of YouTube music channels, some with videos and animation, and others with just a still image. And then there are performances! These two channels are wonderful performers. You can enjoy it with or without the video. Please keep in mind that anything that is labeled as a binaural beat etc, will require headphones, with left and right audio, for the effect to work properly.
On this particular video, Healing Vibrations uses singing bowls, and other instruments to create a calm atmosphere. The singing bowls reverberate into your ears - wear headphones for the 3-dimensional experience. The bowls are lit by a blue hue and there are candles lit around the area.
She has the most angelic voice! If someone said they heard an angel sing, they must have heard Mei-lan. She has vocalization and lyrical songs. If you need some pepping up, just scroll through the comments, there are never any trolls or hateful comments, just people spreading pure love.
I hope you get a chance to check out some of the links I shared today! Let me know what you think! Did you enjoy the ASMR video or did you discover that you do not like it? What are your go-to relaxing videos on YouTube?
Great posts! Nice to read from you guys! xxxx
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading <3 <3
Delete