Post something calming, Relax-all thread

So, this might be a dumb idea, but...I don't know about the rest of you, but given events over the last couple of ....well, years, I've been making judicious use of anything I can find to help calm the mind down at the end of a day (or even just when working/studying as background noise for concentration).

I thought rather than have them mixed in with all the regular 'post a video' stuff it might be a good idea to have a dedicated place for posting calming / soothing / relaxing stuff (video, audio, whatever - so long as it's designed to be calming or relaxing. Whether it's just Ambient sounds, classic whalesong, your favourite ASMR artists or videos of relaxation techniques...whatever you think people will find relaxing.

Headphones recommended!
Especially if posting something with Binaural audio

A couple of favourites to start off...

Ambient Sounds

A couple of my favourite ASMR artists

Goodnight Moon ASMR

(I normally find 'roleplay ASMR videos' totally cringeworthy, but
she's REALLY good, and has built up a little fantasy series of connected
stories and characters to go with the videos.)

BrightGrey ASMR

(Because I KNOW there are a lot of fans of Scottish accents out there! )

WhisperAudios ASMR

Another favourite. English accent this time!

I really like the idea of this thread. I get very anxious and very stressed even during my downtime, so things like this appeal to me a lot. For some reason, ASMR always makes me very uncomfortable, but the other ambient video was lovely.

Here's a website which lets you create mixes of relaxing sounds/white noise.

Now crank up the stormy weather sounds, add a crackling fire and start to feel nice and cozy. Now play this at a gentle volume.

Maybe videogame tunes are a little bit cheesy to relax to, but the familiarity and nostalgia help me unwind. I've created a playlist specifically for relaxation, which I might as well link. If you have it on in the background, just be sure to use an addblock extension to avoid interruptions. Clicky.

As for non-gaming related relaxation, I can't recommend Bohren and Der Club of Gore enough. Dark, brooding, atmospheric ambient jazz. I found them on a Spotify playlist titled "Doom Jazz", and they were the standout performance.

Love this idea. Thanks Pyxistyx.

If anyone has an Apple TV I highly recommend this fireplace screensaver:

https://appadvice.com/tv/app/magic-f...

These devs also make several other screensavers. I also own the space one which is great too:

https://appadvice.com/tv/app/earthla...

Noisli looks pretty cool, I'll definitely try that one out.

Oh yeah, worth checking Netflix too. Not sure about the US, but in the UK library there's a few things under the "special interest" category, including some Bob Ross, Slow Trains, Fireplaces and Jellies (fish, that is!). Probably look pretty neato on a big TV.

And there's the classic - Rainy Mood website

ASMR is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. While some of the videos are definitely out there, I like ones that feature things like cooking or looking through books.

I don't know if this will work for anyone but in an effort to de-stress I rekindled one of my older hobbies, watching figure skating. It's a very chill sport (unintended) with the occasional punctuation of excitement when someone nails a difficult move or, unfortunately, splats on the ground.

Try this beautiful and rare performance -- if you don't like this then figure skating is probably not for you

The new season is starting soon so there will be plenty to watch! Lots of people upload competitions on youtube and dailymotion.

I second the noisli recommendation. Really helps with my ADHD.

I hate that ASMR works on me. But it does.

I listen to these a lot because my coworkers don't understand basic f*cking office etiquette.

Does Napflix count? They have an entire relaxation section.

Flamingoes at watering hole.

Tropical Rain

Their other stuff is pretty awesome too. Things like The Linguistics of Klingon and the Wonderful World of Tupperware just can't be beat.

The Out of Africa soundtrack has always been my #1 relaxation tool. I've listened to it thousands of nights to help go to sleep. I actually started watching the movie once and shut it off because I realized I didn't want to associate the music to any scene from a movie.

I really like the sound of rain, but surprisingly, I hardly ever put on just audio of that sound. I think maybe it's worth saving that relaxing pleasure for when it's actually raining and you get the full effect. We get enough rain in Oregon that I'm not starving for that sound.

In the last few years, I've found that there are a few anime shows that are very slow and extremely relaxing to watch. Mushishi and Natsume's Book of Friends are the best examples of that genre.

The ASMR thing doesn't do much for me for whatever reason not that I've explored it much.

It does count! Although I'm somewhat surprised that Netflix hasn't come down on them like a ton of old brick-filled rental DVD boxes.

She doesn't do them any more, sadly, but Leigh Alexander did a series of quick walkthroughs of various ancient Apple text adventures. They are incredibly relaxing to listen to...

Loving everything which is being posted, I'm particularly interested in watching those old adventure game play-throughs when I get off work.

