Cranial Nerve – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

I discovered this week that supplementing magnesium may not just help with sleep but may also assist with attention during the waking moments of the day. From the same source I discovered that supplementing zinc intake could assist in the same way. I have not yet put this to the test (to be honest in search of a benign sleep cure I am getting to the stage of taking so many supplements that I rattle). However, I am going to try this next and will report back as to whether it makes any noticeable difference.

This week a Calm selection which illustrates the reason that I so frequently listen to Jay Shetty, even though he very probably does not have my favourite voice on Calm. This one I found inspirational:

https://www.calm.com/app/player/iViiLizTTt

Daily Jay

Soul Grow

NARRATOR

Jay Shetty

It is about becoming a more extraordinary version of yourself. As part of which Jay explores this letter: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/kurt-vonnegut-xavier-letter_n_4964532.

Today’s professional ASMR offering comes from an artist that I used to listen to all the time. Indeed, the video itself is an oldie but goodie.

The channel is Isabel imagination ASMR this has six hundred and thirty four videos, 379K subscribers thirty three playlists of which the following seems to be on theme for this blog so far:

The video is this one:

ASMR Doctor’s Visit Memory test (soft spoken/whisper/personal attention)

It has notes, and oh, what notes: “428,480 views 28 Sept 2016

Hello! My name is Isabel and I’m Dutch. I’ve been crazy about ASMR for about 4 years now and I am finally posting my very own ASMR videos since the 20th of June 2016! This is video #28. I hope you like it!

I’ve recorded this video with a JVC camera and an audio recorder. Here are the links:

Cam: http://www.videocamerashop.nl/product…

And it’s recorded on to an audio recorder called: Roland R26 portable recorder

Editing program: http://www.magix.com (I used Magix video deluxe 2016)

In this ASMR video Dr. Clarck will examine you because you are forgetting lots of things lately. You will answer some questions, and Dr. Clarck will perform a few memory tests on you and you will have a smelling test and a listen and memorise test. So, lots of personal attention and soft spoken and whispers included! Sleep tight and enjoy the tingles!!!

Instagram (to stay updated on new ASMR projects of mine):

/ isabel_asmr

This video is meant for relaxation and can also help relieve anxiety, depression or stress, however I am not a psychiatrist, so if you are dealing with severe anxiety, depression or stress I suggest you go to a professional. “

It would not be a professional ASMR artist if they did not feel the need to write a novel with each and every video. Comments are permitted and seem to major in the “odd” feedback rather than sycophantic, which is not unusual for YouTube, but is unusual for a professional ASMR artist. This usually does not bode well, to be honest.

The video is thirty and a half minutes and so is reasonably substantial for videos that we have reviewed of late. It starts with a strange crackling background noise as if it was played on a badly stored vinyl record and straight away it gets into whispering. We’re on fairly well-established ground then. The voice is excellent and indeed the setting of the video itself looks rather professional (not that I expect any readers of this blog will be doing much in the way of watching given that you’re using this material to fall asleep to).

It occasionally gets a bit on the breathy side. It also seems to be falling prey to the “how many triggers can I get into this video” approach to sound recording. There is the stroking of paper, that mouth clicking sound that ASMR artists seem to love so much, nails clicking on a glass jar, but that said we have heard videos where the artist tries to feed in every squelch, tap, and scratching noise that they have heard some ASMR afficionado would rather like. By comparison I’d say that this was a much more measured approach to inserting spurious ASMR triggers and I did not find it obtrusive. However, as I have related before, I am only interested in the quality of the voice personally and additional noises are, for me anyway, merely a distraction.

That said the enunciation is spot on. Quite amazing that a Dutch person speaks English much better than a number of English ASMR artists that I have heard. As some commentators relate, it is interesting that a person from the Netherlands speaks American rather than English but it does mean that Isabel has an interesting accent to listen to in this video. I think I will be coming back to Isabel in the future for any further medical-orientated ASMR videos that come up.

For the ASMR offering which does not involve YouTube, I thought I would try the Internet Archive and see if they had anything for today’s professional ASMR artist. And they do:

Isabel Imagination ASMR 2020 06 12 ASMR For When You Feel Down [ Hugs, Cuddles, Kisses & Positive Affirmation ] JVu4gmugEPk 497MB [CD99985A]

https://archive.org/details/isabel-imagination-asmr-2020-06-12-asmr-for-when-you-feel-down-hugs-cuddles-kisses

Just like professional ASMR videos on YouTube, the person has gone mad with the notes in connection with this one:

“Publication date

2020-06-12

Topics

ASMR, female, hugs, kisses, positiveaffirmation, personalattention

Language

English

Item Size

618.3M

video_url – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVu4gmugEPk

channel_url – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGfbWCJjPwcAlBNkHT3gQ6w

In this triggering ASMR video, you can sit back and relax with headphones on!

In this relaxing ASMR cuddle & positive affirmation video, you can relax to the sound of my close-up ear to ear breathy whispers and get tingles from the warm hugs. Hopefully this calming video will comfort you for sleep!!

Triggers are: scratching, tracing, brushing, wet mouth sounds, whispering, ramble, mouth sounds, hair sounds, visual triggers, hand movements, tapping, shiny objects, crinkle, deep ear whispers, soft spoken, mouth sounds, tapping, finger flutter, whispering ear to ear, breathy whispers, binaural sounds, personal attention, close up tingles.

