Calming videos and podcasts can trigger what’s called ASMR — a deeply relaxing sensation — in some people.

When you listen to someone whispering, or get your hair cut or hear tapping or crinkling sounds, do you feel deeply relaxed, with tingles in your head and neck that run down your back and limbs? If so, you probably experience autonomous sensory meridien response (ASMR).

“ASMR is similar to the feeling of relaxation you get from a massage, but no one necessarily has to be touching you,” explains Craig Richard, Ph.D., professor of biopharmaceutical sciences at Shenandoah University School of Pharmacy in Winchester, VA and founder of ASMR University. “It’s a deeply relaxing sensation, usually associated with pleasurable head tingles.”