Sleeping With ASMR

This week I find the statements that alcohol is rotten for sleep to be sadly ratified by experience. I am not the world’s greatest social animal and so my forays into drinkies are but occasional. I am sure that at my age my body does not thank me when I make such forays as I currently do.

Having been out on one of these forays recently, I returned feeling reasonably content with the world, easily slid into Neptune’s house. Only to find much of the night punctuated with tossing and turning and awakening to a head feeling like two tree trunks colliding in a hurricane.

If you do imbibe as a mechanism of medicating your way into the land of nod, it would seem that in fact you are not doing yourself a great deal of good. I would recommend a dose of the Procrastination Pen playlist as an alternative. You can use this playlist as a distraction to gentle you off to sleep.

Each week I review some content for its restful qualities and some of that content (assuming it is any good), I add into a playlist which is publicly available on YouTube and you might find of use.

Some of the other content (such as Calm) will require a subscription. However, I do try to balance it out with as much free material as I can locate that week.

I hope in this fashion to give you enough material to create your own playlist should you prefer.

For a little while I have tried to locate some material that is not on YouTube, i.e. files that are not supported by advertising and therefore that will not be interposed with adverts at quite a different volume and pace from the video itself. Such adverts can be disturbing to the quiet-seeking ear and, to be honest, I’ve got kind of tired of them myself too.

This week’s is this one:

ASMR Blue-20170308-Peripheral Nerve Examination – ASMR Doctor Medical

It is on the Internet Archive again (I’ve found material on the Internet Archive in previous week’s) and is roughly in line with the medical theme, this blog has been following for many weeks, I’m sure you’ll agree.

This is a little over thirty-seven minutes which is a reasonable length for videos we have seen of late. As we would expect the tone is excellent. There is no startup music and the artist does not, initially, descend into whispering.

The notes that come with it are the usual Internet Archive level of brevity: ” ASMR Blue-20170308-Peripheral Nerve Examination – ASMR Doctor Medical-4mnbR3kmiwI-[99689714].mkv

ASMR Blue-20170308-Peripheral Nerve Examination – ASMR Doctor Medical-4mnbR3kmiwI-[E742A0EA].jpg

Title – Peripheral Nerve Examination – ASMR Doctor Medical

video_url – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mnbR3kmiwI

video_description – Hey guys! This is a twist on the popular Cranial Nerve Exam Role Play. Instead of looking at the cranial nerves though, we’re checking your peripheral nerves, which is an entirely different examination called the Peripheral Nerve Exam or Upper/Lower Limb Neurological Examination.

0:00 Nurse Violet checks your vitals

10:45 Doctor Blue performs peripheral nerve exam

#asmr

💙Bluewhisper

Instagram and twitter username ~ bluewispy

Email ~ bluewhisperasmr at gmail”

There are zero comments but this seems to be a lot less unusual on the Internet archive than it is on YouTube, for example. There are of course noises other than the ASMR artist’s voice. I don’t really like the glove noises or the Velcro sounds. There are also rustling noises, crinkling of plastic noises, the sound of a blood pressure cuff being blown up (which to me is excessively loud), there were paper noises, writing noises.

There is, unsurprisingly, some whispered content. In this case this is less distracting than some of the extraneous noises I’ve mentioned.

I think this is a good one, why not have a review yourself.

The offering from Calm that I’ve listened to this week is this one:

https://www.calm.com/app/player/D1jDKA6-QE

Daily Calm

The Place

NARRATOR

Tamara Levitt

AUTHOR

Tamara Levitt

Tamara may be my favourite voice on Calm. I often prefer the actual content from Jeff Warren or Jay Shetty but for a calming voice I think staying with Tamara is not a bad plan. This one is about our tendency to grasp pleasant emotions and things. Unpleasant things we push away. However, this track encourages us to accept reality as it is, pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.

The structure I’ve employed for these reviews now expects a review of content from a professional ASMR artist and I am not about to change unless I get some negative feedback about this.

This week let’s look at this one:

1940’s ASMR~ WWII Nurse Role Play {1900-2000 Series}

It is from the channel Angelica which has 627k subscribers, 1K videos (wow) and sixteen playlists of which one would appear to be on theme for the medical related ASMR this blog has focused on for a long time now:

Today’s video is a little over eighteen minutes long and so, in contrast to the advert-free offering above, is quite short by comparison with some that have been reviewed on this blog of late. The notes are refreshingly brief: “2,827,299 views 28 Nov 2016

New ASMR Channel:    / @angelicasgrasss 

⁂ Instagram:   / angelicasgrass   ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙ ✩ *̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙”

Comments are not permitted which stops the more esoteric, not to say abusive, contributions of Joe public. However, it also prevents us finding out how many ASMR sycophants have hung around the video in the nearly ten years since it was posted. I am guessing that this video will have been discovered by many thousand individuals and most of those will have loved it (that seems to be how it works with professional ASMR artists).

