(no music) Trivia Tuesday | Let me bore you to sleep #1306 | 18th March 2025

Hello me old muckers, me old people. Hello, welcome to jasonnewland.com. My name's Jason Newland. Please only listen when you can.

Faithfully close your eyes. And today is is Trivia Tuesday. Trivia Tuesday has returned.

Yes, laddies and gentlemen, Trivia Tuesday. So today I'm going to focus on weird and wonderful offbeat trivia facts about relaxation. And here's something I researched earlier.

I've got a list of 100 things I'm just going to go through. I thought that'd be quite a good subject to talk about because that's something we've all got in common. We all like to relax.

You wouldn't be listening to this unless you did like to relax and got to tell you something though. I don't know if you you know, I study chronic pain, I study, you know, that's just an interest I've had for blimey, over two decades, since 1999. And so two and a half decades.

I was listening to a lecture, because the good thing, I mean, I've got some books on the subject and YouTube is full of lectures from actual specialists, you know, universities, things like that. And so I listened to probably a couple of hours a day worth of lectures, talks and stuff on chronic pain, and you know how it works, and how it could be changed, you know. So this, this recording isn't about that.

But I thought I'd mention it because I'm a little bit excited. Tomorrow, I'm going to do a two things I'm going to do tomorrow. If I'm up to it, I'm going to do a deep sleep whisper hypnosis.

I'm also going to do let me bore your pain away. But it's going to be focused on safety. Because there's a concept that actually with chronic pain, it's a danger signal.

It's not a pain signal, it's a danger signal. So it sends a danger signal to your brain, your brain checks it and acts accordingly. For that part of the body that may be causing problems.

And when you feel safe, the safer you feel, or the safer that part of your body feels, the better it feels, the more relaxed it feels, because obviously feeling relaxed, being in danger, feeling danger, you're not gonna be relaxed. If you if you if you feel in danger, yes, stuff is obviously when you're feeling safe. I guess it's like a little baby, they might feel danger because there's no one around.

They might wake up and where's mommy, where's daddy? Where's grandma, whatever. But as soon as they see the person that they that they love that they bonded with, like, oh, well, maybe it might just be a cat and might be the dog. Where's Vinnie? And they feel safe again.

So there's that, you know, so it's kind of like that. So I'm going to focus on that and see what pops out of my weird mouth. And I'm probably going to do a body scan with a deep sleep whisper.

Also, I don't know why, but I seem to have got back into a bit of a rhythm. Rhythm is a dancer. I do think that the dance hits of the 90s, that for me, they were some of the best dance hits.

And the reason I say that is because I've never really been into dance music. I like the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, some of that stuff. And I had to play had to play dance music when I was a DJ.

But I've never really been into it. And I was more disco anyway, called like, come on, and do do do do do do do do do do wham, that was. And in the 90s, there was some proper popping songs, popping.

Not relative to this recording, but then what is? I'd like to say before I start a big thank you to quite a few comments. I wasn't really fishing for comments. I was.

And but first of all, I'd like to say thank you to Julia. Thank you for your generous PayPal gift and your kind words that you sent as well. Thank you very much.

And also thank you to Paul from a week ago. So I didn't post anything on there. But I did send a thank you and I've sent a thank you to Julia as well.

So thank you. I posted a comment on Facebook on my Jason Newland's boring group. Just saying had my latest record has been useful.

The reason I did that is because I've been doing a few more different types of stuff lately. Give you an example. I've been doing I mean, we're doing the Let Me Bore You To Sleep a lot more regular.

I've also be doing let me bore your pain away more than and I did. Let me let go of your anger. So I've been doing some standalone stuff as well, which is still the same type of format.

It's not like standards. I don't know, hypnosis stuff is it's more just me talking. And that makes any sense.

So I also did a let me bore your anxiety away the other day. So yeah, I've done a few different types of things. And I did a boring Monday's boring objects yesterday.

Talked about homes that I've lived in. So I mean, I suppose I should just get on with the recording. But the I don't know, I know that I can't always I try and you know, having a routine trying to get a routine going with these recordings, videos, the podcasts.

