ASMR, short for autonomous sensory meridian response, has ballooned in popularity over the past 15 years. Julie Luther, who built a massive YouTube and TikTok following with ASMR videos, offers ...

For a moment, I felt like a child again. My head rested on a silky pillowcase, fingers gently combing through my hair while a soft voice whispered in my ear. But this wasn’t bedtime — and that ...

I’m sitting on a futon in a stranger’s apartment with my friend Ashley. In front of us, Melinda Lauw—a slender, wide-eyed Singaporean woman—is crouched in a squat, holding a small flickering candle, ...

“It’s time for your lice check,” a woman who goes by “Ms. K” whispers directly into my ear as she starts running her fingers into my scalp and through each strand of hair. I’m in a dark room, Eastern ...

Julie Luther, founder of Soft Touch ASMR Spa in Pasadena, gives the author an ASMR massage. I've never felt weird about paying strangers to touch me. Massages, facials, martial arts — it's all just ...