A woman who has amassed an audience of millions on YouTube by filming herself whispering, brushing her hair, or crinkling tissue paper appeared on This Morning to demonstrate her skills.
Emma Smith, 38, says her Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) videos – dubbed ‘whisper porn’ – promote ‘mindful’ behaviour that can help the viewer sleep soundly, as well as soothing stress and anxiety.
The self-styled ASMRist, who is based in London, appeared on the show today to test her methods on presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, and help them discover their ‘tingle’.
She set about massaging Holly’s back, and fluttering a make-up brush over Phillip’s face.
Emma also dismissed suggestions her video clips were in any way sexual in nature, insisting: ‘That’s not what’s in my heart.’
The London-based ASMRist appeared on This Morning to demonstrate her talents on presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield
She helped them discover their ‘tingle’ by stroking their backs, and using make-up brushes on their face
A study on ASMR, published in a psychology journal by Swansea University, found that 98 per cent of the 475 people who took part experienced the ‘tingles’, 82 per cent claimed it help them get to sleep, and 72 per cent said it helped them deal with stress.
‘It is a physical sensation that is very, very relaxing. It’s like a tingly, sparkly feeling in your head. Every one has a different trigger for the ASMR sensation,’ Emma explained to the presenters.
Phillip questioned whether Emma’s viewers got a ‘sexual kick’ out of watching her whisper at the screen, but she said that while it might appear to some to be sexual, ‘that’s not what’s in my heart’.
‘I’m just being nurturing, motherly and calm,’ she added.
Emma then brought out the tools she often uses when recording footage in her ‘tingle shed’, including tissues, and bowls of rice and coffee beans.
‘It’s tickly, a little bit tingly,’ Holly said in response to Emma using her hand to stroke her back.
Emma then handed the presenters a pack of tissues each to create a crinkling sound. ‘I can make a whole video just with this packet and talking about it,’ she said.
Emma explained that she often used simple things like a tissue packet, crinkling it to create a white noise like sound
Philip scrunched up the packet to his ear but wasn’t convinced the sound would help him sleep
The presenting duo were then handed rice and coffee beans in a bowl, as the sound is thought to soothe people
Holly and Phil then played with rice and coffee beans in a bowl, holding them up to their microphones so viewers could listen in.
‘What is really cool about it is it makes us focus on the little things, it’s mindful,’ Emma said, as she stroked Phillip’s back with a massager and fluttered a make-up brush across his face.
Sleep therapist Nerina Ramlakhan was also on hand in the studio to discuss more conventional ways to tackle insomnia.
She said of ASMR: ‘I don’t know a lot about this method but I’m really interested. The word Emma used was “safe”.
‘It’s a primitive instinct that we need – to feel safe in order to sleep.
‘This method has something in it where it helps you to let go of the day and gives you something else to focus on, bringing you out of the head and into the body.’
Emma also stroked Holly and Phil’s back, which the giggling blonde presenter said felt ‘tickly and tingly’
Emma discovered ASMR for herself in 2012. When a car accident left her with sleeping troubles, she started looking for relaxation videos on YouTube.
She found ASMR, and her life changed, she says.
After creating an ASMR Facebook group for people in the UK, Emma decided to start her own channel in 2013.
Five years later, she’s amassed more than 400,000 subscribers and racked up 100million views with her video clips.
This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am