And it's not always that easy to be fair, but I'm I'm giving it a go. Q&A Friday's definitely been a regular now. I've been doing it for blimey what eight months, nine months.

And here Vinnie in the background, chomping away on a a burn. And I'm thinking maybe to go back to doing the Monday's boring objects again. On Monday's, and then trivia Tuesday, I don't know, I just, I quite enjoy doing the trivia Tuesday's because they're just random, silly things.

And then Sunday summary seems to be fairly popular. That's basically when I just sum up the week that I've had. I didn't do one this Sunday, just gone.

But I did do one the Sunday before. And that had Yeah, on YouTube, quite a few views. So by the way, yesterday's Monday's boring objects, two hours, two hours long.

Wow. That's a lot of chomp, chomp, chap, chipping, jumping, jumping, isn't it? That's a lot. And so I just want to read out some comments that I've got.

Just just to say thank you, because it's been lovely. So I just, you know, that's why I asked if I kind of if the latest kind of stuff is being useful, because it might seem from the outside of people that don't watch or listen regularly, it might seem I'm just doing this to entertain myself, just for my own amusement, but I'm actually not. Maybe.

So Ben answered, don't know I'm asleep. So that's cool. And Susan says, I can't sleep without you.

Thank you so much for your help. You're wonderful. So thank you, Ben and Susan.

I did reply to all of them. I think Jenny says, Thanks, Jason. I watched the Let Go of Anger just now on YouTube.

And it was really helpful. Cool. Thank you, Jenny.

Christine says, Hi, Jason, I watched the Let Go of Anger. And it clicked for me. Thank you.

Well, thank you very much. The Let Go of Anger one is I don't know how to explain it really. I just try and tap into get into get into the I don't know if it's the groove or whatever.

I kind of know roughly what I want to talk about. And then I just put trust in my own mind to come up my unconscious mind or ever to come up with the right correct words. So you know, I'm not reading off a script.

I didn't know what I was going to say. I probably had an idea. I mean, no, I did have an idea because I was going to focus on sounds and, you know, saying certain things and that.

So I had an idea before I started, but I didn't know how it was going to go. And, you know, sometimes even when I've got an idea before I start, I just end up talking about something completely different. You may not find that hard to believe.

Michelle says they bore me to sleep. Thank you. Hillary says definitely have to say I prefer the ones where you do not make up a lot of stuff.

Okay, Hillary, thank you. I'm not quite sure what you mean by where I don't make up a lot of stuff. Is that kind of kind of everything I do in a way kind of? I don't know.

I'm not sure which ones because I do make a lot of stuff up. Yeah. See, I'm not quite sure which ones you mean when you say that, because when I do the boring objects, I generally, if I talk about my life, I generally stick to the truth.

No, it's not not that I lie, but I do, you know, add a little bit of salt and vinegar and sprinkling the cheese on top, you know, just to make it mildly interesting if at all possible. And Maria says, Oh, most definitely. Thank you.

All of your podcasts are funny. Thank you. And helpful in getting me to sleep.

I particularly like the short 10 minute relaxation recording. It's something that you can fit into any time of day. You're brilliant and you really make a difference.

Maria, I agree with every single word you said. I agree with everything everyone said. Thank you.

I did actually see Maria, you inspired me to make a new recording today, which is what I did. So I did a I've got no idea what it's called. But I did a recording today, a new one earlier today, which was I'll tell you in a minute when I finished these messages.

Molly says going to watch the Let Go of Anger today sounds like it was made for me. And what did I reply there? It has some weird parts and Molly says don't we all? Oh, not me. I'm well, okay, maybe me.

Robin says bore me to sleep also. Thanks, Jason. Thank you, Robin.

Julia says every one of you Let Me Bore You To Sleep that I've heard has been helpful. Some are quite funny, and all put me to sleep. Thank you.

P.S. I'm not a fan of the whispering ones, but just my personal taste. Haven't tried the others but plan to listen to anger one. Thank you.

Yeah, that's that's the thing is in a way, I've tried to kind of go down the route of just one, one particular thing. But unfortunately, whenever I kind of stray, not stray, of course, but go towards one thing, people, I get messages asking me to do the things that I used to do. So whenever I stopped doing Deep Sleep Whisper, I get people asking me for Deep Sleep Whisper.

