Emma Smith is standing in the small, soundproofed building in her back garden that she calls the Tingle Shed. Piled around her are intriguing props: folded squares of fluffy fabric, a white doctor’s coat, loose hair extensions and boxes filled with rice.
Surrounded by cameras and highly sensitive microphones, she runs her long, crimson-painted nails back and forth across the surface of a sequined make-up bag. ‘Hello beautiful you,’ she whispers, slowly and encouragingly. ‘Relax. Be calm.’
The gentle scratching of her nails and the hypnotic tone of her voice are pleasantly soothing, certainly.
Emma Smith, better known online as WhispersRed, is Britain’s leading practitioner of ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response
But to the hundreds of thousands – sometimes millions – of devotees who watch her videos, they’re nothing short of an addiction.
Better known online as WhispersRed, Emma is Britain’s leading practitioner of ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, the triggering of ‘brain tingles’ which trickle down the neck and spine and promote a sense of deep relaxation. Followers claim it helps them beat anxiety, insomnia and stress.
To activate the tingles, 40-year-old Emma uses a variety of stimuli, which could be anything from the sound of her brushing and snipping a lock of artificial hair to the pleasing crackle her fluffy microphone covers make as she touches them. She gently scrunches plastic, taps surfaces and crinkles fabric while whispering in her mellifluous tones.
Sometimes the mother of two even acts out different roles, dressing up in a doctor’s uniform and pretending to check the viewer’s ears and eyes with a bedside manner to pacify even the most terrified hospital-phobe.
It may sound slightly bonkers, but the 200 million views and 800,000 dedicated subscribers her hypnotic videos have amassed on YouTube over the past six years suggest otherwise.
In her most popular video, Emma screws and unscrews the lid on a jar and runs a chopstick through a bowl of dry rice. It has been seen almost 12 million times since she posted it a year ago.
Recently, ASMR has exploded from a niche online movement into a genuine phenomenon, and one which has transformed Emma’s life. Business is booming and brands are clamouring to sponsor her videos. She has hosted live ASMR events, and presented a podcast series featuring model Daisy Lowe and musician Professor Green which is sponsored by Fuze Tea. And last month, she released a series of ASMR audiobooks.
Every day Emma gets recognised on the street by devoted fans who frequently stop and thank her for helping them sleep or making them feel calmer.
Now she has become the first ‘ASMRtist’, as she describes herself, to write a book about its power. Unwind Your Mind, out next week, is the story of how she discovered this extraordinary phenomenon, with an element of self-help for those interested in exploring it.
Billed as an ‘entry-level’ guide to ASMR, it offers exercises and tips for how we can all find our own sensitivity, which she says will ‘promote self-awareness and self-development’.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Emma, who lives in South London with husband Nam and children Mia, 15, and Bo, nine, was living a frazzled life as a small businesswoman before she discovered ASMR. ‘Like a lot of women, I was worn out,’ she says. ‘I was constantly running around doing things for my family and had no time for myself.’
That changed in 2010 when she was involved in a car accident. Her injuries resulted in a long hospital stay, followed by a year of operations and physiotherapy to learn to walk again. ‘It forced me to stop,’ she says. Coincidentally, 2010 was also the year the term ASMR was first coined in America.
To activate the tingles, 40-year-old Emma uses a variety of stimuli, which could be anything from the sound of her brushing and snipping a lock of artificial hair to the pleasing crackle her fluffy microphone covers
Two years later, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and struggling to sleep, Emma looked on YouTube for something to soothe her and found a video of rainforest sounds. ‘Then I found ASMR videos and realised there was a name for something I’d felt my whole life.’
DISCOVERING HER SPARKLES
From childhood, Emma had experienced a sensation she likens to ‘pins and needles, but a really pleasant version.’ She calls them ‘sparkles’ and says that after the feeling has passed, ‘it’s as if all the tensions in the body are released.’
So she began to make her own videos, initially just using an iPad to film herself speaking. ‘I just introduced myself,’ she says. ‘It was really wobbly and amateurish. I didn’t expect anyone to watch, but people responded straight away and were really kind, telling me I had a nice voice.’
Initially, she made her offerings infrequently and didn’t monetise them. ‘I used them as a little escape, something just for me,’ she says.
But gradually, her following increased and she began making videos every week. ‘I didn’t tell friends and family – I didn’t even tell my husband. Everyone found out when I appeared on Loose Women.’ Eventually, Emma invested in increasingly sophisticated microphones and cameras and had her Tingle Shed built and soundproofed. The turquoise-painted building at the back of Emma’s garden is where she films her videos.
Like a professional studio, her camera equipment is always set up and ready to go, with various backdrops to add variety to her films. Most importantly, the Tingle Shed is away from the hustle and bustle of the family home, so she can record in silence.
So sensitive is the equipment that Emma avoids filming within an hour either side of eating, because the microphones will pick up the slightest stomach rumble.
FILMS THAT CHANGE LIVES
Emma receives a percentage of the profits YouTube earns from brands whose adverts appear on her videos. Although she won’t reveal the exact figures, two years ago she was able to give up her day job, running a business with her husband.