What is ASMR? Check out this short explanation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc-SCxXdI0Y

All my info:

Webshop: https://www.isabelimagination.com/nl/

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/isabel_imagination

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabel.imagination/

My email address for questions or business deals: info@isabelimagination.com

Patreon (if you’d like to support me, get early access and see patreon exclusive videos) : https://www.patreon.com/Isabelimaginationasmr

Tingles (to avoid advertisement and support me at the same time): https://www.gettingles.com/

The Tingles app is available on IOS and Android!!

For a look behind the scenes visit my other youtube channel “isabel backstage”!! This is the link to my 2nd channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_R9MQkCOSew6FswsZtHOEw

I’m always trying to improve the quality of my video’s, if you’d like to contribute to this purpose, than that’s possible via donations on PayPal. My email is: isabelimaginationasmr@gmail.com

Who am I :

My name is Isabel and I’m Dutch. My approach to ASMR video’s is combining entertainment in a form of imagination and fantasy (almost movie like) with relaxation. All wrapped into one video for you. This way you can enjoy my videos either before you go to bed to drift off easier, or you can just take a moment of relaxation during the day to calm down and relieve stress.

I’ve been posting ASMR video’s since the 20th of June 2016! I hope you like it!”

I’ve edited them a bit as they are really long.

Sadly, it is not on theme for the medical series I have been pursuing, so I’ll leave you to try it out if you so wish.

For the inadvertent ASMR video which really is what this blog has been about since the ASMR reviews began, I am looking this week at this one:

The Dermatology Exam

I have reviewed a number of videos from this channel previously it is Top Hat Tutorials with 67k subscribers, one hundred forty one videos and all three of the playlists are on theme for the material that I have been covering in this blog:

and

the notes on the channel convey what it is all about:

“Top Hat Tutorials

Description

Clinical skills videos for medical professionals and students

More info

http://www.youtube.com/@tophattutorials9113

Joined 3 Sept 2015

67k subscribers

141 videos

10,408,946 views “

There are also notes with the video although, thankfully, they are not excessively long: “296,857 views 22 Jan 2016

A video of the main points of the Dermatology Exam.

The video was created as part of the Top Hat Tutorials app, a new doctor and student designed guide to the clinical examinations in medicine and surgery.

‘TOP HAT TUTORIALS’ is available in the Apple, Google and Windows app stores today.

Reached number 1 medical app in its first week of launch!

A must have for medical students no matter where they are studying.

Download using the following links:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/top-h…

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de…

Windows: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store… “

The video permits comments and as with the previous video I find that the comments are more strange than sycophantic. This may not be a great omen of what is to come.

It is another brief video at just over four and a half minutes so it isn’t going to keep us long. It begins with my personal bugbear: startup music which seems even more sacrilege given we have such scant video real estate to begin with. However, once Dr Tom Branigan introduces himself, we realise we have a safe pair of hands. Tom has a great voice. The patient is Dermot (or assuming this examination is located in Ireland more probably Diarmuid). There is some background noise, probably air conditioning. It is very calm and measured, just the kind of thing I like to hear (music excepting). Sadly, we get the music once again at the close of the video.

So, it is a reasonable one but also a rather brief one this week.

On that basis, just one, video this time.

That’s it on this occasion, more next time.

See you again next week.

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by DeepAI

Sleeping With ASMR

I notice that to add to the pressure one might otherwise feel about getting a good night’s sleep, there is now direct scientific evidence that digestion is also impacted. With that impact comes the potential for obesity, diabetes and some of the longer-term effects that you might expect. If ever there was a need to fight tooth and nail for every spare minute in the bedroom it would sound like that is where we have arrived at.

In which case I think we can be unapologetic about being revolutionary about things and suggesting that other things in life should be allowed to wane in order to get the level of sleep that your body needs.

To that end, for a very long time, the Procrastination Pen has been reviewing material for its helpfulness in gentling you off to sleep. Sadly, frequently finding it as much assistance as bright light and a brass band backing track but just occasionally there is a gem that makes it all worthwhile. I’m not certain that there are any gems of that quality this week. However, I will continue the reviewing in the hopes of turning up the odd one.

As I promised some weeks ago, some relaxing material that does not involve annoying adverts. I’ve been listening to Susan Piver for a while now and besides being a highly famous meditation guru, I also think that she has a very good voice. A great deal of her material is also educational which is an added bonus.

Of course there is a wealth of material on YouTube, for example:

Indeed, Susan has her own YouTube channel. But given I am trying to avoid adverts that is hardly a good start.

I did find that Susan now has a podcast which is available on Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/buddhism-beyond-belief-with-susan-piver/id1798818779

At the time I am looking at it there are fifty-two episodes available which should give you enough of a taster to determine if this is going to be a voice that you like.

Turning to the Calm recommendation this week, I have:

https://www.calm.com/app/player/wicRCqVcjB

Daily Jay

Gossip

NARRATOR

Jay Shetty

Jay is perhaps not my favourite voice on Calm; I think that might be Tamara Levitt, but I find his Calm Daily to be one I drift back to again and again because of the importance of the material that he covers.

This one is about the prevalence of gossip and how harmful it can be. How you should avoid gossip, how gossip spreads, and how it is impossible to take back.