Whenever I start doing Deep Sleep Whisper, I have people telling me they don't rely on Deep Sleep Whispers. It's a kind of a bit of a juggling act, if you know what I mean. And the recordings I enjoyed doing the most are the chatty type ones like this.

Like the let me bore your pain away. The Let Me Bore You To Sleep. But then in the same way, the let go of anger.

That was a chatty one as well. So that was just exactly the same as this, but focused on a specific thing. So it's more focused than this is.

Although this is going to be quite focused because I'm going to have a list of 100 trivia facts I'm going to read out. So it's quite focused in that way. But a lot of my Let Me Bore You To Sleep.

Not so focused. So I quite like and yeah, I kind of like the the idea of. So with the let me bore your pain away.

I know that it's about focusing on reducing chronic pain. So I know that. And I do keep coming back to that.

And I think that's quite good for my little brain because it activates me a bit to you know, I don't know what to do something to think maybe to be creative, but in a in a passive more useful way, a more specific way. However, I would say that even I do the let me bore your pain away, let me bore your anxiety away. All kinds of things like that.

The Let Me Bore You To Sleep. It's just as useful can be just as useful because it's relaxing, it's calming. It's peaceful.

It's friendly. It's calm. You know, I think it's just as useful can just have just as much.

You know, if you feel safe, you feel calm, you feel relaxed. It's just the differences I don't focus on. Because that's the weird thing about it really, because even though this is Let Me Bore You To Sleep.

How often do I ever even mention sleep outside of the title? I don't. I rarely mention relaxing. Pretty much never.

But with the chronic pain, let me bore your pain away. I do focus on that topic. I try not to say the word too much once I've started.

But it is a focus on the subject and focusing on a part of the body, which can then change and reduce feel different. So yeah, there was a reason why I started that sentence, but I couldn't tell you what it was. March.

Absolutely. I just wish I could stay away to listen to the whole episode. But I guess that's the name of the game.

Thank you, Jason. Thank you. Thank you much.

I said Marge, it might be Marg. Sorry, M-A-R-G. So either Marge or Marg.

Thank you. Cindy says, Absolutely, Jason, I listen to you every night. Can't go to sleep without you.

Well, thank you. Thank you very much. So that's all the messages there.

A couple of messages on my YouTube. So Christine for my monthly boring, yesterday's Monday's Bored Objects Herms. Christine says that was the most unboring out one to date.

Thanks, Jay. I think that was a compliment. I hope so.

And that's the thing with words. I can't tell because you can't. I'm better with tones of voices.

If someone says something on the phone, I can generally get what they're saying, what mood they're in, what you know, is and it's the same with me. I'm that's why I don't text people because I don't necessarily come across great in a text. And Vanessa says, OMG, Jason, it's great to find you here again.

Great to find you again. Bored me to sleep. Sending love from Nova Scotia, Canada.

I wonder if you remember me. So Vanessa is someone that used to listen to me in the past. So hi, Vanessa, or used to watch my videos.

So maybe I've had a few people that have left comments over the years. A couple of years ago, I had someone post a message saying that had been listening to me since 2008. I've been watching my YouTube videos since 2008.

Even though I've not really been very active on YouTube for a long time until recently. And my old YouTube channels. Well, well gone for over a decade.

Christine Leach, I sang along and my anger left. Thank you. That's on let go of anger fast.

And Let Me Bore You To Sleep Q&A Friday. John says genius. Well, thank you.

And my Sunday summary. June says new sub menopausal woman here decided this morning to stop my sleep meds hate them was actually watching a live trial from across the pond. And you are recommended underneath will pop a playlist on this evening.

You may well have seen you may well have been sent my way. Oh, that's interesting. I don't know.

I said thank you, but I don't know what what the live trial was. So this is for my this is a couple of days back was seven days six days ago. And lady rabbit says love your hairy head.

And this is I visited the world seven days ago. Let Me Bore You To Sleep. Thank you.

I'm happy to I'm happy to be able to offer you the gift of enjoying my scalp was my response. And the next one is relax your relax. I'll relax your pain.

Okay, the power of relaxation. That was a let me bore your pain away number 13. Seven days ago.

