Those of us who experience the cold of winter here in North America have definitely had our fill of snow and frigid temperatures. There is beauty to be found when the thermometer drops below freezing, like the sights and sounds of lake ice cracking and piling up on the shore, but it’s mostly soothing as a reminder…
The vast majority of snowboarding videos are packed with high-speed slalom runs, over-the-top jumps, and stunts intended to show off a rider’s extreme skills. But watching this video of Alex Pashley gently plowing through fresh powder as he weaves through trees might be the most relaxing thing you’ll watch this week.
No one’s pretending that life in the middle ages didn’t suck. There was the plague, unceasing catapult attacks, and beheading after beheading. But watching Evan Snider painstakingly make a chainmail shirt by hand once again reminds us to be extra thankful to live in this century.
Evil Mad Scientist’s new AxiDraw V3 personal drawing machine can use any pen or marker to print or write on your behalf if your penmanship is awful. But simply watching the machine draw ultra-precise doodles and complex patterns is so satisfying you might be able to justify its $475 price tag as just a relaxation tool.
The Japanese city of Beppu is known for its countless hot springs and spas that pop up around them. So much so, that the city’s mayor, Yasuhiro Nagano, pledged to build an entire spa-themed amusement park—although it might not be quite as awesome as the one featured in this promotional video.
How do you relax at the end of a long day? A movie? A good book? Maybe a long soak in the tub? You’re doing it all wrong. What you should be doing is strapping on a giant propeller and parachute, then heading to Utah where you can soar just inches above a massive salt lake.
Behold the majestic Banja Dam in Albania. It’s a huge hydroelectric project that hit a big milestone over the weekend—its reservoir reached over 550 meters above sea level. To release some of the excess water, dam operators opened the spillway for the very first time and filmed the event from the air. The dang thing…
As relaxing as a lava lamp is to watch from the outside, from the inside it’s a whole other level of mesmerizing. You’d assume that dropping a GoPro in a working lava lamp would be like diving into an active volcano, but the footage is more akin to peering inside a beating human heart as blood cells swirl all around…
I remember being so fascinated with automatic car washes as a kid. Your mom would pull up the family car and then relinquish control to what seemed like a highly choreographed ballet of robot arms and soap ballerinas that worked together to clean your car. I would watch the bubbles, listen to the thumping and enjoy…
So this machine comes with a weird thingie and it starts moving the ground and then there's this weird hose that goes under and stuff or something. I guess the hose will be connected to a pump to drain the water at some point. I don't know. I don't care. I just know that I watched it all. So relaxing.
Why don't they have a 24-hour channel of humans doing repetitive or crafty work? It would be the perfect thing to watch when you want to relax. Like this dude putting pylons on the Golden Gate bridge. He should have his own two-hour program every week. Updated.
Aaron Gough makes great custom knives. Here you can see him crafting "a prototype bushcraft/camping knife using only simple tools. The blade is made from O1 tool steel, the handle is made from brown Micarta." It's so relaxing to watch that now I want to have a siesta.
If you experience ASMR, prepare to feel some intense pleasure watching this video of a guy repairing shoes. The machines pressing down, the cutting of the sole, the sanding, the stitching, the brushing of the glue. It's a symphony of satisfying noises. It's the only soundtrack you need.
Last Friday I published a video that caused many to discover autonomous sensory meridian response, a perceptual phenomenon that gives a pleasing tingling sensation. Some said they got it watching people writing. Well, put your headphones on, because this is the mother of all calligraphy ASMR videos.
Do you experience autonomous sensory meridian response? If the answer is "yes" or "don't know," put on your headphones, make this video big, and watch it. If you do, the sound and the action will send intense waves of pleasure up and down your spine.
Some people hate doing nothing. I am not one of those people. The calmness of inactivity peacefully re-centers your soul. It's not boring. It's soothing. And these GIFs wonderfully made by artist Rebecca Mock perfectly capture that accomplished feeling of doing nothing.