Moving onto the professional ASMR artist, I notice that there is quite a lot of criticism of older ASMR videos, as if everything completed some time ago is necessarily worse than anything completed today. No doubt persons of a certain age believe this to be the case. Going with that trend I am covering this week a video posted only recently. However, I can feel my stubbornness tendency coming on and I suspect I’m going to try to feature some older videos more frequently in future.

ASMR Doctor Physician Complete Medical Exam – Whispering RolePlay

It is from the channel Tingles Maker ASMR. This has 13.1k subscribers, one hundred and thirty six videos, eight playlists. One of these playlists seems relevant to the medical theme I have been covering:

The channel has notes: “Tingles Maker ASMR

Description

Hello and Welcome to Role-Play ASMR Channel – Tingles Maker

My name is Renat (or just Tingles “Maker) and I do ASMR, probably with some accent)

I am learning English and this Channel is my homework. Welcome aboard!

Links

Donatedonationalerts.com/r/asmrclub

More info

http://www.youtube.com/@TinglesMaker

Kazakhstan

Joined 9 Mar 2022

13.1k subscribers

136 videos

1,369,709 views”

The video also has notes: “5 Apr 2026 #ASMRROLEPLAY #ASMR

ASMR Doctor Physician Complete Gentle and sleepy Medical Exam – Whispering Role Play for tingles and sleep

Welcome to Tingles Maker ASMR.

• Role-Plays ASMR

• ASMR Whispering

• ASMR Medical Exams

• ASMR no talking

#ASMR #ASMRROLEPLAY”

By now we are used to a healthy number of notes whenever we are looking at a professional ASMR artist. My guess would be in the cut and thrust world of ASMR; some self-promotion can only help.

Comments are permitted. There are not a huge number but those that there are – are the normal level of ASMR sycophancy that we know and love. This bodes well for this video.

The video is a little over eighteen minutes long it starts at the level of a whisper and straight away we are on familiar territory ASMR wise. The voice is excellent. The presentation occasionally becomes breathy and there is the odd mouth-clicking sound that some ASMR fans seem to be positively transported by. There are, though, as expected, extraneous noises; clicking noises, rustling noises, the odd clatter from equipment being moved, the sound of a tuning fork is actually quite loud, the odd tapping noise, hands rubbing together, paper-related noises. None of which did I find excessively distracting.

I found this quite restful. It seemed very well done actually and, even with the extraneous noises I think this is well worth reviewing.

You may recall a previous post in which I mentioned a URL which linked to thirty two videos. The URL is this one:

Medical Training Videos

Last time we managed to review just four of these videos, so there is a fair few left to look at…

The next one in the series is this:

Nose Examination (Inspection) – ENT

This is less than a minute long so perhaps we are on the home straight and picking up speed now

The notes are: “83,932 views 17 Feb 2012 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School in conjunction with the ENT faculty – demonstrates how to perform an examination of the nose. This part covers inspection only.

All videos on this channel are linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com)

This video was produced in collaboration with Oxford Medical Illustration – a department of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. For more information, please visit www.oxfordmi.nhs.uk”

It is a continuation of the nasoendoscope one and the same people participate. The comments made for that video still apply, including the initially quiet and subsequently slightly louder presentation.

Neck Examination – ENT

This is just less than four minutes so a little more substantial (but that just goes to prove how short some of the other videos have been). The notes are: “248,747 views 17 Feb 2012 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School in conjunction with the ENT faculty – demonstrates how to perform an examination of the neck. It also demonstrates the lymph node regions of the neck.

All videos on this channel are linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com)

This video was produced in collaboration with Oxford Medical Illustration – a department of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. For more information, please visit www.oxfordmi.nhs.uk”

We go back to the format in which there is a narrator for the video. The narrator has a reasonable voice for us. However, the video has some nasty interference which affects the sound as well and will be off-putting to anyone listening. This one does not belong in the Procrastination Pen playlist.

Mouth Examination – ENT

Just under one- and three-quarter minutes so not overstaying its welcome. The notes are “242,014 views 17 Feb 2012 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School in conjunction with the ENT faculty – demonstrates how to perform an examination of the mouth.

All videos on this channel are linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com)

This video was produced in collaboration with Oxford Medical Illustration – a department of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. For more information, please visit www.oxfordmi.nhs.uk”

This is also narrated. The person narrating has an ok voice but not amazing; the medical professional participating in the video itself has a better voice for us.

Hearing Test (Rinne and Weber Examinations) – ENT

Less than one and a half minutes, the notes are: “1,233,808 views 17 Feb 2012 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School in conjunction with the ENT faculty – demonstrates how to perform tuning fork examinations for hearing loss.

All videos on this channel are linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com)

This video was produced in collaboration with Oxford Medical Illustration – a department of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. For more information, please visit www.oxfordmi.nhs.uk”

This is narrated again and the narrator has a good voice, if a little loud here. The tuning fork nises are non-too off-putting – your mileage may vary. It might be one that is weeded on subsequent review.

The medical professional in the video, meantime, has a great voice.

And last, but by no means least:

Otoscopy (Ear Examination) – ENT

Less than three and a quarter-minutes, the notes are: “1,603,425 views 17 Feb 2012 Clinical Examinations

This video – produced by students at Oxford University Medical School in conjunction with the ENT faculty – demonstrates how to perform an examination of the ear using an otoscope. It also demonstrates the anatomy of the tympanic membrane.

