The Sleep Whisperer Can Help You Get to Sleep (ABC News)

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The Sleep Whisperer Can Help You Get to Sleep
ABC News
Published on Feb 25, 2014

The use of sleeping pills is skyrocketing but there may be a simple way to drift off for free.

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1. Transcript

Transcript at the ABC News website:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/sleep-whisperer-sleep-22674182

Transcript for The Sleep Whisperer Can Help You Get to Sleep

And next right here, our series this week, sleepless in America. Tonight, 23 million of us wonder if we're going to go to sleep or stay awake all night with insomnia. Well, what if there was a similar by way to drift off to sleep, and for free?

ABC's linsey Davis shows us the new sleep whisperers who say, they can change millions of lives. Hey, guys. Today, I have a new video for you.

Reporter: If just hearing her voice makes you suddenly have the strong desire to doze off, Ilse blansert won't be offended. In fact, it's the response she wants. She is a sleep whisperer, one of an exploding community on the internet known as autonomous sensory meridian responders, or asmr.

They tap, brush, pour and mostly whisper, all to lull people to sleep. Makes really nice sounds. Reporter: Is it just a smoothing voice?

And next right here, our series this week, sleepless in America. Tonight, 23 million of us wonder if we're going to go to sleep or stay awake all night with insomnia. Well, what if there was a similar by way to drift off to sleep, and for free?

ABC's linsey Davis shows us the new sleep whisperers who say, they can change millions of lives. Hey, guys. Today, I have a new video for you.

Reporter: If just hearing her voice makes you suddenly have the strong desire to doze off, Ilse blansert won't be offended. In fact, it's the response she wants. She is a sleep whisperer, one of an exploding community on the internet known as autonomous sensory meridian responders, or asmr.

They tap, brush, pour and mostly whisper, all to lull people to sleep. Makes really nice sounds. Reporter: Is it just a smoothing voice?

Is it a calming voice? It has to do with the combination of sounds and voices. I'm not convinced that it works, it actually works.

Reporter: Her videos have generated nearly 16 million clicks. And herps are among the thousands of asmr options. One of her followers is Emily Hansen, who says her videos have changed her life.

I could not sleep and I was just thinking about so many different things going on in my life. Reporter: When Hansen saw her first asmr video, she found it hard to keep her eyes open. It was one of the most euphoric experiences I've ever felt.

I didn't know what it was but I was hooked. My brain relaxes so much that I just fall asleep. I mean, I just conk out.

Reporter: And that's with no pills, no side effects, no danger of addiction. It is quite believable to me that somebody says, this works better than a sleeping pill for me.

Reporter: In fact, khan says that asmr videos could be a good solution to insomnia.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

[ReRe]

2. When I was a wee hyperactive child....

.... my sister and I would spend Friday nights with Grandma. We couldn't settle down enough to go to sleep. So she would pull up the rocker by the bed, turn the light off, and sit in he rocking chair. Sometimes she would tell us a story from her childhood. Other times she would make us lay still and be quiet (very difficult for both of us), to see if we could hear the "mice." In a minute or so, she would scratch on the rocking chair or the side of the bed. She sort of "scared" us to sleep.

My heart goes out to all who cannot find peaceful rest at the end of their harrowing days. Rest is the one thing they need the most, yet it is fleeting. If this helps people sleep, then do it. It's 100% better than taking a sleeping pill.

[freedom fighter jh]

3. something I saw on DU some months ago . . .

Someone noted that when they go camping, with no unnatural light, they get into a natural biorhythm within a couple of days, and they sleep very well. I was having trouble sleeping then, so I tried to simulate that situation as best I could, limiting unnatural light within two hours of bedtime. No Internet, no TV during that time. If I have to get up before dawn, I keep the lights as low as reasonably possible. If I have to go to the bathroom during the night, I use a not-terribly-bright flashlight rather than turning on the lights. (I tried doing it in the dark but ended up kicking my cats. They can see in the dark, so they just assume I know enough to walk around them.)

Works like a charm.

Reality intrudes. Sometimes I have to work late on my computer. But if I do, now I can limit the damage to a day or two rather than start a vicious cycle.

[navarth]

4. Maria 'gentlewhispers' is the best of them.

I suffer from insomnia and I have recordings of maria I use to fall asleep. Been collecting recordings of voices all my life. They are really soothing. The human voice is the oldest musical instrument.

[Shemp Howard]

5. Suggestions, please

This just might be what I've been looking for. I'm guessing that these Sleep Whisperers are all on youtube. Can anyone suggest some good ones to try?

Thank you!

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11. "8 Triggers To Help You Sleep (ASMR)" by Heather Feather

Her blog is at http://heatherfeatherasmr.blogspot.com/

[TalkingDog]

6. I listen to hynosis tapes. Any subject will do, but the softness and lilt of the voice does matter

Not only am I sleeping better, I've stopped smoking, I'm learning faster, remembering better, I've lost 10 lbs and am no longer afraid of dogs, heights, or public speaking.

But seriously.... There is this one hypnotist, Roger Elliot...he's got a pretty thick Scottish accent and he talks very low. I think if I ever met him I'd probably fall asleep as soon as he said his name.

[SunSeeker]

7. Worth a try. Sleep deprivation is so debilitating. nt

[jtuck004]

8. Very interesting. Thank you for this. n/t

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. White noise generally works for me

I have a space heater in the winter and a tower fan in the summer that both make the same consistent, but not annoying blowing noise that puts me out.

[Shemp Howard]

10. PLEASE READ THIS, PROUD

Proud,

It can be dangerous to fall asleep with a space heater or a fan on. I talked to an electrician friend of mine about this. He has seen cases where the motor overheats, causing a fire.

Instead, get an app that mimics a fan. I have a Kindle app called Relax Melodies Premium. It has many "white noise" type sounds. It even has one sound that's actually called "Oscillating Fan".

If you don't have a Kindle, search your device's app store for something similar to what I've got. I'm sure you'll find something.