ASMR = Ahhhh

Remember yourself as a child.  Now remember yourself falling asleep listening to something routine, simple, and fairly quiet – someone clipping hedges outside, the clinking sounds of dining and murmured conversation, someone taking a shower.

Remember yourself receiving a routine, enjoyable service in a quiet setting – a haircut, shoeshine, or pedicure.

Do you remember the feelings of calmness, even drowsiness?  Do you remember ever feeling a goose-bumpy tingle, for instance if the murmurs and clinks sounded just right, or if the stylist was snipping around your ear?

Calm, drowsy or tingling sensations are sometimes referred to as autonomous sensory meridian response(s), or ASMR, and are becoming a sought-after YouTube phenomenon.  In our stressed out, sleep-deprived culture, people need ways to soothe themselves in order to relax or fall asleep.  Apparently, more and more people are turning to ASMR videos for just such purposes. 
 
ASME sounds are different from white noise in that they are not flat or constant, and, of course ASMR often includes visuals as well as audios.  If you’ve never experienced ASMR “head tingles,” ASMR folks say you probably won’t experience them from ASMR videos.  But if you’ve gotten drowsy or calm, you likely can expect at least that response.  Common ASMR triggers include:  whispering/slow speech patterns/accents, lip smacking/eating sounds, scissor snipping, clicking/brushing/watery sounds, and painting/drawing/quiet instructional videos – which explains why students sometimes have ASMR responses in class – although not in my classes, EVER, of course.  J 
 
I tried out a couple of the videos – one about water marbles and one where a nice woman whispered about time travel.  I felt relaxed after these videos, but not drowsy.  I didn’t experience the head tingles that some people report, although I don’t usually get those from sounds.

Here’s just one site to try, if you’re interested:  soothetube

What do you think about ASMR?  Do you think you might try one of these videos during a bout of insomnia?  If you tried one of the videos, what was your experience? 
 


Take Five

Meditation.  I know, I know.  You don’t have time.  You’re too stressed.  It’s weird.  But, before you roll your eyes and zoom off to Black Friday sales, take five.  Why?  Because a recent neuroscience study reported that just five minutes of meditation a day can reduce anxiety by up to 22 percent, not to mention reducing stress levels and increasing immune function.  Just the ticket for these super-charged weeks coming up.

So, quick – how do you meditate in just 5 minutes?  First, set a timer for 5 minutes so you don’t have to worry about time.  Then follow the steps below.

Step #1:  Breathe.  Get into a comfortable position (no, you don’t have to sit cross-legged) and simply breathe in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 6.

 Step #2:  Breathe at your natural pace.  Stop counting your breaths.  Try to experience your breathing from nose to belly.

Step #3:  Stay focused on your breathing.  If random thoughts zip through your head, refocus on your breathing.  You will have the rest of the day to think.

Step #4:  Relax tight muscles by focusing your breath into tight areas.  Concentrate on typical tension zones:  jaw, neck, shoulders, stomach.

Step #5:  When the timer goes off or when you are ready to transition out of your meditation, think about something or someone in your life you are grateful for.

 

Step #6:  Tackle everything else.

 



Go get your dose of green!

 

 

To do before the leaves change:  forest bathe.

You’ve probably been forest bathing without even realizing it.  Called Shinrin-yoku in Japanese, forest bathing is an officially recognized leisure and stress management activity touted for its health benefits.  You find a wooded area.  You enter it.  You breathe deeply of the wood and leaf essences emitted by trees.  You feel better – emotionally, psychologically and physically.  Like with any aromatherapy, part of the benefit comes from deep breathing, part from stillness, and part from the essential oils themselves.  Wood essential oils, called phytoncides, are antimicrobial, not to mention, a sensory treat. 

So, quick, while you still can – go forest bathing one more time this year.  You know you want to.



Cray Cray

Yes, frustration.  That's what you get when you deal with bureaucratic craziness.  Here's my latest example:  I used to have a cell phone contract with Sprint.  Yes, I'm naming the carrier.  Probably not a good idea.  Definitely poor taste.  But, whatever.  Anyway, I used to have a cell phone contract with Sprint, as I said.  That was three years ago.  I didn't mind Sprint.  I was reasonably happy with Sprint.  But, we found a better plan and changed to it.  It was with a different company.  A company that is not Sprint.  Another decent company not much better and not altogether worse.  Whatever.  However, lately, I have begun to hate Sprint.  Detest Sprint.  Have horrible dreams about Sprint.  Why?  Sprint is a prime example of bureaucratic craziness. 