All videos on this channel are linked to Oxford Medical Education (www.oxfordmedicaleducation.com)

This video was produced in collaboration with Oxford Medical Illustration – a department of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. For more information, please visit www.oxfordmi.nhs.uk”

Again, this is narrated, and here the narration seems to be quieter. The medical professional in the video itself has a good voice for us.

That’s it on this occasion, more next time.

The Oxford Medical Education Hospitals playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by DeepAI

Sleeping With ASMR

This week I get age verification in my operating system. As if to reinforce it, age verification on YouTube became even more strident, indeed, positively insistent. I wouldn’t mind but I do not wish to be reviewing material that is unsuitable for a three-year-old. I would think, therefore, that no age verification should be necessary.

I suspect there is more involved to this age verification business than is being stated and so I am not in a hurry to comply. My mission to find resources for ASMR outside of YouTube just got a boost and that can only be to the good.

To which end: Elisha Goldstein has to be about as famous a meditator as it is feasible to get. Are there any resources for Elisha that do not involve my straying into YouTube territory (we can be assured there are many, many videos on YouTube featuring Elisha). Fortunately, a number of meditations are available here: https://www.mindfullivingla.org/elisha-goldstein/. These stretch from five minutes to thirty minutes and as such should act as a reasonable distraction in your snoozing moments. Not a single age verification challenge did I receive (which I hope means that not one item of age-inappropriate content is therein contained).

This week’s ASMR from an ASMR professional. It is a true blast from the past. I used to listen to this one some years ago now. Before I really started listening to inadvertent ASMR material in any quantity.

It is this one:

🌿 Relaxing Naturopath Visit 🌿 ASMR 🌿 Doctor RP

And it comes from one of the titans of professional ASMR artists. Often justifiably so I have found as she has a great voice.

The URL of the video is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmhmKEhnIpA

The channel is Gentle Whispering ASMR and anyone who listens to ASMR must surely have come across this artist. To give you an idea, the channel has 2.42m subscribers, eight hundred and forty-three videos. With statistics like that it makes me wish I’d paid more attention in school and grown up to be a successful ASMR artist.

Surprisingly, there are only fourteen playlists with only the one playlist on theme for the medical ASMR material which I have been featuring on this blog of late:

Today’s video has notes – of course it does. However, surprisingly, these are moderately on the succinct side for a professional ASMR artist: “8,082,246 views 16 Jan 2018

Hello sweetheart! 🙂 Today I welcome you to my naturopathic medicine practice 🌿 I will shortly give you an overview of your visit then at 03:00 I will perform a check-up of your hair, your ears 06:30 , I’ll put on my gloves and examine your skin 08:50 , your sinuses 11:25 , your lymph nodes 13:03 , neck muscles check 14:10 , I’ll gently test your eyes reflexes with a flashlight 16:56 , I’ll tell you about Eyeology 19:29 and check your eyes 22:26 , then I will perform a check of your tongue 29:55 after I explain how you can read your health by your tongue 27:47 , I’ll tell you a bit about tension headache that you’ve been experiencing and how to deal with it 32:32 , I’ll recommend you some essential oils 34:34 , and herbal supplements 36:16 that even sound good and at the end I will relax you deeper with gentle hand movements to help you doze off 38:29 . Enjoy ♥ Thank you for watching! 🙂 “

Still, the notes are on the long side though you notice (ASMR professionals do so love their notes). I have edited them a little or you’d never have time to read it all.

There are comments and, sheesh, people do so love to comment. Lots and lots of appreciative comments and a fair few off-the-wall ones as well. No surprises there then.

The video is forty one and a half minutes long and so it is lengthy compared to those we have listened to of late. It starts without music and straight away we realise that the focus is going to be at the whispering level of delivery. Not a bad thing, but also a fairly common approach to ASMR. I do like it when I find a non-whispery one.

Some of the words I could not make out, but I think the overall delivery may not be intended to deliver meaning so much as a relaxing effect on the audience. In which case I would say that the video is a good one. The voice really is that good.

It is calm, quiet, and the intonation is well-nigh perfect. Presumably over two million people would agree. There is that strange clucking come mouth-clicking sound beloved of ASMR artists. This is not something I am trying to find in a video (a lot of people must disagree).

Of course, there are some non-vocal related noises but not too many I notice, mainly clicks and rustles. There is also the tendency for the delivery to vie towards the breathy side. I am not really into breathy personally, but it would appear that a great many ASMR fans are. There is also some clicking from a plastic valerian tablet bottle which did not appeal to me (but must appeal to someone). There is also the grinding sound of a pestle on mortar which is not unpleasant or distracting in my opinion. All told an excellent video and I can remember why I used to listen to it.

Today’s Calm offering came via a recommendation (from Calm). It is this one:

Daily Calm

Tiny Choices

https://www.calm.com/player/-82hIZWhE5

NARRATOR

Tamara Levitt

AUTHOR

Tamara Levitt

A person with possibly my favourite voice on Calm but who I only encounter on the Calm dailies. These daily offerings are around ten minutes in length (as here) and so probably not long enough for you to drop off to in themselves. The other disadvantage to the majority of readers of this blog is that Calm access is not free; you will have to pay a subscription if you want access.