It begins without startup music and straight away I would say this artist has an excellent voice, somewhat better than some I have heard of late. The video has some background noise (louder than I would have expected for a professional ASMR artist). I like the vocal tone, I like the pace, I like the intonation, I even like the accent. I can see why this artist is so popular. Indeed, if this quality is consistent, I may return to check out at least one other of the videos associated with this artist. There are of course extraneous noises, paper noises, writing noises, sounds from the artist moving about, the odd clunk, sounds of hands being rubbed together. It must be a testimony to the quality of the voice that I did not find any of it distracting.

I’m not convinced some of the equipment in use would have been around in the 1940s however we’re here for the sound rather than the quality of any video presentation.

I think this one well worthy of a listen.

The inadvertent ASMR video this week is this one:

Advanced Health Assessment (NP) Neck/Respiratory/Cardiac

it comes from the channel Eli Metts with 480 subscribers twenty-five videos zero playlists. The videos are on a wide-ranging set of themes. I could only find four that seemed to be on a medical subject. Two of these posted six years ago and the remaining two seven years ago. It would seem that all video posting ceased six years ago for some reason. It looks like this is another video you should view quickly before the channel gets removed altogether.

The video is just less than twenty minutes so not huge in length. It starts without startup music and with no background noise. This is unusual for something filmed in a hospital which usually is dogged by very loud air conditioning noises.

There are notes, which are thankfully, brief: “64,727 views 10 Feb 2019

Advanced Health Assessment (NP) neck, respiratory and cardiac systems assessments”.

Comments are permitted and are the usual level of variability. However, ASMR fans have been here before me (which is usually good news).

There are occasional traffic noises, which sound like they are close by. There are sporadic equipment noises, which sound like they might be in an adjacent room. There are noises from furniture moving.

The medical professional (Eli Metts) has a good voice. One advantage of this video being designed for a medical purpose is that the professional is not whispering. The patient (Gabrielle Burch) also has a good voice but we, sadly, do not get to hear a lot of it.

The examination is nicely paced and most importantly not too loud. It does seem to end rather abruptly but all in all enjoyable in the listening.

I think this one was well worthy of a review.

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 came across a course by Tara Brach ” Mindfulness for Anxiety and Sleep: Learning Practices that Help Reduce Stress and Calm Fears”. I’ve subscribed (sadly it is not free) and as it is on theme for the material that we have been covering I thought I’d let you know about it as well. You’ll find it at the Radical Compassion Institute and it is $19.99. Of course, if that sort of sum is a long way from the amount that you wish to spend at the moment, that is completely understandable. However, I know that there are some people desperate for sleep out there and I rather like Tara Brach’s voice…

Of late, I have been trying to seek out material that is both free and not on YouTube, in the hope that I can direct people away from energetic adverts when they are trying to sleep.

This week I thought we’d go back to the Internet Archive again with this one:

PE: Shoulder Pain – OSCE Prep (Pulm, Cardiac, Pulses, Screening OSE, UE Neuro, MSK, Special Tests)

https://archive.org/details/youtube-EglDKnv5mLw

This has the look-feel of a YouTube video that was reviewed on the Procrastination Pen many months ago. It is eight minutes long. It has quite extensive notes:

“This particular video is intended as a demonstration of a physical exam that may be useful in evaluating a patient with shoulder pain.

It is not intended as a complete instructional video and should not be considered a source of complete physical examination instruction. It is also intended not as a perfect example of a physical exam that would be performed for a patient in clinical practice, but is designed to optimize function and efficiency for a OSCE testing setting.

Instead, it should be treated as a supplement to independent learning using primary Osteopathic Physical Examination instructional resources. Clinical skills are best learned and developed with support from faculty in the context of a complete Osteopathic Medical School Curriculum.

Osteopathic Clinical Skills is a channel dedicated to discussing and exploring Osteopathic Clinical Skills concepts for medical students, residents, and clinicians and presenting them in an easy-to-understand manner.

Attributions:

Many thanks to the University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNTHSC – TCOM) for permitting use of the Medical Education Training (MET) facilities and equipment during the production of this video.

Additional thanks to the UNTHSC-TCOM learner and faculty volunteers who participated in this production and provided permission for the use of their image in this video.

Addeddate

    2023-08-09 12:29:33

Channel

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

Collection_added

    social-media-video

    additional_collections_video

Identifier

    youtube-EglDKnv5mLw

Originalurl

Scanner

    TubeUp Video Stream Mirroring Application 0.0.35

Year

    2023 “

There are no comments, but then that isn’t really exceptional for a video that we find on the Internet Archive rather than YouTube.

The video starts without startup music and actually has no discernible background noise. The medical professional does not have your classical ASMR voice and is definitely not someone given to whispering. However, his style is gentle and measured, even slow perhaps. Occasionally he speaks a little more loudly which might be distracting if you have just dozed off. There are none of the grinding, popping, clicking, noises that attend many YouTube osteopathy videos and which caused me to reject the entire category for this blog some time ago.

The patient does not have much to say but she also has quite a calming voice. That is not common with YouTube videos – at least one participant habitually sounding like they’re employed to engender wakefulness.