It seems I overpaid the last payment of my last Sprint bill by 72 cents.  Yes, that's right, 72 cents.  So, Sprint dutifully sent me a statement informing me that I had a credit of 72 cents.  I called them and told them that I am no longer a customer and therefore, would never be in need of my 72 cent credit.  Could they send me a check for 72 cents?  No, Ma'am, they couldn't.  They can't cut checks for less than a dollar.  Well, then, I said, just keep the 72 cents.  No, Ma'am, they couldn't do that either.  Accounting controls.  Well, what should we do?  Did they want me to send them 28 cents so they could cut me a $1 check?  No, since I was no longer a customer, there was no way to pay into my account. 

 

X*&!#Z!

 

So, what happened?  For the last three years, I have received a monthly statement from Sprint telling me that I have a 72 cent credit with them.  I've called them several more times and had repeats of the above conversation with different representatives.

 

Grrrrrr

 

 

So, if Sprint goes bankrupt because they have had to send me a hundreds of statements in the mail, each with 42 cents worth of postage, and have had to buy the paper to print those statements and have had to hire the people to process those statements and to keep track of my account that is closed . . . well, don't blame me.  I tried.

 

Do you have a frustrating story about bureaucratic craziness?  Do tell!

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Pleasures

They say the best things in life are free.  When you think about it, our lives are laced with hundreds of simple pleasures – little perks that satisfy and sooth, that make life seem A-Okay. 

Here’s a partial list of life’s little niceties:

A new toothbrush

Sleeping in on a rainy day

A baby’s smile

Making all the traffic lights

Fresh flowers – delivered

Finding money you didn’t know you had

Clothes that fit just right

Receiving a snail mail letter

The smell of bakery air

Hearing the right song at the right moment

Stars on a clear night

Saying the same thing simultaneously

Snow Days

The first bowl of cereal from the box

Fresh bed sheets

Drowsing in the sun with a light breeze

A good laugh shared

Spying your favorite bird at the bird feeder

When the workout is over

A sunset

What are some of your favorite simple pleasures?  Take a minute and add to the list!

The Joys of a Hot Bath

In The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath writes about the pleasures of a hot bath from the perspective of the novel’s narrator, Esther Greenwood.

Plath writes:

“There must be quite a few things a hot bath won’t cure, but I don’t know many of them. Whenever I’m sad I’m going to die, or so nervous I can’t sleep, or in love with somebody I won’t be seeing for a week, I slump down just so far and then I say : “I’ll go take a hot bath.”

I meditate in the bath. The water needs to be very hot, so hot you can barely stand putting your foot in it. Then you lower yourself, inch by inch, till the water’s up to your neck.

I remember the ceiling over every bathtub I’ve stretched out in. I remember the texture of the ceilings and the cracks and the colors and the damp spots and the light fixtures. I remember the tubs, too:  the antique griffin-legged tubs, and the modern coffin-shaped tubs, and the fancy pink marble tubs overlooking indoor lily ponds, and I remember the shape and sizes of the water taps and the different sort of soap holders.

I never feel so much myself as when I’m in a hot bath.

I lay in that tub on the seventeenth floor of this hotel for-women-only, high up over the jazz and push of New York, for near onto an hour, and I felt myself growing pure again. I don’t believe in baptism or the waters of Jordan or anything like that, but I guess I feel about a hot bath the way those religious people feel about holy water.

I said to myself:  “Doreen is dissolving. Lenny Shepherd is dissolving. Frankie is dissolving. New York is dissolving, they are all dissolving away and none of them matter any more. I don’t know them, I have never known them and I am very pure. All that liquor and those sticky kisses I saw and the dirt that settled on my skin on the way back is turning into something pure.”

The longer I lay there in the clear hot water the purer I felt, and when I stepped out at last and wrapped myself in one of the big, soft white hotel bath towels I felt pure and sweet as a baby.”

- From: The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

I couldn’t agree more.  In fact, during this hectic season when the holidays press and the end of the year work worries loom large, schedule some quality time with your bathtub, like Sylvia Plath’s Esther Greenwood does. 

