Last week, I wrote about how I watch YouTube videos to fall asleep. But I left out the most important group of videos because they're actually quite controversial and people either really love them or really hate them.

And that group is ASMR.

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, and essentially, it's a tingling sensation in the spine and other areas of the body brought on by auditory and visual "triggers." Now, the triggers are different from person to person. Everyone in the ASMR community has their favorites (and their least favorites), but some are generally shared, such as inaudible and close-up whispering, crinkling (paper, plastic, etc.), tapping, "ear"/camera brushing, mouth/kiss sounds and many others.

The community of ASMR creators and listeners is quite strong on YouTube, with many ASMR videos garnering 1,000,000 views or more. But it does weird some people out. Honestly, it's kind of odd in concept, but if you experience ASMR like me, it can be a great way to relax and drift off to a peaceful sleep after a long, stressful day.

So, whether you're new to the idea or a veteran ASMR-er, here are a few ASMR videos with a variety of triggers to help you get to sleep a bit easier! Remember to wear your headphones, as these videos have binaural audio (left and right side are separate)!

1. Intense Mic Scratching

This is almost more of a "white noise" video, but it's technically ASMR and it's actually the first video I ever put into my ASMR playlist on YouTube! The sound of the microphone's foam covering is a very nice background noise that usually gets my brain to shut off.

2. 3D ASMR Scalp Massage

FairyChar is one of my all-time favorite "ASMRtists," and this is – in my opinion – one of her best videos. The cadence of her voice and the sounds she uses combine to make a truly calming video that never fails to get my spine tingling!

3. "Head" Scratching with Gloves

This video is extremely similar to the first one, but with a bit of whispering mixed in as well. PuddingWhispers is another great ASMRtist who makes some awesome videos, so if you like this one, you should definitely take a look at the rest of his channel.

4. Gum Chewing

Ellie Alien will probably be in this list a few times, her videos are consistently good and she does a variety of different triggers in them. Gum chewing is kind of a weird trigger, but I actually like it. With headphones on, it always gives me ASMR!

5. ASMR Music

This is a mix of ambient sleep music and some ASMR trigger sounds that will send you drifting right off into dreamland!

6. Layered Inaudible Whispering

This video is a two-hour extravaganza of tons of different triggers including mic brushing, ear cupping, rubber gloves, inaudible whispering and more! The layered effect is very nice, because you get different sounds in both ears at the same time.

7. Mouth Sounds

Mouth sounds are one of my biggest triggers, but it's also one of those triggers that some people love and others hate. It's all about preference, so it's up to you to decide whether this gives you that beautiful ASMR feeling or not, but in my opinion, FairyChar does a wonderful job with this video.

8. "Tiny Triggers"

Sometimes ASMR is all about unexpected triggers. There are so many sounds that can give you that tingly feeling that you would never have thought of, and these are just the tip of the iceberg.

9. Mouth Sounds with Hard Candy

SoftAnnaPL is a Polish ASMRtist and because I don't speak a single word of Polish, most of her videos are pretty much unintelligible whispering for me. But this one is super mouth sound-heavy and has those subtle sounds of hard candy as well as repeated Polish trigger words.

10. Inaudible/Unintelligible Whispering

Another FairyChar video, because I absolutely love her ASMR so much! This one begins with some slow breathing exercises, then moves into some inaudible whispering in a made up "fairy language." Because the language is fictional, you don't have to worry about your brain trying to understand the words, and you can just relax and fall asleep.

11. Head and Scalp Massage

Here's another Ellie Alien video, and I'm sure it won't be the last. This one is like a mix of numbers two and ten on this list, with inaudible whispering and scalp massage sounds all wrapped up in one.

12. Syllable Repetition

SoftAnnaPL does it again with this Polish syllable repetition video full of different trigger word sounds. And in addition, she's gorgeous, so what more could you honestly ask for?