This is about the big effects that small choices can make. Regular repetition of habitual choices can have a big effect. It is important to have awareness of the choices that we unconsciously have made in the past, giving the facility to change such choices in the future.

This week’s inadvertent ASMR is this one:

02.01 General Assessment Physical assessment

and comes from the channel Nursing made easy with 2.68k subscribers and one hundred and seventy-two videos. There are six playlists all of which are in some way related to the medical theme I’ve been pursuing for a while (and given the title of the channel, unsurprisingly).

and

The video is just a little over two minutes, blink and it’s gone, it has no notes and no comments and sadly starts with quite loud startup music.

The narration is from a voice which is nicely calm. There is a medical examination which is featured visually but we cannot hear the participants. Thankfully there is no tail-end music. So, it is a reasonable one but also a rather brief one this week.

On that basis, just one, video this time.

That’s it on this occasion, more next time.

See you again next week.

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by DeepAI

Sleeping With ASMR

Urged on by my recent account about attempting to using magnesium supplements to assist with sleep, a friend recommended that I took ashwagandha. Not two minutes after that recommendation, I got a recommendation for the same supplement from an alternate person. It sounds like it is a supplement which I should give some attention to.

I do not know of ashwagandha, and I still don’t really know how to pronounce it, but it was available at Holland and Barrett and so I have been taking it. I’m about fifteen capsules into a thirty-capsule container and it purports to be five hundred milligrams (by the label).

There are several claims for the benefits of ashwagandha however, I notice that slipping off into nod-nod land is not one of them. So it has proven. I had variable results with the magnesium and I have had variable results with the ashwagandha.

It seems to have a small effect on wake-time calmness. Either that, or some recent training I am attending is having the desired effects.

However, it does not seem to have affected my annoyance at different aspects of life, nor the fact that I occasionally need the television to still my mind enough for sleep.

I continue with it and I welcome other recommendations for sleep, preferably those I can share on the blog. Any substances which are “controlled”, presumably, I am not going to be able to find and far less write about if I could.

(Although I’m sure some of the drug-related relaxants probably do work).

This week I saw mentioned a former monk by the name of Scott Tusa. I wondered if it would be possible to find any relaxing material outside of YouTube that I could direct you to. It appears some are available for download (if you also wish to sign up for a newsletter) on his website, here: https://scotttusa.com/.

I did find some resources in the Internet Archive though which are more readily accessible

https://archive.org/details/ggbc-2020-04-24-scott-tusa-mindfulness

https://archive.org/download/ggbc-2020-04-24-scott-tusa-mindfulness/GGBC 2020-04-24 Scott Tusa Mindfulness.mp3

https://archive.org/details/GGBC20180915ScottTusaMakingLifeMeaningful

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20180915ScottTusaMakingLifeMeaningful/GGBC 2018-09-15 Scott Tusa Making Life Meaningful 1-of-3.mp3

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20180915ScottTusaMakingLifeMeaningful/GGBC 2018-09-15 Scott Tusa Making Life Meaningful 2-of-3.mp3

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20180915ScottTusaMakingLifeMeaningful/GGBC 2018-09-15 Scott Tusa Making Life Meaningful 3-of-3.mp3

https://archive.org/details/GGBC20180914ScottTusaResilienceAndHappiness

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20180914ScottTusaResilienceAndHappiness/GGBC 2018-09-14 Scott Tusa Resilience and Happiness.mp3

https://archive.org/details/GGBC20190412ScottTusaCalmBodyClearMind

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20190412ScottTusaCalmBodyClearMind/GGBC 2019-04-12 Scott Tusa Calm Body Clear Mind.mp3

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20190412ScottTusaCalmBodyClearMind/GGBC 2019-04-13 Scott Tusa Calm Body Clear Mind 1 of 4.mp3

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20190412ScottTusaCalmBodyClearMind/GGBC 2019-04-13 Scott Tusa Calm Body Clear Mind 2 of 4.mp3

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20190412ScottTusaCalmBodyClearMind/GGBC 2019-04-13 Scott Tusa Calm Body Clear Mind 3 of 4.mp3

https://archive.org/download/GGBC20190412ScottTusaCalmBodyClearMind/GGBC 2019-04-13 Scott Tusa Calm Body Clear Mind 4 of 4.mp3

It looks like these are freely available to download, such that you can use them to build up a night-time listening playlist of your own, quite independent of YouTube adverts, and indeed this blog come to think of it (although I hope you will return for the next instalment).

This week’s Calm recommendation is from Jay Shetty, who often has something fascinating to say:

This one is about self confidence

https://www.calm.com/app/player/v-BzceA7Vs

Daily Jay

Sing Your Own Praises

NARRATOR

Jay Shetty

or how bigging yourself up can have some positive effects.

I try not to dwell on the Calm recommendation. It does take a Calm subscription and I recognise a number of those reading are never going to be interested in taking out such a subscription, no matter the cost.

So, moving swiftly on…

I tend at this stage of the article to look at a professional ASMR artist in the hope that I can find one that actually beats the inadvertent ASMR material into a cocked hat. Thus far it’s been something of a curate’s egg.

This week I am drawing on a memory in which I remember an ASMR artist I saw a single video of many years ago and I think I have located the same artist (although almost certainly not the same video).

