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New Zealand ASMR artist Jimmy Hazelwood in a ‘skin consultation’ role-play video. Screengrab: YouTube
New Zealand ASMR artist Jimmy Hazelwood in a ‘skin consultation’ role-play video. Screengrab: YouTube

SocietyJanuary 30, 2018

Getting tingles: The Kiwi making ASMR videos for the world

Guest writer
New Zealand ASMR artist Jimmy Hazelwood in a ‘skin consultation’ role-play video. Screengrab: YouTube
New Zealand ASMR artist Jimmy Hazelwood in a ‘skin consultation’ role-play video. Screengrab: YouTube

You may have come across ASMR videos on YouTube and been baffled at people speaking softly while they pretend to cut your hair or do your makeup. But for some New Zealanders these videos are not just a way to relax, but an aid to their mental health. Baz Macdonald investigates.

A beautiful young man dressed in a crisp white shirt leans towards the camera. He smiles sweetly and with a distinct New Zealand accent softly asks “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? Are you comfortable?”.

Though you’re watching a video, this young man is transporting you to a GP’s office where he is giving you his undivided attention and care. But that’s not all. For the portion of the population who are – or believe themselves to be – sensitive to the autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR, it is also sending them into a meditative state, and potentially even sending tingles through their bodies.

The young man in the video is Jimmy Hazelwood, an actor and musician based in Auckland who is also New Zealand’s most popular ASMR artist, or “ASMRtist”. He is one of thousands of people all over the world who are making content for those sensitive to ASMR, a community that first emerged with force in 2012 and has grown steadily ever since.

.Jimmy Hazelwood is NZ’s most popular ASMR artist. He specialises in role-play videos such as this one.

Local viewers have been at the forefront of this movement. Google shows that, per capita, New Zealand has the fifth highest search count for ASMR in the world. New Zealand ASMR search traffic has followed the growing trend since its initial boom in 2012 but saw a huge spike in June last year, when local news outlets first started asking the question “What is ASMR?”.

So, what the hell is ASMR?

Your favourite tune is blasting and it has your full attention. You follow as the music dips and swells, finally building to a crescendo.

As the musical energy peaks, you feel a tingle on the crown of your head, which quickly descends down your spine and out into your extremities – a really satisfying shiver that brings goosebumps out on your arms and makes your hair stand on end.

This is an experience that most people will have had at some point in their life. It is a common phenomenon known in the scientific community as frisson, and sometimes colloquially referred to as an “ear-gasm”. It has been estimated that as much as 86% of us experience frisson while listening to music, or while experiencing other stimuli such as movies or TV.

Though it is not a perfect comparison, imagine if you could receive a similar tingle by watching a video in which someone speaks to you in a soft voice, or creates auditory effects (such as water dripping, paper crinkling, or rubbing sounds), or even pretends to cut your hair or do your makeup.

Though for ASMR-sensitive people these videos offer more than just a tingle. For many, these videos offer a deeply relaxing, meditative experience. What’s more, many ASMR viewers say watching these videos has helped them deal with insomnia, anxiety, depression, and even chronic pain.

.ASMR Darling is one of the most popular ASMR artists on YouTube. This is her most popular video.

A survey of ASMR users conducted by researchers from Swansea University in Wales found that of the sample group, 98% used the videos as a way to relax, 82% used them as an aid in getting to sleep, and 70% used them as a way to deal with stress and anxiety.

Amazingly, the ASMR phenomenon was not identified or promulgated by scientists. Rather, its evolution has been one of the successes of the digital age. ASMR was first identified and classified in discussions in online chatrooms around 2008. From these discussions people online began to experiment with ways of triggering this response, and as a community they developed and refined the fundamentals of creating ASMR triggers. It was these triggers that artists began creating videos around, building the genre into a massively diverse collection of videos. Now anything you can imagine probably exists as an ASMR sub-category, from simple auditory stimulation all the way to elaborate fantasy themed role-play videos.

Only now, with YouTube home to over 10 million ASMR videos watched by many times that number, is the scientific community beginning to pay attention. There is now a small but growing body of research into the science behind ASMR.

Even at this early stage, scientists have identified some interesting features of the phenomenon, even if they cannot yet fully explain them. For example, a study conducted by the University of Winnipeg had people sensitive to ASMR watch triggering videos while in an MRI machine in order to study their brain activity. The study concluded that while watching these videos, the brains of those sensitive to ASMR reacted notably differently to that of the control group.

