The moment I found out that one of my all-time favourite ASMR creators was not only releasing a book, but one about ASMR, I got (very aptly!) tingles of excitement. 🥰
I caught wind of Emma’s book shortly before it hit the market in November 2019. A few months later, I was able to purchase a copy. I cannot recall the last time I dropped everything else so quickly to curl up with a book and immediately read it cover-to-cover.
Rather surprisingly given how quickly ASMR (full name, autonomous sensory meridian response) has grown in global popularity, there are exceeding few books about ASMR at this point in time.
Unwind Your Mind: The Life-Changing Power of ASMR by Emma WhispersRed, a long-time, immensely popular ASMR artist from the UK is amongst the first.
I don’t think you could find someone better suited than Emma to write a book like this. Nor to help spread both awareness of ASMR, as well as powerful relaxation to millions of people every day through her tireless, inspiring work as an ASMR artist (aka, an ASMRist).
As someone who has enjoyed and benefited profoundly from ASMR over the years, including that which Emma creates and shares on her eponymously named YouTube channel (and who is launching their own ASMR channel this spring), I feel like now is the perfect time to review Emma’s book here with all of you.
Book specs
Name: Unwind Your Mind: The Life-Changing Power of ASMR
Author: Emma Smith (aka, Emma WhispersRed)
Page count: 224
Publisher: HarperOne
Binding: Available in both softcover and hardcover (I have the softcover edition)
Who is Emma WhisperRed?
Thus far in the course of my book review posts, I haven’t usually gone into extensive detail about the authors of the books that I’ve featured. Generally preferring to share a bit of relevant information about them, while keeping the primary focus on the book itself.
However, in the case of someone as special and fundamental to the present-day world of ASMR as Emma, I feel like more deserves to be said about this wonderful woman.
I have never met or communicated with Emma, and yet – as I’m sure millions of others around the world do as well – in some respects, I feel like we know each other and consider her a friend in spirit.
This is not an uncommon feeling to have with those whose content we enjoy and find inspiration in. However, there is something about the personal, comforting nature of ASMR and the profoundly calming quality of much ASMR content that seems to inherently foster this type of connection all the more.
Emma (pictured above) began her YouTube channel, Emma WhispersRed ASMR in 2013.
While that might not seem like a lot of time in some respects, trust a long-time ASMR viewer when I tell you that eight years ago, the ASMR community was an absolute fraction of the size and scope that it is today.
While Emma was not the first ASMR creator, early on in the development of the ASMR world she quickly established herself as a very talented fixture in the community.
I firmly believe that a good deal of the success of an ASMRist and their content relates to the energy that a person gives off and how effectively others are able to connect with those vibes.
Emma has a gentle, caring, beautiful presence that I connected with the moment I first watched one of her early YouTube videos.
From her lovely English accent to the care and attention to detail she pours into her videos (case in point, in more recent years, Emma has been able to build a dedicated ASMR “tingle shed” in her backyard where she now records her content), her soothing energy to her radiant smile that instantly puts a soul at ease, Emma is simply marvellous.
And with videos that receive anywhere from hundreds of thousands to multiple millions of views, plus more than 940,000 YouTube subscribers at the time of writing, it is safe to say that I am not the only one who feels this way.
In addition to her YouTube videos, Emma has been instrumental in terms of spreading ASMR awareness, supporting the ASMR community, and in launching some of the very first live ASMR events for audiences around the world (in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Berlin, and London).
As well as being one of the best known and most highly respected ASMR content creators, Emma is also a Reiki healer and a licensed south therapist. Both skillsets that shine through in her cozy, relaxing, expertly presently ASMR videos.
Not only that, but Emma is a gifted ASMR singer (whose musical offerings can be found on platforms such as Spotify, Google Play, iTunes, and Amazon) as well.
Emma, a Capricorn and INFP, is a hit-and-run accident survivor, a mother, wife, multi-pet mama, vegan, and ardent fan of ASMR videos herself.
She lives in the UK and it is from that corner of Europe that she has been able to create a body of incredibly helpful, peaceful, and very meaningful ASMR work that has touched and bettered the lives of untold numbers of people around the world.
Emma’s contributions to the ASMR community cannot be understated. Nor can the superb calibre of the work she so caringly creates for her YouTube channel.
She is a leading light and beloved figure in the ASMR community, and someone whose calm and grounded presence on this planet makes the world a lovelier and more comfortable place point-blank.
Connect with Emma on YouTube (she also has a YouTube channel called WhispersRed Sleepy Children devoted to ASMR geared towards kids) | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Website
A book that is as caring and relaxing as one of Emma WhispersRed’s ASMR videos
Unwind Your Mind: The Life-Changing Power of ASMR is the sort of book that feels like a loved one’s supportive, nurturing hug delivered in paper form.