It is this:

Arctic Secret Base ASMR Physical Therapy |#42

A video that comes from the channel ATMOSPHERE this has 768k subscribers, two hundred and sixty videos, a quick scan of which seems to indicate a heavy Sci-Fi theme to a number of them. I’ve been focused on medical style ASMR for a while, although there are fourteen playlists none of these are on a medical theme as such.

The video is just shy of twenty six minutes in length so not huge. It has notes which are the standard ASMR professional length, i.e. verbose in the extreme: “Arctic Secret Base ASMR Physical Therapy |#42

ATMOSPHERE

768k subscribers

740,803 views 22 Dec 2021 #asmr #relax

#asmr

#relax

ATMOSPHERE summary by TemplePhoenix: https://templephoenix.weebly.com

This is a part of a story. All the videos and characters are interconnected.

✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

Arctic Base. Room #14

Previous episode: • Pulling Spy Bugs out of Your Hair | ASMR S…

Next episode: • Relaxing Ambush ASMR |#45

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Created by Anastasia

My Gear (affiliate link):

My best friend Laptop: https://amzn.to/3vZY7sy

Camera: https://amzn.to/3Wd47sF

Two Microphones: https://amzn.to/3CJrpPW

Lighting: https://amzn.to/3w2Wuuf

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If you wish to support me and get a behind-the-scenes access:

/ atmospherea

Sleeping With ASMR

In the drive to understand how my own thinking affects my ability to sleep, I often find myself exploring inspirational outlets on the Internet.

This week came across the following quote which may help to reset the expectations that bedevil the waking hours:

“How can they say my life is not a success? Have I not for more than sixty years got enough to eat and escaped being eaten?”

It is credited to Logan Pearsall Smith but one has to take credits with a pinch of salt. Take, for example, the large number of sayings credited to the Buddha (a number of which are far more recent).

One of these days I would not be surprised at a quote relating to iPhone use being credited to Jesus Christ. The Internet is that flaky.

In any event, if one is able to lessen the expectations down to the level that you survived this long and that has to be a great measure of success then perhaps some of the overthinking that dogs the interval between awake and fast-asleep can be lessened. Perhaps it might ease the slide from one (alert) state to a more restful one.

In case such thinking is not natural for you, I will persist in trying to find restful things to distract the mind whilst giving you time to doze.

Following a rash promise made weeks ago now involving finding material that does not need advertising support, I thought I’d try to remember people I have found with a great voice who have content that does not appear on YouTube. (The aim being to avoid as many unnecessary adverts as it is possible to achieve).

This week I was remembering content by Mark Bertin that I downloaded during lockdown. Is it possible that any of that content is available outside of YouTube and, if so, is it possible to get access to download it? I found that he has a website and that there are resources available.

A number of these do point to YouTube, admittedly. Some of them do not. There seems enough here for you to get an appreciation of the voice without having to endure adverts:

Talks and Podcasts

Switching across to the Calm app; as regular readers will know, I have a subscription to Calm.

Other resources exist and I only mention Calm at all as I have access to it. No doubt in the future I will subscribe to something else that provides meditation and relaxation resources. For the moment though, it is Calm, and today’s choice, yet again, is drawn from the Calm dailies:

https://www.calm.com/app/player/HxslQ-MFnA

Daily Trip

Simple Good Things

NARRATOR

Jeff Warren

AUTHOR

Jeff Warren

What simple good thing is here for you right now.

I have been a bit samey of late in that I keep recommending Calm dailies involving Jeff Warren. I do like his voice, but mostly I like what he has to say. No doubt it will not be long before I go back to Tamara Levitt however, as I rate her voice a bit above Jeff’s.

I notice that researchers have used sound to change the content of dreams. On the face of it, not a million miles from using sound to get some sleep in the first place. Perhaps though, the ability to change people’s dreams has some greater potential for negative uses than the occasional duff sound in a video which you’re using to help you doze off.

I will try to stick to sound-related recommendations that are not linked to some corporate’s designs to market their latest piece of nonsense at you.

On which note, it is time we listened to a professional ASMR artist and see what we think. Taking into account that I have not been that impressed in general with this area of ASMR-i-ness.

This week the video is this one:

ASMR PRE-MED STUDENT DOES A CRANIAL NERVE EXAM ON YOU! 💓

It is not huge at just a little less than sixteen minutes. It is from Livs ASMR 💕. This channel has 1.55k subscribers, and only six videos – an achievement which seems properly fantastic. At the moment this would seem to be the only medical-themed video on the channel so there is no chance I’ll be returning (unless that situation should change).

Alternatively, I could change the approach of the blog and start covering wood-carving videos or something.

The notes on the channel are interesting:

“Livs ASMR 💕

Description

ASMR videos 💕

More info

http://www.youtube.com/@asmr.byolivia

Joined 12 Jan 2026

1.55k subscribers

6 videos

66,116 views”

So, this channel has only been in existence for a few months and yet all of those willing fans have flocked to it. This has to bode extremely well for the quality of this video.

Today’s video has minimal notes: ” 56,531 views 29 Jan 2026

tastes: 2:05

smell: 3:50

hearing 6:28

sight: 9:21

touch 12:55″

Short notes – that is refreshing in itself.