So, we have a lot of videos...But does anyone practice anything away from media? I.e, meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises? Not sure if that was the purpose of the thread, but I'd be interested in hearing about what people do. A counselor last year taught me some breathing exercises when I was really struggling with panic/anxiety and it helped me a whole lot. I thought it all sounded cliche and silly, but over time it had a very strong cumulative effect.

In the last few years, I've found that there are a few anime shows that are very slow and extremely relaxing to watch. Mushishi and Natsume's Book of Friends are the best examples of that genre.

I'll have to try those. Older (90's-ish) slice of life style anime can be super relaxing. For some reason, that typical cricket sound they put in any anime when it's summer just relaxes the heck out of me. Also, Makoto Shinkai's work (Voices of a Distant Star, 5 Centimeters Per Second etc), while often quite sad, carries that same whimsical and peaceful feeling.

Not something I've ever done, but sounds like it would fit the theme of the thread just fine!

I didn't see it mentioned yet, so here goes: Tabletop Audio. There is a decent variety of sortable themes, and all of it is very chill and relaxing, especially the tracks that are only ambience or ambience + minimal music. Each track is about 10 minutes, and you can set it to loop. My favorite is Lonesome West.

Maq wrote:

I second the noisli recommendation. Really helps with my ADHD.

I have the iOS app and love it. I don't listen to anything but rain + thunder + wind, though.

Kitten Academy. Livestream of foster kittens. I spent a lot of time after the election watching kitties.

welp. I guess that's me sitting in front of livestreamed kittens for the next few hours :3

pyxistyx wrote:

welp. I guess that's me sitting in front of livestreamed kittens for the next few hours :3

They also do closeup nightly live streams that are then posted on their YouTube channel.

Girlfriend and I have been glued to that livestream since you posted it. We even watched it over breakfast thismorning

I appreciate the work of anyone in this thread who trawls through ASMR videos to bring back the non-cringeworthy stuff. I used to experience ASMR often, but not so much as an adult, and haven't found many or any videos that will trigger it—browsing through the I-would-have-thought-unnecessarily-weird ASMR community usually just ends up with me feeling like a creep.

A_Unicycle wrote:

So, we have a lot of videos...But does anyone practice anything away from media? I.e, meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises? Not sure if that was the purpose of the thread, but I'd be interested in hearing about what people do. A counselor last year taught me some breathing exercises when I was really struggling with panic/anxiety and it helped me a whole lot. I thought it all sounded cliche and silly, but over time it had a very strong cumulative effect.

I use guided meditations in the Stop, Breathe & Think app and MindShift app, like body scans and mindful breathing, to help with my anxiety or fall asleep. Years before I learned about mindfulness, my wife and I took hypnobirthing classes, which was my introduction to guided relaxation. That was a surefire method for falling asleep, until we lost the MP3.

pyxistyx, I'm surprised (because I like to stereotype) you didn't mention the Shipping Forecast.

I do not own a ship

Lo-fi beats with anime backing video, really relaxing me right now (though it could also be the beer) . There was actually a lo-fi remix of a Studio Ghibli song on the radio yesterday, I'd love to track it down and post it here.

use guided meditations in the Stop, Breathe & Think app and MindShift app, like body scans and mindful breathing, to help with my anxiety or fall asleep. Years before I learned about mindfulness, my wife and I took hypnobirthing classes, which was my introduction to guided relaxation. That was a surefire method for falling asleep, until we lost the MP3.

I will definitely check those out!

I can't recall where I found it (maybe even saw it posted here first?) but MyNoise has a whole list of ambient sounds/environments to choose from and you can customize those sounds with different sliders. It's been my go to if I ever need to chill out during a particularly stressful day (read: every day ) at work.

Glad I just found this.

Gaming Ambience...

The audio track on the penthouse one is just <3

My favorite relaxing game soundtrack is 100% Machinarium. I own two copies on vinyl and gifted a couple out. One is the original yellow vinyl release that was signed! It might also be my favorite vinyl ever because the static from the vinyl just ads so much to it. It's really incredible and hard to explain unless you've heard it that way.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/H5ONi.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/6eTUe.jpg)

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/J2MI3.jpg)

I'll use any excuse to share pictures of one of my favorite things, and it's been awhile since I've brought it up on GWJ.

Love this thread idea, thanks so much for it, Pyxi!! Loving the Normandy ambient music, and the Machinarium soundtrack ( <3 ).
Going to toss in my own suggestions, some of the tracks at the end of the Longest Journey soundtrack, they play in the café.
Dragon:

Dolphin:

Eagle:

Shark: