N Sight – The Procrastination Pen

Sleeping With ASMR

I have been promising for a little while now that I would make some recommendations regarding tracks on Calm that I have used when sleep seems to be avoiding me. In fact, Calm has a whole range of material dedicated to sleep. This seems to be getting updated so regularly that it is hard to point to any one specific track. That said, I did rather enjoy “A Calmling in New York”. Perhaps a little too music-based for my usual relaxation but you may well have a different point of view. You can find it here: https://www.calm.com/app/player/qJEZPZzlDS but a warning, Calm is not free (and I am not trying to encourage you to pay for it).

Of course, if you are really stressed of a night time, it might just be that you want to be as relaxed as possible whilst acknowledging that sleep just isn’t going to happen for you that evening. In which case, some background noise might be just what you need.

I often give up in these situations and switch on the TV, listening with headphones on. It is not infrequently that I wake up a few hours later, a change of location and some background noise being all that it took to knock wakefulness on the head.

However, if it is looking like a few hours of being awake, you might do worse than to launch the Procrastination Pen playlist, set YouTube to shuffle and lie there listening to the various restful tracks that are available.

I have been in the habit recently of reviewing one professional ASMR artist’s video. Just because I’ve been reviewing inadvertent ASMR for over a year now and it is probably time for a change. (Small though it is).

Today’s video comes from LeannaASMR who is featured on the ASMR index here.

ASMR| Comprehensive Abdominal Exam, Full Medical Roleplay (Soft Spoken)

At a little less than twenty minutes it is rather short for a full-length professional ASMR video of this type. I do notice that there is a rising tendency for ASMR artists to publish their videos as “shorts” i.e. something only a few minutes long. Perhaps this video is trying to draw a middle way between the hour-long material we’ve seen and the one-minute shorts that are at the other end of the spectrum.

The video has quite a lot of extraneous noise; clicking noises, crumpling noises, equipment noises, the odd thump, in fact, the noises I have been hoping that inadvertent ASMR material would not contain. I assume that this was included here for effect but it marred it for me. The voice, meanwhile is as perfect as you can imagine for a professional ASMR artist and does not stray into the whispering level, which tends to make such videos completely unbelievable (what medical professional conducts an examination using a whispering tone)?

So, enough of all these distractions back to the overriding purpose of the blog which is to turn up inadvertent ASMR material or, at the very least, videos which are calm and restful (and hopefully without too much in the way of extraneous noises).

Today’s video comes from a channel that I have covered before N Sight has 3.08K subscribers and twenty videos. The proportion of subscribers to quantity of videos is something of an achievement, I think.

The video is this one:

Nails: Demo Exam

It is four- and three-quarter minutes so not long enough to keep you. There are notes “264,441 views 17 Feb 2016

In today’s medical practice, knowing how to spot physical signs of nutritional imbalances during a routine physical examination is an essential diagnostic tool. This nutrition-focused nails exam is conducted by Kara Fitzgerald, ND.

N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine.”

But perhaps wisely comments are not permitted.

Sadly, it has startup music and that startup music is a bit peppy to be properly restful. There is background noise but it is not excessive. Kara has a good voice, the “patient” does not get to say a great deal. Some of the included pictures are majorly off-putting and so, if this blog was not focusing on listening, I would be lairy about making it a member of the playlist. My recommendation is to listen and not to watch.

Fortunately N Sight has an entire playlist dedicated to the Nail Exam category and this playlist contains four videos.

The playlist first featured is, in fact, number two in this playlist. The first video is this one:

Nail Exam: Introduction, Equipment, & Patient Positioning

Again, there are notes: “7,955 views 17 Feb 2016

The same two participants are featured and again we have funky startup music (sigh). The video is a bit longer than three-and-a-quarter minutes and does not initially start with a medical examination. Kara Fitzgerald starts presenting and as such the vocal is a little louder than in the first video. The patient does not appear until the two- and three-quarter minute mark, it is interposed with yet more funky music and I find that quite distracting.