The video permits comments. There are a fair number, some are whacky, some are odd, some are sycophantic. All represent the style of comment we have come to expect.

The video starts at the whisper, which is something we get from a number of professional ASMR artists. However, the delivery is at the hurry-up. It was therefore not as restful a video as I had hoped. In addition this is one video where turning up the volume is likely to be more effective.

There are, of course, distracting noises, scribbling noises, gloves-related noises, that strange mouth clucking noise so beloved of ASMR artists, clicking noises, finger tapping noises, the odd clunk. This is obviously a potpourri of ASMR triggers assembled into one whole.

I’d prefer focus on just the one trigger. I would love a video that consisted solely of a calm, empathetic voice but I am probably asking too much.

It would be great if the presentation was at a slower pace, I think it would be much improved. Inevitably, it was interspersed by the odd loud advert when I was listening to it.

The setting strikes me as domestic; it could even be filmed under some kind of bunk bed (perhaps not but that is what it looks like). There is the odd cut, in which the artist appears to move an inconceivable amount but as you will be listening and not watching I do not think that matters.

I liked the voice. I would watch the video again, but, as I have mentioned before, I do not find the professional ASMR artist, in general, is producing content which is markedly preferable to the inadvertent ASMR videos which I have been following.

Recently the pace that videos are being taken down means that the pressure is on to get more videos reviewed – or the playlist is going to be a sad and wilted thing. There has obviously been a change whereby some channels will only allow access to persons from a specific country (United States). I’m not certain what the change has been but I saw that twenty videos disappeared from the playlist recently – so no doubt there are a number of blog items with blank spaces where the videos used to be. This is not the first time this has happened but I will keep the efforts going to maintain a playlist of a reasonable size.

The news regarding the miracle pillow is that initial tests reveal it is helping with snoring, however, my neck feels that I may have the wrong size. Not the fault of the supplier, but mine. I will not reveal further details (and review it), therefore, until I have sorted that problem out.

I was interested to read recently that writing is likely to remain a hobby for a great many people (rather than a professional pursuit). I have reflected before that there is a great deal more attention given to media (music, video and similar) today than there is to reading.

This in a sense is liberating. I am freed from the need to make huge pots of cash from writing and hence whether I persist, or not, is likely to come down to whether it feels a worthwhile thing to do.

For the moment my interest is in trying to find more ASMR material and conveying what I have found. It is great when new people subscribe because that tells me it is a worthwhile activity for others. In between times, people will meander onto the site via search engines to pick and choose items that they find of interest to them.

Today’s video is taken from a channel that regular readers will recognise.

Visual Fields

There is of course background (most likely air conditioning) noise. But no funky intro music – tick; medical professional has a great voice – tick; comments are disallowed so there are no deleterious comments – tick.

However, of course, the absence of comments means we cannot tell if the video is already on the list of those known to ASMR fans – very probably so – Hercule Poirot’s famous brain cells is not their equal when it comes to locating new ASMR material.

This is brief at just over half a minute so not about to set any blog item on fire.

The site is MDforAll and whilst it is replete with medical-orientated videos a lot of them have medical professionals in them who major on the loud side of presentation.

It is probable that as an ASMR resource most of its useful material has been yielded up by the time we had previously visited.

Therefore, I am going to use this article to mop up videos on this channel by going through all the remainder and pointing out those which are of interest for our purposes.

Temporal Artery Examination

A different medical professional but an equally good voice, I think. Again, just half a minute. I’m glad these short ones are in a playlist or they would not be worthwhile at all.

Comments are permitted and there are no obvious ASMR fans so perhaps a new one for them too.

Sinus Percussion

The same medical professional – the same “patient”. This time it is just quarter of a minute so there is not even time to take much in, such as who the participants might be, for example.

Frontal Sinus Transillumination

This is another half minute one with the same participants.

It is a shame that these are not a bit longer. No doubt an ASMR channel somewhere has already taken them and combined them into one longer video.

The remaining one I will include for completeness but it will not be in the Procrastination Pen playlist for the reason that it requires age verification (and that should be obvious from the title).

Breast Examination

Just a little less than two and a half minutes long. It has a gentle approach to it. If it were not for the content, it would be likely to be included in the playlist. I’ll add it to the age verification playlist for people who can be bothered jumping through that hoop.

That’s it on this occasion, more next time.

The playlist for MDForAll (On The Procrastination Pen channel) is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article, why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Photo by DeepAI

Sleeping With ASMR

Welcome readers to another article of the Procrastination Pen. Just for a change, we will be looking at videos designed to encourage ASMR symptoms (if you want to receive ASMR symptoms, that is).

Yet again, I am temporarily going to review the video from a professional ASMR artist as a slight distraction from the main aim, which is to review inadvertent ASMR material.

In this case, the video under review is this one:

ASMR Cranial Nerve Exam – Roleplay

This is from the channel Starling ASMR a channel having 532K subscribers and three hundred and seventeen videos which is pretty high productivity, I’m sure that you will agree. There are a few playlists dedicated to medical exams which has been bread and butter for this blog for over a year now.

Starling ASMR also features on the ASMR index.

As I have concluded previously about other ASMR artists, Valentina is of attractive appearance and continues to confirm my suspicion that a number of ASMR fans don’t attend these videos because of the way that they sound.

