Recently it has been warm. Actually, warm does not even begin to describe it. It has been the kind of warm that must attend a sweating person’s undergarments. It has been hot and humid, and the kind of weather that makes you wonder why winter seems such a terrible idea.
One of the things that I find when it is like this is that lying in a pool of your own sweat is not that conducive to sleep. I also find that a couple of asthmatic tower fans do not really begin to make a dent in it. I am also hearing colleagues discussing the relative merits of this air conditioning system or that one.
England seems a quite different place to what I am used to if air conditioning starts to become as normal as formally a gas boiler would have been.
In these times as far as I can tell, all that is feasible is to rest, trust that your body is going to sleep when it has to, oh, and listen to a nice distracting playlist. It is for the latter that the Procrastination Pen has been reviewing calming material (predominantly from YouTube) for the last mumble-mumble months now. (It’s been a long while).
I am making efforts to live up to my promise of finding Internet-available material which is both free of adverts and also free of cost. (I think I was something of a lummock for promising it in the first place, but the endeavour persists).
This week I remembered that I had heard a meditation from someone called Chris Murchison called “I Am”. I found a copy of it here: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/podcasts/item/happiness_break_an_affirmation_practice_for_the_new_year
There is no obvious download button, however, there was also nothing that demanded payment. It is quite brief and there is some music, which is not my preferred thing. However, I found that Chris has a relaxing voice. Why not give it a try for yourself.
Whilst I’m looking at past relaxing material, I found that I had at one time been listening to this week’s professional ASMR artist in the past. The video is not on a medical theme but it is a goody (in my opinion).
The video is this one:
🌙* Sleepy Time🌙* ASMR * Soft Sounds * Massage *
It is from a channel that I have reviewed before
Gentle Whispering ASMR which has 2.43m subscribers, 848 videos, and 14 playlists.
There is even a playlist on a medical theme:
containing thirty-eight videos no less.
Today’s video is dated 2016 which is when I would have been listening to it. The notes, as usual, for a professional ASMR artist are making a run for war and peace in terms of their length:
“1 May 2016 #Gentlewhispering #ASMR #relax
Good evening🌙 ^_^ In this video we will scratch a pillow 00:59, make sleepy sweeping sounds with it 03:15, tuck you in with a soft blanket 06:22, massage your shoulders and your neck to help you relax more while learning why it is so good for you 08:45, then we’ll rub your temples and your forehead to sooth any tension you might have 17:00, help you locate and relax your jaw muscles 21:14 and at the end we’ll use a tissue technique 23:05 to help you close your eyes and fall asleep faster 🙂 I hope you’ll enjoy this simple and light video. Thank you for watching! 🌙 ♥
Disclaimer: ***- This video is created for relaxation, entertainment and ASMR/tingles/chills inducing purposes only. For more information about ASMR phenomenon please click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomo…
-This video cannot replace any medication or professional treatment. If you have sleep/anxiety/psychological troubles please consult your physician. Thank you 🙂
Email: MariaGentlewhispering@gmail.com
#ASMR #Gentlewhispering #relax”
As usual I have truncated those quite a bit. The video is a little over twenty-six and a quarter minutes. There are a shed-ton of comments. As usual there is lots of fawning commentary with the odd strange comment thrown in to remind you this is YouTube.
There is no startup music and the presentation is heavily dependent on whispery, breathy presentation. Pretty standard for a professional ASMR artist then. I do prefer them less on the whispery side personally, probably because such videos are comparatively rare. The voice is so quiet that at intervals what is being said cannot be made out (by me at any rate). However, the tone is so restful and quiet and the pace so marvellously slow. There is a persistent background hiss but it is barely noticeable. (I had turned the volume up a bit as the presentation really is that quiet).
There are non-vocal sounds of course: nails clicking on sequins, fabric-related noises, (some of those do not seem to be that restful), stroking of a cushion (which is uncannily like an ocean noise), stroking of a jumper, rustling noises, fingers tapping on material.
At intervals my mind did start to drift a bit which is perhaps not a good sign. Then again it could be a sign that if I was horizontal, I would have drifted off at that point.
I would say this one was definitely worthy of a review, why not take a look yourself.
The Calm track this week is this one:
https://www.calm.com/app/player/yS_L-ODr3t
Daily Trip
Awareness for Curious Cats
NARRATOR
Jeff Warren
AUTHOR
Jeff Warren
What is awareness? We can never fully know ourselves but we can try.
I know the chances are that relatively few of you will have a Calm subscription and I am not going to sell you one. However, if you do subscribe to Calm, why not give that a try.
For the inadvertent ASMR we are back, once again, with a channel that I have covered many times previously, that is Geeky Medics. This channel has 1.44m subscribers, three hundred and fifty four videos, twenty playlists and occasionally we do find a really rather relaxing video. With the downside that as far as I remember every single video I have reviewed from this channel has music.
Today’s video is this one:
Tinel’s & Phalen’s Test – OSCE Guide | Clip | UKMLA | CPSA | PLAB 2
In common with several recent inadvertent ASMR videos of late it is rather short at a little less than one and a half minutes. The video still has notes though: “2 Oct 2022 Neurological Examination OSCE Guides | CPSA | UKMLA | PLAB | MRCS
This video demonstrates how to screen for sensory loss in the hands in an OSCE station. Sensory assessment of the hands (radial, median, ulnar nerve) is commonly performed as part of a hand and wrist examination.
Tinel’s and Phalen’s test screen specifically for median nerve compression (i.e. carpal tunnel syndrome).
You can read our step-by-step guide to hand and wrist examination here: https://geekymedics.com/hand-examinat…
Always adhere to medical school/local hospital guidelines when performing examinations or clinical procedures. DO NOT perform any examination or procedure on patients based purely on the content of these videos. Geeky Medics accepts no liability for loss of any kind incurred as a result of reliance upon the information provided in this video.
 Achieve success in your medical school OSCEs, UKMLA CPSA, and PLAB 2 exams with our free clinical skills videos. Subscribe to our channel to be informed of our latest releases. 🙂
CPSA OSCE Guides https://geekymedics.com/the-clinical-…
 UKMLA AKT Notes https://geekymedics.com/ukmla/
 PLAB 2 OSCE Stations https://geekymedics.com/plab-2-osce-s…
Revise for the Simulated Consultation Assessment (SCA) with our collection of high-quality SCA cases written by GPs and Training Program Directors. Check out our SCA revision cases and prepare for the MRCGP https://geekymedics.com/sca-cases-ban…”
Again I have edited those down a tad.
Despite how short this video is there is still time, apparently, for startup music (I am not a fan). The examination is not quiet, but the tone is good and the pace is excellent. Without the music it might even have been very good indeed. There is even further music at the tail end of the same video… it’s a great shame, I need a Geeky Medics Senza Musica but no such channel exists.
Still worth a review though I feel.
On that basis, just one, video this time.
That’s it on this occasion, more next time.
See you again next week.
The Geeky Medics 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 Deep.ai
The Procrastination Pen 