Many people initially discover their ability to have ASMR through real world experiences.
These experiences may include having their hair being played with by a friend, hearing someone whisper, being examined by a clinician, listening to someone nearby turn the pages of a magazine, or watching someone perform a dedicated task like painting or origami.
Surprisingly, it has turned out that just hearing and/or watching these experiences in a recorded format can also stimulate ASMR.
In 2009, several individuals on the internet began intentionally simulating some of these popular ASMR triggers in videos – giving rise to intentional ASMR videos and ASMR video channels.
But these were not the first videos that people were watching to purposely trigger their deep relaxation and tingles.