We all deal with anxiety and stress and we all at some point have scary moments where the panic may overwhelm us. Anxiety is normal, extremely common, and quite frankly a healthy experience to have every once in a while as it means that guess what? You’re a human being and not a robot! Which is why I am so excited to introduce a new series for managing anxiety. The next three posts I will share all of the practices I rely on to combat anxiety and panic!
I’ve dealt with an incredible amount of stress and anxiety this year; if you follow me on Instagram then you know my Grandma passed from Pancreatic Cancer recently. The diagnosis was sudden and incredibly bleak, she was given months to live. She spent some time in a rehab facility but the rest of the time my Mom and I were her primary care givers. I’m actually very grateful for that time together but it was still one of the most stressful experiences of my life during which I endured a few massive panic attacks. These attacks were the worst I had ever had, full body attacks that left me short of breath, faint, disoriented, sensitive to the touch, with stabbing pains in my chest and back. I mean I felt like someone was sawing apart my chest before ripping my heart clean out. During these times I relied quite a bit on a few methods of stress reduction but ASMR was one method I found the easiest to tap into wherever I happen to be in the moment.
ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is the experience of feeling low-grade euphoria triggered by unique audio stimuli. One may experience tingles on their scalp or neck and general feelings of relaxation when exposed to calming or repetitive sounds like intentional whispering, tapping, scratching or even chopping. ASMR isn’t for everyone but I find whispering, clinking, and crackling sounds help when experiencing crippling anxiety. I’m also one of those weird people who love to watch videos of people eating frozen grapes and Toblerone bars but hey, I’m odd like that. ASMR is everywhere now but if you’ve never encountered it, don’t worry I got you covered! I’ve listed some of my favorite videos below that smooth me out when I have an attack.
Karuna Satori ASMR – Safe Space is my go-to when I’m feeling both melancholy and anxious; it’s personalized touchy feeling ASMR that gives you a validating therapist vibe. Definitely not for everyone but when I’m completely spiraling and feeling alone this is quite helpful. I love being able to watch this on my laptop before a nerve-wracking presentation at work or on my phone when I’m on the go.
Magical Tearoom ASMR Ambience is perfect for battling anxiety throughout the day as well as at bedtime(it’s 8 hrs. long!). A great combination of the ambient white noise of a tea room and whispering, clinking, and crackling trigger sounds to smooth you right out. I love this video because the visuals are as soothing as the sounds giving you a completely relaxing experience. Really guys, even if you’re not into ASMR just check out the video to appreciate the dreamy magicalness of it all!
Pro tip: Put your headphones on, dim the lights, light some candles, perhaps pour an actual cup of tea and you’re golden. If calm enough I suggest grabbing a good book then you got yourself a whole vibe.
Homemade Kimci by Peaceful Cuisine is my jam of jams! My goodness, it has all the sensory triggers and teaches you how to make Kimci at the same time! Check out his ASMR playlist for all the tutorials that are shot without music or narration giving you only clean chopping, boiling, pouring, clinking cooking sounds. This Kimci tutorial is actually so relaxing to both listen to and watch that I put it on when falling asleep.
Birchwood Crackling Fireplace We’ve established that I love crackling sounds so of course, a good fireplace video is one of my go-to’s when experiencing anxiety attacks. This video is another that is both soothing to listen to and watch, a bit mesmerizing actually which is perfect to reel in full body panic.
Pro tip: If you work in an office or have dual monitors put the fireplace recording on one screen on full view but a bit further away from the main monitor and you have your very own fireplace at your desk!
I hope you enjoyed this post and find these tips helpful. Remember you can use them to battle mild stress as well as intense anxiety. Are you a fan of ASMR? What are your go-to’s? Have you tried any of the above? Share and lets chat!
XO Chloe
P.S. The new TFTM newsletter is here and it’s beautiful! Don’t forget to subscribe so you can receive new post alerts, as well as exclusive sneak peeks and insider info for subscribers only! Scroll down to subscribe.
1