If You Love ASMR, Try Erotic ASMR—Yep, It Exists

About a decade ago, Trent, a 29-year-old tech worker, was casually browsing the ASMR subreddit. While scrolling, he saw a link to the NSFW ASMR subreddit, which has more than 176,000 members. He liked what he saw.

"I took a liking to erotic ASMR pretty quickly," Trent said. "I'd been a fan of regular ASMR for a while and also a fan of porn, so sort of mixing the two seemed like a pretty good idea."

Erotic ASMR is basically what you'd think: auditory porn. On the subreddit, it's described as a combination of porn and ASMR.

But let's backtrack real quick. In case you haven't heard, ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is a calm, tingling feeling people experience from whispers, tapping, crackling, eating and other similar sounds. The types of noises can get pretty creative, too: YouTuber ASMR Darling created a video cooking and cutting the cookie from Netflix's "Squid Game." With a mic nearby, listeners hear her stir the mixture, use a star-shaped cookie cutter, run her nails along the cookie and more. People have described the sensation they get from these videos as a "brain-gasm."

ASMR even has health benefits: According to a 2018 study in PLoS ONE, ASMR is associated with reduced heart rate, improved mental and physical wellness, relaxation and sleep.

What's out there for ASMR listeners?

Curious about trying this out? Trent said people usually turn to YouTube or Reddit, but you can find it on Pornhub, too. Some creators post erotic ASMR behind paywalls on Patreon and OnlyFans.

While porn performers often create these videos, Trent shared people who usually make regular ASMR videos have made erotic ones, as well.

"They decide to dip into more erotic ASMR if they feel comfortable with it," he said. "Also, some regular porn where the creator's intention isn't to make erotic ASMR turns out to be pretty good for people who do like erotic ASMR."

Common sounds between the two can include whispering, scratching and more.

Similar to porn, you'll find a variety of categories that may fit your auditory needs. Trent particularly likes soft-spoken dirty talk and visual ASMR entailing roleplay and nudity. Other examples on the NSFW ASMR subreddit are YouTube links, including "sexy maid gives you a hot shower," kissing and lip-smacking, fishnet scratching, moaning and listening to someone orgasm.

Why is erotic ASMR so, well, erotic?

Trent loves the sensuality aspect of some regular ASMR and erotic ASMR. The latter can be emotionally comforting for people, too.

"By combining [ASMR and eroticism] together, it allows the viewer to feel relaxed, safe and special—which will tend to increase the sexual arousal response to the sexual stimuli in the video," said Craig Richard, Ph.D., the founder of ASMR University and the host of the Sleep Whispers podcast.

He explained how this is a physiological response from the parasympathetic nervous system, and how it can help you in bed: "For most individuals, feeling relaxed and safe during a sexual encounter increases blood flow to the genitalia, resulting in an enhanced erection or vaginal lubrication."

Erotic ASMR can even be meaningful.

"I've had a friend say that people may use ASMR to feel a type of intimacy that they are lacking in their personal lives," Trent said.

How you can enjoy erotic ASMR with a partner

If you want to bring this into the bedroom, you have a couple of options: You and your partner can listen to it together, or you can mimic what you hear.

Richard recommends listening to regular ASMR videos first.

"The first thing is to watch a traditional, nonerotic ASMR video prior to foreplay," Richard said. "This will help them both to relax and be more receptive to the sexual stimuli of each other."

This would be a great time to communicate about what kind of erotic ASMR you each are interested in, as well. Browse different videos and try them out, either together or on your own. Then, you'll have ideas on what your partner might like for you to mimic.

"She'll whisper in my ear sometimes or gently rub my back, and it's just the hottest thing," Trent said. "Again, I think that circles back around to my point about sensuality. Something being sensual doesn't mean it's sexual, but it can definitely mean that sometimes."

Richard gave a few extra examples of ways to replicate it.

"This would include speaking softly and positively, giving the other person undivided attention with eye-gazing, and also touching gently, slowly and with intention," he said.

*Whispers* Even if you're not into regular ASMR, erotic ASMR can be something exciting to try the next time you hit the sheets and want to keep your voices down low.