ASMR has been compared to flow-state, which is sometimes colloquially referred to by athletes and performers as being “in the zone”. This is a deeply focused, near-ecstatic state during which one loses track of time and space; often outside stimuli such as pain have no effect. Some psychologists have theorised that ASMR videos create a flow-like state in those who respond to them.

But it seems not everyone is susceptible to the effects of ASMR. Scientists believe is an atypical condition, meaning fewer people experience ASMR than do not.

This scientific interest in ASMR does not yet appear to have reached New Zealand: there is currently no research being conducted on the subject in this country. In fact, the local psychological community is surprisingly oblivious to it. Of the dozen psychologist academics and practitioners I spoke to for this story, only a few had even heard of ASMR.

Creating ASMR content

Jimmy Hazelwood has been creating ASMR videos for the past two years. He’s quickly become the most popular New Zealand ASMR artist, with many of his videos reaching over 60,000 views.

Jimmy thinks one of the primary reasons people watch his ASMR videos is for the New Zealand accent. Comments on his videos often mention how much they like his voice, or that they find it relaxing. “Geezus that NZ accent is heaven,” one reads. Jimmy, who is ASMR sensitive himself, says one of his favourite ASMR artists is Scottish. He believes her accent is a big reason why her videos work so well for him.

Jimmy says his main ASMR triggers are whispering and the sound of water, but it was the nurturing, comforting role-play videos that really drew him in. While the ASMR world is filled with a huge variety of styles and approaches, it can generally be broken down into two categories: content made to illicit ASMR through sound alone, and that which uses ASMR techniques to create the nurturing and comforting experiences that Jimmy reacted so strongly to.

Jimmy only identified the sensation as ASMR a few years ago but, like many other ASMR sensitive people, he says his reaction to ASMR stimuli goes back to childhood.

“I remember when I was seven or eight my family were parked in carpark in Huntly and my dad was blissing out watching this guy washing windows. We thought it was weird and didn’t know what he was talking about. But after that I tried to understand … if I was at the bank or something and someone was working slowly and in great detail, I would focus on it and kind of bliss out too.”

Around three years ago Jimmy overheard a university friend discussing ASMR videos and realised that this was the phenomenon that his dad, and later he, had experienced.

For people who aren’t sensitive to ASMR, watching an ASMR video for the first time can be a baffling experience. Jimmy says even now, with the condition gaining more mainstream acceptance, he still gets strange reactions when people discover he makes ASMR-triggering videos.

“I show some people and they look at me like ‘I don’t know what the hell I just watched, what were you doing?’.”

He admits that anyone who saw him making the videos would think he looks pretty stupid, but that’s easy to ignore when viewers tell him how much they help them.

“Your videos are very relaxing!” reads one typical comment. “I’ve had a lot of panic attacks, at a point they were almost daily so ASMR is definitely something I frequent a lot. Since I’ve started taking medication, it’s a lot better. Videos like yours help too. Thank you so much! Keep up the good work :)”

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Jimmy says he has struggled with stress and anxiety himself, so it’s incredibly satisfying to hear how his videos are having an effect. He says comments like the one above reflect the overall positivity of the ASMR online community.

“It’s amazing. People on the internet love to troll, but this community is just so kind and supportive. It is like tapping into this comforting world.”

This section is made possible by Simplicity, the online nonprofit Kiwisaver plan that only charges members what it costs, nothing more. Simplicity is New Zealand’s fastest growing KiwiSaver scheme, saving its 10,500 plus investors more than $3.5 million annually.  Simplicity donates 15% of management revenue to charity and has no investments in tobacco, nuclear weapons or landmines. It takes two minutes to join.

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Tests on desks in empty classroom

SocietyJanuary 29, 2018

Why teacher aides are crucial to classrooms: a principal and an aide write

Guest Post
Tests on desks in empty classroom

At the end of last year, it was reported that many schools are having to cut teacher aide hours due to tightened budgets. Below, two accounts from Pukerua Bay School, north of Wellington: one from a principal on the importance of teacher aides in the classroom, another from a teacher aide on the impact of these budget squeezes on her life. 

Tara Taylor-Jorgensen, principal, Pukerua Bay School, Porirua

In an ideal world our school would have a teacher aide in every classroom – all day.

I can’t speak for all NZ schools but our school has so many diverse needs that a TA would be run off their feet in any of our classrooms. Further, in such an ideal world, we would also be paying them at least the living wage of $20.20 per hour.

Our TAs (and support staff) bring so much depth to our school – they see the classroom and the children from another perspective and, as a result, our teachers and students both learn from them.

I think that some of the best teachers in our country have been teacher aides previous to teaching. I therefore see the role as not only aiding teachers and students but also growing phenomenal professionals. Teacher aides are an investment not just for schools, but for our society.

Further, personalised, flexible learning is big in our school and our TAs assist with this by bringing their vast prior knowledge to learning situations as well as being an additional set of hands and eyes. I can’t even imagine our school without them.

Our staff and Board of Trustees agree, which is why, for 2018, we decided that our human resources are far more important than material ones – so we made our humans our budget priority.

On making such a decision we put our top school value of kindness into action. Although AI (artificial intelligence) is coming ahead in leaps and bounds it is not yet in a place where it can foster relationships and model kindness to our young people. The state of mental health in our young people is not getting any better and we all need extra support to address this.

Likewise a fancy new shiny resource does not replace the human quality of being able to react to our student’s physical and emotional needs. We need our humans.

Support staff wages should not be coming out of bulk funding. Entitlement algorithms need to be overhauled and funded accordingly. Learning support funding needs to stop being allocated on a term-by-term basis too.

We are pleased to be able to hang on to our precious TAs (albeit by the skin of our teeth and at reduced hours) and we feel lucky that they haven’t just walked away… yet.

Kylie Haines, teacher aide, Pukerua Bay School, Porirua

I don’t much like the idea of having to compete against toilet paper, but that’s the life of a teacher aide. Unfortunately, just before Christmas, the toilet paper has won again and next year I’ve lost seven hours of work each week.

It’s a story being repeated up and down the country this time of year, as school principals and boards try to stretch their operating grants to cover every aspect of keeping their school up and running. Teacher aides are losing hours left, right and centre – an NZEI survey has found that 44% of principals are cutting TA hours to meet budget in 2018.

Principals don’t like doing it – my principal is gutted about having to cut the hours for myself and the two other TAs at our primary school. But you can’t avoid paying the power bill or just say “oops, sorry” to the ministry about your budget blowout.

TAs are one of the few unfixed costs and therefore a “dispensable” part of the school budget. I know my principal and school board worked so hard to save our jobs and cut every other expense they could, but at the end of the day, we’re still losing a lot of hours.

But cutting our hours comes at a cost. It means the children with extra learning needs aren’t getting the one-on-one support they need. Their teachers will try desperately to ensure they aren’t missing out, but they still have the rest of the class to teach. This will be exhausting and stressful for all involved.

And then there is the impact on my own children and household budget. This year, I lost seven hours a week, taking me down to 18 hours. Next year I’m down to 11 hours a week.

To make ends meet this year, I got a second job after school, on minimum wage, assisting at the after-school care program (paying secondary tax of course). Next year, the after-school job will be my main source of income and I’m worried about how we’ll make ends meet.

My partner pays the rent on our home, but he’s not the father of my kids and I have to cover all other expenses – without any support from WINZ because I have a partner.

I’ve managed to put the bills like electricity and internet into credit to get us through the summer while I receive no income, but it’s going to be a tight Christmas and there won’t be any holidays away for us.

Long-term, I can see this probably isn’t going to work. I’m going to have to get a job with reliable ongoing hours and a higher pay rate. After 4.5 years of experience as a teacher aide I don’t even earn the living wage of $20.20 per hour.

The trouble is, I love working with the children, watching them grow, develop and succeed. I have been lucky to be based in the junior new entrant classroom this past year. The laughter that takes place alongside the learning is contagious, and I’ve had an amazing time working with these children. Watching milestones take place for them; learning to read and write as well as crawling around the floor looking for a lost first tooth! It’s almost like reliving the precious firsts I had with my own children when they were younger.

And while getting a job with more financial security may be the “solution” for people like me, it’s not the solution for the students and teachers who depend on our skills and contribution.

That’s why I’m hoping that 2018 is going to be different. I hope that the new government will see the need to significantly increase school operations grants, so we don’t keep losing hours. I’m also hopeful that one day our wages will be centrally funded like teachers’ salaries are. And I’m closely following the teacher aide pay equity claim negotiations between my union, NZEI Te Riu Roa, and the Ministry of Education.

It’s high time we were treated like valued educators who make a vital contribution in schools, not glorified “parent helps” being given a bit of pocket money for helping out.

This section is made possible by Simplicity, the online nonprofit Kiwisaver plan that only charges members what it costs, nothing more. Simplicity is New Zealand’s fastest growing KiwiSaver scheme, saving its 10,500 plus investors more than $3.5 million annually.  Simplicity donates 15% of management revenue to charity and has no investments in tobacco, nuclear weapons or landmines. It takes two minutes to join.

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