This book is divided into two primary sections (“More Than a Feeling” and “Your Guided ASMR Moments”, respectively) across which span the following eight chapters:
1. What is ASMR?
2. My Story
3. The Language of ASMR
4. Healing Principles of ASMR
5. Your new “ASMR” Word
6. Make ASMR Sensitivity Your Superpower
7. How to Use ASMR as a Daily Practice
8. Your ASMR Day
These chapters are followed by sections devoted to testimonies and personal stories, and further reading and research.
Each chapter is then further broken down into smaller subsections pertaining to the primary topic(s) at hand.
While it touches on elements of the gradually burgeoning field of scientific and medical studies pertaining to ASMR, this book is not a heavy, clinical look at the subject.
Nor is it “simply” a memoir. Not that I wouldn’t have eagerly lapped up a full-on autobiography from Emma, too (because I definitely would have!).
Unwind Your Mind is a soothing, highly enjoyable read. And one that can just as easily serve as a primer to ASMR and the ways in which it can enrich, better, and brighten our lives, as it can be a companion to the act of engaging with ASMR content that scores of us have been undertaking for varying lengths of time now.
Throughout the book, Emma’s voice shines through. She writes much as she speaks in her YouTube videos, giving Unwind Your Mind an especially personal touch and quality.
By marrying examples from her own life and a history of her journey as an ASMR artist with a profound sense of empathy and support for others, this book is so much more than just an overview of ASMR.
It guides readers through ways to help potentially discover if they experience ASMR tingles and/or other benefits from listening to/watching ASMR. While also providing suggestions for ways to potentially find some of your own specific ASMR triggers (sights, sounds, movements, etc that can cause the pleasant tingly sensation that some people experience from certain types of ASMR content).
Emma makes mention at various points in the book of the fact that for many of us, years or decades before the ASMR community existed or we had ever watched our first ASMR video, we experienced tingles or other ASMR benefits from real-world sources.
This is true for me personally, with my first ASMR memories stretching back to when I was about three years old.
In my case, it was a lid sound from a container of hair care product that my mom had at the time which smelled a lot like Skittles. While neither she nor I remember the brand name, I can still recall to this day, more than three decades later, that the container was a fairly light grey colour with white writing on it. That is how meaningful my first (remembered) encounter with the profoundly relaxing powers of ASMR was for me.
Many other things would elicit ASMR responses in me throughout my youth and to this day. But that, my lovelies, is the subject for another post unto itself. 😊
As well, Emma makes a point to repeatedly acknowledge and address the important role that ASMR – and relaxation in general – can have on our mental health and overall well-being.
As someone who experiences both physical and mental health challenges, I wholeheartedly appreciated this point and felt that it served to highlight all the more what a caring, understanding individual Emma is.
Unwind Your Mind is part self-help book, part introduction (or further connection to) ASMR, and part personal account of the phenomenal impact ASMR has – and continues to have – on Emma’s own life.
Breezy, but never hollow, informative, but never condescending, this is a book that I firmly believe many who both currently watch/listen to ASMR and who are brand new to the very subject itself will enjoy.
How Unwind Your Mind rates with me
It seems profoundly fitting to me that one of the first books about ASMR was written by one of the founding figures of the ASMR community.
This is not a book that was penned to capitalize on the ever-growing popularity of ASMR, nor a way for the author to flaunt their knowledge or success.
Unwind Your Mind is a compassionate, engaging book that provides a fair and honest look at what ASMR is (and, for that matter, is not).
It explores not only some of the ways in which ASMR can benefit our lives, but also provides us with suggestions for ways to connect all the more with ASMR and apply what we learn to our daily existence.
As time goes on, it’s fairly likely that other people – be they fellow ASMRists or otherwise – will publish books on ASMR.
I welcome and look forward to those titles, but will always feel grateful that none other than Emma WhispersRed – one of the world’s greatest and sweetest ASMR creators – was the first to author a book on the subject from an ASMRist’s perspective.
If you have the opportunity to pick up or borrow a copy Unwind Your Mind, I highly suggest doing so. It is a relatively quick, thoroughly enjoyable and educational read that gives all the more credence and credibility to the wellness bolstering benefits of ASMR.
Working on a scale of 1 – 5, with five being the highest possible rating, I would give Unwind Your Mind by Emma WhispersRed 5 stars out of 5.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
On a personal note, I am deeply grateful to Emma for all that she has created and shared, for being the warm and compassionate person that she is, and for the positive impact her ASMR work has had on countless individuals.
Truly, Emma, thank you. 🙏🏻 You are a treasure and someone who has not only helped to inspire me in terms of launching my own YouTube ASMR channel, but who has enriched and bettered my life since the very first moment I discovered your beautiful ASMR videos.
Do you follow Emma’s ASMR YouTube channel? Have you read Unwind Your Mind? ✨📖✨
Lovely to see you posting again!
Thank you for sharing, Autumn! It’s good to see you!