The second video is the one we came in with, and the third video in the playlist is this one:

Nails: Teaching Exam

This is much more substantial at a little less than seventeen and a half minutes. There are notes again “43,265 views 17 Feb 2016

N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine.”

And the same two participants. The far too energetic music tops and tails the video, as before.

This time we are into the meat and potatoes of an examination. Here, Kara’s voice is much more measured and I would say is pretty good from our perspective. It is not too loud or energetic.

I would say (music excepting) this is a pretty good candidate for the Procrastination Pen playlist.

The final video is merely a wrap up. It is this one:

Nails: Conclusion

it is only slightly more than a minute. Same startup (and concluding) music. No medical exam this time and just like that it is all over.

The N Sight 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

Sleeping With ASMR

Recently, I have noticed that YouTube is just not cracking it on the nights when I am really fearsomely awake. In fact, it is just wise on those nights to get up again, pad downstairs, and watch some late-night nonsense whilst listening with the headphones.

Fortunately, TV now seems well supplied with some barely-watchable early morning viewing. (It’s almost as if they realise that a group of insomniacs are the only people awake in the early hours and that the last thing such people need is something actually interesting).

Sadly, those who turn their channels over to teleshopping are not so enlightened. My advice (if you are forced to resort to similar tactics due to sleeplessness) is to avoid at all costs surfing channels. There is a real risk that you will you happen upon channels trying to keep you awake in order to drive the purchases of mattresses, power washes or strange pruning devices.

You may also wish to give thought to the shape of your spine. For, if you do happen to drop off to some 1980s B movie, it is likely that the sofa will not turn out to be the most comfortable of resting places.

If you are intending to persist with the YouTube playlist as the source of restfulness however, I think I can be confident that you have come to the right place.

Regular readers will recognise the channel N Sight, because of course we have been here before.

Today’s video has a set of notes which are thankfully brief but which indicate that this is a professionally-produced video.

“13,274 views 2 Feb 2017

Michael Stone, MD demonstrates correct technique for blood pressure measurement with automatic and manual BP cuffs, and when to use each type of cuff. He also demonstrates simultaneous BP measurement (to assess autonomic dysfunction), and supine arm and leg BPs (for the ankle-arm index). N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine. Learn more at nsight.org.”

Comments are thankfully not permitted – no requests for free medical advice, no disparaging remarks about the participants but sadly no indication as to whether other ASMR fans have been here before.

I would guess that they have.

The video is this one:

Blood Pressure: Demo Exam, Part 1

It is a little shy of eleven minutes long and so it is not going to be your nighttime companion for very long.

Sadly, it starts with some loud and rather too energetic music – so far, so normal, we have found. Sigh.

The patient is introduced as “Steve” the medical professional is not introduced (well outside of those notes anyway). However, we do find that he (the medical professional) has a great voice, very calming and measured.

Today was the first time I tried the transcript facility in YouTube, and it is so very useful for me. Now I can get a visual check for things like the spelling of people’s names, which I am often convinced I have got wrong.

The medical professional seems quite happy with a reading of 128 (systolic) when I was pretty certain that 128 was pretty high…

The video then repeats the blood pressure test but this time manually, rather than with a machine. It is a little quieter but sadly, it means there is yet more music (as an introduction to this section). Comparatively the cuff looks like something unearthed from a Victorian sanitorium but as you’ll be lying down trying to get some sleep I very much doubt that you will notice this.

Yet more upbeat music and then there is a blood pressure test in both arms simultaneously (this is a test I have never seen). This time the automatic machines are in use and so there is the sound of the cuffs being inflated.

Upbeat music again and back to the manual cuff. I do prefer the sound of this being manually pumped vs the electric pump sound on the automatic machine. However, your preference might vary.

Yet more upbeat music and this time the blood pressure cuff is around Steve’s leg. Again, I have never seen this in use before this.