Of course, each week now I refer to something from Calm because I have a Calm subscription, but I am not in any way trying to rub that in. Merely indicating that other material is available outside of YouTube. This week we have:

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

Daily Jay

Context Switching

NARRATOR

Jay Shetty

which is about how changing rapidly between tasks is taxing on the mind and inefficient. A sentiment which I wholeheartedly endorse, given that I have a very single-tasking kind of mind which becomes progressively more insistent about that limitation the older that I become.

This week’s professional ASMR offering comes to us from Cap Bailey ASMR. The channel has 375K subscribers six hundred and thirty seven videos and nine playlists of which this one would seem to be on theme for the medical examination subject we have pursued for this blog for some time now:

The video is this one:

Medical ASMR Friendly Field Exam (Whispered Sleep Roleplay)

The video has comments (of course it does) and, as usual, people are wetting themselves with joy over a new ASMR video. There are notes, which are refreshingly brief: ” 10,275 views 15 Feb 2026

(World War 2 Roleplay) Your friendly ASMR Medic treats your injuries to make you feel better (relaxed and sleep well) I hope ya love this video. I really enjoy doing these type of videos so if you enjoy this, leave a like and let me know in the comments. Much love and enjoy 🙂

Patreon –   / capbaileyasmr 

PayPal – @CapBaileyASMR

Instagram –   / cap_bailey 

Cap Bailey ASMR

375k subscribers”

It is a little over twenty-two and a half minutes in length, so not exceptionally long. It starts without music, but does have a kind of background noise as if the person presenting is standing in a storm. I think this is deliberate given the context of the video. It is definitely a whispery presentation but not your classical ASMR voice, I think. It is a bit esoteric for our normal fare in that it is not in a hospital, GP surgery, or even a nursing student’s bedroom.

The WWII aspect is unusual. However, we’re here to listen to how good the voice is. I’d say it is acceptable but I am not raving as much as the comments would have had me do.

The voice has an edge to it which makes it less than the calming I was expecting. I think it is that the person presenting is fighting to be quiet or, perhaps is trying both to be quiet and to project at the same time and it is an oddly jarring effect. That is not to say it isn’t well worth a review, of course.

There are, as usual for such things, other noises; tapping noises, stroking noises, slurping noises, some clicks, the odd thump, clunk and scraping noise. The person also makes that odd mouth clucking/clicking noise so beloved of ASMR artists but which does not do anything for me.

This may well be an example of something I have noticed before which is that some ASMR artists seem to try to get every ASMR trigger they can into each of their videos. I have said before that this is a mistake, as it does feel a bit like hammering at a trigger rather than it gently coming out of the presentation. In addition, if your trigger is mouth clucking, it probably isn’t whispering and vice versa. On that basis any ASMR fan is going to find part of the video unfulfilling, presumably.

Occasionally these extraneous noises get to be quite loud. I did find some of the noises to be distracting and personally I would not be using this one to try to fall asleep to, your mileage may vary. If you’re watching, the recreation of military artefacts and costume seems well done, but I think most people reading this blog will be using any of the videos to doze off to and hence will only be listening. I guarantee that there will be many-many people who absolutely lap this up, so why not have a review for yourself.

Today’s inadvertent ASMR video comes from the most minimal of channels. The channel is Lauren King and there is just one video on that channel. The subject of this week’s review.

HEENT Health Assessment Video 2_King

There are no notes and no comments. The channel has just two hundred and forty-nine subscribers but I notice the video has 123,950 views at the time I am looking at it (let’s hope that bodes well for us). It is a little less than twenty and a half minutes which is definitely not huge. It starts without music but with a reasonable level of background noise almost certainly air conditioning. Lauren seems to have a good voice and, indeed, the “patient” has a voice that is pretty good too. So far, so good.

There are equipment noises, noises from adjacent cubicles, some of which are quite loud (laughter even). The “patient” seems to be called “Tanner Wallace”, although there is every possibility of that being incorrect. Also, the date of birth verbally whisks by (possibly August 10 1993, not that the information is of very much use to us).

The bed motors (Lauren raises the bed) make a fearsome noise which is genuinely distracting. Fortunately, that particular noise does not last that long. The examination is well paced even gentle in places. Lauren occasionally seems to work hard on enunciation (there are a few technical terms).

In common with some presentations we have seen, Lauren sometimes spends moments struggling to work out what comes next. This is very standard student assessment video. By now, you and I have seen so many such videos we can almost work out what we expect to happen next. This one seems a small cut above, in that the style has the appearance of including some genuine empathy which is a fundamentally rare skill demonstrated in student assessment videos.

Part way through, the shoulder badge becomes visible and we see that it is Walla Walla University School of Nursing.

This has a channel but we have long established that university channels are there to promote the university rather than generate any ASMR-related content. (No doubt rightly so).

Sadly, my listening to the video was repeatedly interrupted by loud adverts (which more or less reiterates the point where we came in).

I rather liked this one, extraneous noises notwithstanding. Certainly, it is of reasonable quality for a student assessment video and I’m going to put it in the Procrastination Pen Playlist.

On that basis, just one, video on this occasion.

That’s it today, 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