The video is inclined towards the whispery and so I do not think that it is designed to fool anyone. I do not think any medical professional would conduct an exam whispering to this extent.

It contains some noises which I suspect are supposed to be stimulating, but to me rubber glove noises, clicks and crumpling noises are not what I’m interested in. In addition, the somewhat loud vibrations roughly half way through the video are, to me, distracting.

Given how popular the video is however, I think I am in a group of one here.

The voice is, of course, first class and distracting noises aside, I can hear what people are listening for.

I think it is worthy of review and so I have added it into the Sweetie Jar playlist.

Of course, the purpose of this blog has not been to review professional ASMR artists and so we return to the inadvertent ASMR that is its core material.

Today we are back on a channel that I did promise I would revisit after a moderately successful first review of it.

The video features a different “patient” to the last time we were here, and we may have some success sticking with that “patient” in terms of the videos that we review on this occasion.

The channel is Farsight Channel and will be familiar to regular readers.

The video is this one:

Macleod’s examination of the cardiovascular system

As we have previously established Macleod’s appears to be a medical tome of great worthiness in that a number of people seem to be reading it, following these videos, commenting on it and so on. Sadly, with all the medical knowledge of a person with no medical knowledge I have no idea if all that attention is justified. I will take it that it is.

As we saw the last time, all of these videos are professionally produced and a well-established clue to this is the presence of a great many notes. The notes with this video are as follows: “2,047,718 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at http://www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod

More information about the director www.iainhennessey.com”.

Comments are (bravely in my view) permitted, and are the usual rag-tag of rare affirming statements, demands for attention of one variety or another and the occasional off-the-wall comment, which makes you wonder.

The video is a little less than thirteen minutes and almost amazingly has no startup music at all (hurrah). Like before, we have two participants who could easily be computer rendered. The tone is wrong, the pacing is wrong and the voices occasionally don’t seem to fit what is happening. It is as if we have two participants and two other people’s voices have been dubbed over the top. This is less apparent, however if you don’t actually watch the video. Just listen to it. This is what I recommend anyway, after all the purpose of the blog is to help you get to sleep and it is hard to do that with your eyes open.

The video is largely narrated in any case. The narrator is not as restful voice wise as the participants who (artificial or not) have moderately quiet voices. The narrator is a little louder, but not sufficiently so to eliminate the video from the Procrastination Pen playlist, I think.

Given the channel has fifty-nine videos I think we will follow the technique used in the former article and search for videos where the same “patient” features. This gives us the following:

Macleod’s examination of the thoracic and lumbar spine

At a little less than five and a half minutes. It has notes: “9,840 views 6 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

More info about the author www.iainhennessey.com”

Again, it starts silently. The participants seem to be speaking in a strange way, but they are more restful than the narrator. However, this remains consistent with the last one which is something we often find with professionally produced videos i.e. find one good one and the entire channel might well be a source of other good videos.

At least in this one the patient shows some emotion (smiling), so it is decidedly less robotic than the previous one.

Definition:

Dimples of Venus, a picture seemed best for this:

Macleod’s examination of the respiratory system

This is just under thirteen minutes and again it has notes: “2,851,650 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

More information about the director http://www.iainhennessey.com”

We’re used to the format by now. So, we are expecting the participants to be a bit robotic but nonetheless for the video to be a reasonable one for our purposes.

We have Omar and Amy in this one and both we have seen before with Amy featuring in the previous article on this channel.

There is silence to start and that strange impression that the people featured and the voices somehow do not belong together. The actual examination is quiet and measured and the whole video would be approaching ideal sound wise if it were not for the narration over the top of it. However, the narrator never quite gets as far as objectionable such that I could find cause to dismiss the video from the Procrastination Pen playlist altogether.

He has the benefit of good intonation and never straying into excessive volume.

Definition:

Thoracotomy – surgery to open the chest.

Macleod’s examination of the shoulder

Notes: “82,387 views 5 Jul 2013 New! Macleod’s Clinical examination 13th edition

This video demonstrates clinical examination techniques as described in Macleod’s Clinical Examination. The textbook with access to the full set of videos is available at www.elsevierhealth.co.uk/macleod”

This is Ben and Omar, so a change of medical personnel. The video is a little under five minutes so isn’t going to waylay any of us for long. If anything, the narration with this one is slightly more muted which makes it more suitable for us.

Definition: Serratus Anterior

A picture is best for this:

The responses are abrupt as we have seen previously with videos featured from this channel. However, the way the medical professional handles the examination is gentle and considered.

Deltoid

At intervals (whilst the narration is occurring), the medical professional is speaking but nothing can be heard.

At this point I realise that the blog post is likely to be an excessively long one. So As before I’m going to halt the review of videos and carry some onto a future blog post on the same channel.

The Farsight Playlist on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The overall playlist of videos covered so far on the Procrastination Pen is here:

The videos weeded out because over time they are just not as good as the others is in this archive list:

I keep this in case subscribers to the Procrastination Pen have personal favourites that they want to hear.

The playlist of videos requiring age verification is here:

I can’t be bothered to stop my listening to log on, this interrupts the experience. You may not mind this in which case this list is for you.

I hope that you find the playlists restful and I hope you get plenty of sleep.

If you liked this blog article why not follow this blog.

Until next time.

Picture DeepAI.org