Do you ever have that feeling of chills dancing across your skin? Of your head tingling from the sweet vibrations of your sound system? It’s called ASMR. ASMR isn’t one of those cool slang words or acronyms we throw around nowadays-- it stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. Reddit defines this as “sound that feels good.” And it really is that simple.

ASMR is the response of your body-- usually the brain-- to sensory stimuli such as music. Do you ever connect with a certain song or sound really well to the point where your body reacts? This phenomenon explains it.

I didn’t even know that ASMR is an actual experience studied by psychologists and academics until I described to a friend how I felt every time I listened to Beyonce’s “All Night.” Personally, I find myself getting a tingly feeling across my head, neck and shoulders every time the music starts. No matter how many times I listen to “All Night,” the sensation never quite goes away. And it’s not just in response to Beyonce’s “All Night.” I always just classified it as my body connecting well with the music, which is true, but there is more to it than that.

This euphoric feeling hasn’t been largely studied in conjunction with neuron activity, but it has been observed that the body’s response is close to that felt during meditation. ASMR is associated with relaxation and is proposed to help individuals focus. I can attest to this as I sit writing listening to sounds that “feel good.”

Music is a large part of my life and I can only say that ASMR gives me a stronger case for perpetuating the saying: music gives me life. Music does have a wondrous, empowering quality to it, and, accordingly, our brains agree.