Autoimmune Diseases ASMR Sleep and Healing
A solid night’s sleep is important for everyone, but if you have an autoimmune disease or any other chronic illness, sleep is magical and crucial for healing. It is a pillar for healing, along with food, movement, and stress reduction. Good sleep can help reduce stress. But it’s a catch-22. If you’re stressed during the day, you’re probably not going to get a good night’s sleep.
It has been written and told by numerous experts on high that you shouldn’t watch any screens before bedtime, but I always do. I would argue that the screen brightness, which can be lowered, is not the issue. The issue is what your day looked like. How much stress did you have? Do you have ongoing, unresolved problems? How much pain did you have, emotional or physical? Did you move enough to be tired enough to sleep? Did you stop drinking caffeine early enough?
I began watching ASMR—autonomous sensory meridian response—about three years ago. ASMR’s visual or audio stimuli elicit a tingling or goosebump-like response in some people, including me. Even if you don’t have the tingling response, it’s still terribly relaxing.
There’s such a variety of ASMR styles, including hair brushing and roleplay. My daughter thinks it’s creepy, and if you’re not used to it, it’s kind of creepy. People whisper. People whisper things that you can’t understand. They make mouth noises, so if that’s an issue for you, you’re not going to like this. The ASMR YouTubers sometimes work with real people and wash, comb, and brush their hair. More often, they use a mannequin head with a wig. That’s weird too, but you get used to it.
The camera is focused on the head of hair and many ASMRers choose not to show their face or they might show the lower half of their face. Others show their whole selves. They tend to be the ones that work primarily with sounds that are relaxing.
For some reason, all of the ASMRers seem to do lice checks on heads. You’re supposed to feel like it’s your head. If you have an imagination, it feels like it’s your head that is being brushed and/or checked for lice. The ASMRers get really creative. They’ll set up a scene in a room. They’ll roleplay and pretend like they are checking you into a hotel or a spa. The whispering and reassuring voice and the click-clack of the keyboard are soothing. They might pretend that you are a cat there for a brushing. The ASMR host can put on your makeup, give you a tattoo, brush and wash your hair, or give you a facial. I especially love the hair-brushing ASMR.
Other ASMR youtubers primarily use sounds such as scratching, crinkling, tapping, and squishing of all kinds of objects in front of sensitive microphones to elicit a relaxation response from you. ASMR Zeitgeist is probably the most popular in this category
You can’t sleep if you have pain or if your mind won’t shut off. That’s a daytime problem. But if you need a relaxing aid in the middle of the day or before bedtime, you might want to check out ASMR and other relaxing assistants on youtube.
Some of my favorite ASMR YouTubers:
https://www.youtube.com/@LatteASMR - my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/@TingtingASMR
https://www.youtube.com/@ASMRSAKURA my other fave
https://www.youtube.com/@certifiedmood
https://www.youtube.com/@ASMRBakery
https://www.youtube.com/@MyalingASMR
https://www.youtube.com/@WhispersRedASMR
https://www.youtube.com/@asmrzeitgeist
https://www.youtube.com/@TabuhanASMR
https://www.youtube.com/@BluewhisperASMR
If ASMR is too creepy for you, there are adult bedtime stories!
https://www.youtube.com/@MichellesSanctuary
https://www.youtube.com/@SoothingPod
Body scanning, hypnosis and meditation assistants
https://www.youtube.com/@MrKriswelshlifecoach
https://www.youtube.com/@lunayes
https://www.youtube.com/@ProgressiveHypnosis
https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelSealey
https://www.youtube.com/@andrewgreenhypnosis5288
https://www.youtube.com/@TheHonestGuys
I have used this guided meditation so many times, especially early on when I was in a lot of pain.
Here’s another kind of relaxing video. You can watch people cook or live their lives. There are many videos like this on youtube. Choki is my favorite. Love her cats!