Heifer International

I know, I know. Friday was Black Friday. Today is Cyber Monday. I know, I know, I know. I shake my head at merchants putting up Christmas trees during Halloween, cringe to hear Christmas carols playing on the radio while I’m making my Thanksgiving pies. “The Season” has arrived and, at least during these weeks, it doesn’t have much to do with anything but retailing. Merchandising. Materialism. Capitalism. You label it how you want to.

Now, of course, I don’t want people to fail in business and I’m all for a recovered economy, but it seems that the glitz and hoopla descends earlier and earlier, crashing through any meaningful attempts at peace and renewal the season might offer. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I like presents. And, yes, I like giving other people presents, too. But, I’m trying to regroup, simplify, make more conscious choices. In the process, I’ve discovered (through a gift given to my husband and me), the world of Heifer International.

Heifer International takes your tax-deductible donations and purchases chickens, goats, cows, vegetable seeds and other goods for impoverished families to help them start businesses that support themselves and their communities. Through your donations, you help to pull people out of poverty and give them the greatest gift – the gift they really want – self-reliance. The best part? You can make donations in someone else’s name and give two gifts at once.

For the people on your list who really don’t need anything – and you know who those people are – why not explore Heifer International, or one of the other many charitable opportunities out there?

Check out Heifer's website:  Heifer International

What are your favorite charitable organizations? Do you have suggestions for charitable holiday giving?

Sudden Broken Heart Syndrome

Have you ever heard of Sudden Broken Heart Syndrome? It is a medically-recognized condition where people collapse with the stress of hearing sudden good or bad news. Apparently, women are much more likely to be affected by this syndrome than men are.  The results of such a collapse are not good – heart attack-like symptoms that can take weeks to recover from, and, in rare cases, death. So, those stories you hear of a woman getting bad news and collapsing are more true than not. Researchers are trying to figure out why this syndrome affects women more often than men and think it might have to do with heart size and the amount of stress hormones flooding the body.

It all reminds me of Kate Chopin’s famous story “The Story of an Hour,” which I’ve linked here for you. It takes about 3 minutes to read – so go ahead and enjoy it.

"The Story of an Hour"

Then, if you’re still curious, check out the link about Sudden Broken Heart Syndrome and see what you think. Perhaps there is sense in the notion that people should sit down and breathe deeply before getting big news?

Sudden Broken Heart Syndrome

Women for Women

I recently heard about a fantastic organization, Women for Women, a group dedicated to helping female survivors of war and civil strife heal and rebuild their lives and communities. 

 Women for Women’s cause is justified and necessary. War takes an enormous emotional, physical and psychological toll not only on the military personnel who have to endure it, but also on the citizens who must cope with as much, if not more, war-induced trauma as soldiers do.

Women for Women’s amazing website is:   Women for Women International

Women for Women’s stated vision is:  “Women for Women International envisions a world where no one is abused, poor, illiterate or marginalized; where members of communities have full and equal participation in the processes that ensure their health, well-being and economic independence; and where everyone has the freedom to define the scope of their life, their future and strive to achieve their full potential.”

Take a peek.  See what you can do to help out a sister in need.

The Comfort of Comfort Foods

Whenever we are gone for more than a day, we notice that our cat eats like crazy.  She’s always been that way.  Once, for less than a year, we had another cat and he traumatized her so much she practically lived under that bed – except for her mad dashes to the food bowl.  She gained two pounds in six months and our vet was none too pleased.  How strange, we said.  How odd.   

But, then again, how typical.  Whenever I have a particularly stressful, crazy, busy week, I also make mad dashes to food.  Particularly comfort food.  Now, I’m not advocating this coping mechanism, just fessing up to it.  I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who waste away living on tea and toast when they’re stressed, instead of the kind of person I am – the dash to the food kind.   

My comfort foods?  The short list includes meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried chicken, stews and soups, garlic bread, pasta, and every and all manner of baked desserts – pie, cake, cookies, preferably in various forms of chocolate.  Weirdly, I’ve never been crazy about ice cream, some folks’ Achilles heel. I have one friend who chomps chips.  Another who stirs up scrambled eggs.  Another craves macaroni and cheese. 

What about you?  What are your favorite comfort foods?   Or are you the tea and toast type?