Mostly, she insists, she is driven by the constant stream of messages she receives from her followers, who tell her that her videos have changed their lives.
‘They say the videos have helped them feel less anxious or depressed, or helped them cope with pain and loneliness,’ she says.
But she’s quick to point out that ‘ASMR should never replace traditional therapy or medication. If people need it, they should always seek professional help.’
That said, she admits: ‘One day, I’d love ASMR to be a registered complementary therapy, like reiki or sound healing.
‘It’s a relaxation technique, a form of mindfulness, and there’s plenty of scientific evidence for the mental and physical benefits of slowing the heart and breathing rate.’
But is there a more sinister side to these videos? The breathy tones used by mostly attractive female ASMRtists have led to accusations that the practice is simply ‘whisper porn’.
Emma has no time for such interpretations. ‘You could be talking about how to clean a kettle and some people would find it sexual,’ she asserts.
‘Initially, I did get some emails asking me to do certain things, but once they realised I was never going to, they stopped.’
Emma concedes that not everybody experiences the tingling feeling. ‘My husband and daughter don’t get the tingles,’ she says.
It’s thought that perhaps up to a third of the population do, though. And even those who don’t can feel a deep sense of relaxation from triggers which provoke memories from childhood, such as noises associated with nurture.
‘Soft, caring sounds, such as hair brushing, make us feel comfortable and safe,’ Emma says.
68 million ways to transform your day with soothing videos
Here are Emma’s top tips to make ASMR work for you – whether you need help getting to sleep, a method for calming anxiety, or simply as a way to unwind at the end of the day…
WORK OUT YOUR OWN TRIGGERS
Emma recommends thinking about times as a child when you might have felt ‘comforted, absorbed, or dreamy’, such as ‘someone stroking your hair or whispering in your ear’.
‘Now, ask yourself if there’s anything in your environment around you that you find particularly comforting,’ she says. ‘Do you subconsciously play with your hair or fiddle with a piece of jewellery?
‘When you become tired and overwhelmed, what places do you retreat to? What it is that brings comfort to you? Is it a sound or a texture, perhaps?’
A make-up brush can be used to draw shapes on a person’s forearm
If nothing occurs to you, she suggests taking three simple triggers, such as a piece of crinkly plastic, like a wrapper, a small bowl of dried rice and a large make-up brush.
‘Find a quiet, calm place to sit and take three long, slow breaths in and out,’ she says. ‘Take one of the sound triggers – the wrapper or the rice – and slowly and carefully make sounds with it. Notice how it makes you feel.
‘Next, take a touch trigger, for instance the brush, and use it to draw shapes on your forearm – up and down, round and round in circles. Is there a sound you liked the most? Did you enjoy any of the touch prompts? These could be your triggers.’
For Emma, stroking her face with a make-up brush is enough to calm her instantly.
The key, she says, lies in noticing what’s around us and becoming more aware of the impact it has on our senses. Then we can begin to incorporate the sensations we find relaxing into our daily lives.
WHERE TO FIND YOUR TINGLES
Ideally, try to be somewhere comfortable with as few distractions as possible. Watching a ASMR video in bed right before you go to sleep may help.
However, it’s not necessary to be alone, she says. You can experience the full effects of videos in a public place, maybe on your journey home.
Emma recommends wearing headphones to drown out background noise.
Next, decide what video to watch, and there are plenty to choose from. When you search ‘ASMR’ on YouTube, there are more than 68 million results.
Emma suggests thinking of sounds you might normally feel comforted by and search from there. If you don’t know what these are, try videos with the most common triggers, including gentle tapping, brushing, crinkling and whispering.
Many people choose not to watch the visuals at all and just listen to the sounds. There are also many sound-only playlists on Spotify and Apple Music.
MAKE IT PART OF YOUR ROUTINE
Emma swears by a nightly routine, watching an ASMR video as she gets ready for bed and using ‘self-soothing’ techniques such as stroking the inside of her arms with her fingertips.
Even an activity as mundane as making a cup of tea affords an opportunity for ASMR. While stirring the tea, ‘listen to the gentle clink of the spoon against the cup.’
Even an activity as mundane as making a cup of tea is an opportunity for ASMR
If this is beginning to sound a little absurd, Emma acknowledges that this is a common initial reaction. ‘It’s so alien to people that you can sit for half an hour watching someone tapping on a cup,’ she says. ‘So many people would see it as ridiculous.’
But she urges everyone to put aside their prejudices and give it a try. ‘Lots of us are caught in a trap of being busy all the time and feeling anxious if we’re not doing something for a moment,’ she says.
‘ASMR isn’t just about experiencing the tingle, or physical sensation. It’s a way of taking a small amount of time to focus on yourself and feel calmer.
‘And in this incredibly hectic, stressful world, we can all benefit from that.’
Unwind Your Mind: The Life-Changing Power Of ASMR, by Emma WhispersRed, is published by Rider on Thursday at £14.99. Order for £11.99 before September 30 on 0844 517 0640 or at mailshop.co.uk.