More upbeat music and then the video concludes. And cues straight into the next video which is this one:

Blood Pressure: Demo Exam, Part 2

There are notes “6,172 views 2 Feb 2017

Michael Stone, MD, demonstrates the correct techniques for measuring the ankle-arm index, dorsalis pedis & posterior tibial pulses. He then performs the raised leg oxygen saturation test, followed by carotid and radial pulse comparison. Finally, he concludes with the appropriate orthostatic hypotension exam. N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine. Learn more at nsight.org.”

This follows the same scheme of the previous one, same music, same participants. It is a little shorter at just less than nine and a half minutes. The sound of the doppler at the start of this video may be a little off-putting to some people (I didn’t find it so).

Straight into funky music again and this time the pulse is checked in Steve’s feet.

More music, then a check on the carotid pulse.

Music again, then a check inside the mouth. With emphasis on strong dental hygiene.

Music, and a check as Steve changes position from lying down to standing up. And onto tail end music again.

These two form part of a playlist on N Sight Blood Pressure Exam.

They appear mid-way through the playlist which consists of six videos in total.

The first video is this one:

Blood Pressure: Introduction, Equipment, and Patient Positioning

In which we find that the medical professional is Dr Michael Stone. Initially it is not a medical examination as such but a monologue. Despite this his voice is not elevated. Some people in this situation become a tad “shouty” as if projecting to a room. Dr Michael Stone does not fall into this trap.

The video is a little over sixteen and a half minutes so the longest we have seen so far.

However, the chance to punctuate the video with the same music track is not to be missed apparently. perhaps they paid a lot for it and want to feature it as frequently as possible.

It’s a shame as Dr Stone really has a very good voice for our purposes.

The notes have follow the same theme as the others: “3,422 views 2 Feb 2017

Michael Stone, MD, introduces this blood pressure measurement series, including key nutritional considerations for treating patients with abnormal blood pressure. He describes the necessary equipment, calibration needs, and changes in BP measurement over time. He then demonstrates appropriate patient positioning for sitting and supine blood pressure exams.

N Sight is presented by the Institute for Functional Medicine. Learn more at nsight.org.”

As we are not learning to take blood pressure, I will discontinue including them as I’m sure they are of partial interest.

Blood Pressure: Demo Exam, Part 1

Blood Pressure: Demo Exam, Part 2

These two are where we came in.

Blood Pressure: Teaching Exam, Part 1

Like a number of professionally produced videos these turn out to be consistent. This can be great if the first one is marvellous. Less great if it was less than perfect. In this case it means continuation of that annoying music. Set against this, it means the continued exposure to the great intonation and measured delivery of Dr Michael Stone. Not for the first time I am lamenting that I cannot isolate this and remove the little musical interludes.

This one is just under sixteen and a half minutes, so one of the longer ones we’ve seen and in all other respects is similar, same doctor, same patient, same approach, similar notes, same approach to comments and so on.

Definition:

Insufflation: is the act of blowing something (such as a gas, powder, or vapor) into a body cavity

Blood Pressure: Teaching Exam, Part 2

Consistent with those we have seen, nuclear blast needed for the music track, embrace needed for the quiet voice of Dr Michael Stone. This one is nearly twenty minutes in length which is the longest so far. It has some unsettling doppler noises which might be off-putting to some people. There are also some loud car-related sounds indicating that a nearby road can’t be far outside of the building where this was recorded (or someone has a really loud exhaust). Long videos are also an excuse for YouTube to insert an annoying advert and they seem to have made good use of that facility here.

Blood Pressure: Nutritional Factors and Conclusion

This one is a bit less than six minutes and otherwise has little to distinguish it from those that have gone before. I just wish that Dr Michael Stone could produce a music-free version of each of these videos. That and drop some of the louder doppler noises. However, I still maintain that these are all worthwhile trialling in the Procrastination Pen playlist. (However, as you know, every once in a while I’ll get tired of the ones with irritating noises and drop them into the archive list. There is some chance one, some, or all of these may suffer that fate.