Darby says I fell asleep didn't even know it lost my okay, I'm not going to read all that out because I think I read it out before. Because that's why I ended up. That was the reason I did my next recording I think.

Hi, Jason. This is ASMR relaxing 10 minutes. Hi, Jason, I'm coming in listen to your podcast.

Sunday summary the far heard from miles away. I heard you're asking for listeners ages and locations. Okay.

You know, apparently that one of my recordings has a big fart in it. Must be Vinnie. Of course, I couldn't figure out where it was.

So is it in the Sunday summary? I want it's got so many views. People want to keep listening to the farm. Maybe it was me.

Maybe it's Vinnie. So on YouTube, I've got 1529 subscribers. So it's still small still, you know, early days really.

But I feel quite good that I've stuck with it. Stuck with the videos is hard really, when I'm getting such small amounts of views. But hey, you know, the only the last time I got a decent number of views was the last ASMR Deep Sleep Whisper one I did, which was on the 10th of March.

And the one before that was ASMR on the 8th of March. And the one before that was 6th of March, ASMR body scan, Deep Sleep Whisper. And then before that 3rd of March ASMR counting down to sleep, Deep Sleep Whisper.

So basically only the Deep Sleep Whispers that really get any kinds of views on YouTube. The others still get views, but just not not many really. Anyway, it's I'm just gonna keep going.

Keep it see what happens. And, you know, keep the wagon rolling as it were. Right, so here's the 100.

Just trying to really dropping stuff on the floor. A nap like a koala, koala. Koalas sleep up to 22 hours a day.

22 hours a day. Maybe that's what I meant. That should be my, my spirit animal.

Koala. So I just let you know, I've used chat GPT to get these 100 things. They might not be correct.

So don't please don't use me as a quote. Don't, don't use this information to create a new life somewhere. You know, don't you know, it might or some of it might be wrong.

That's what I'm saying. So I take no responsibility for incorrect information. Polar bears, polar bears sometimes snooze for short periods between seal hunts.

Blimey. So they that's a bit weird. Mind you, I suppose.

Polar bears are pretty good at swimming and they maybe maybe they get on the ice and have a little nap. And then yeah, maybe the ancient bath house hangout in ancient Rome. Okay, so I'm just trying to figure why these two are these talk about relaxing sleeping.

I'm just thinking this isn't wasn't supposed to be about animals. So the ancient bath house hangout, because thinking that's not about animals, then I realized this isn't about animals. In ancient Rome, people went to public baths for a a sweat and some gossip.

So it was kind of like the earliest social club in the world. Did you know well, popping bubble wrap to relax is so popular that there's a bubble wrap appreciation day last Monday in January. There's something quite satisfying about popping bubbles or bubble wrap.

Yeah, I used to. Yeah. Yeah, I do love it bubble wrap to be honest.

Then he likes a bit of bubble wrap. Andre used to go nutty over some bubble wrap. Really, he just couldn't get enough of it.

Love the sound. Library. So researchers found that listen to the ambient ambient hum.

So I don't use the word ambient enough. Ambient ambient, ambient, ambient, ambient. Researchers found that listening to the ambient hum of a library can be more relaxing than total silence.

With some people don't really like total science silence. I like it. I love silence.

In fact, I'm not that bothered about total silence. I'm I'm not bothered even if it's windy outside. If not big, big fan of like bass music shaking the building.

I don't find that very conducive to relaxation. But there's I don't mind that. I mean, I can't do that with Vinnie because I have to have something playing for the first couple of hours until he's asleep, like proper sleep, and then nothing disturbs him.

Unless someone knocks on the door or something like that. Warm milk myth. People swear by warm milk before bed.

It's not scientifically proven to make you sleep. And the thing is, it doesn't have to be scientifically proven. If it works, it works.

If you know, that's the bottom line, I think. I've got a friend that sort of goes on about all cheese, eating cheese, whatever before sleeping has an effect and like, not to me. You know, I don't have cheese doesn't affect me.

There's a war differently. And if warm milk, I've never been a big fan of warm milk, to be honest. On its own.

It's just a bit not really. Not really. I'm just gonna be much more conducive to sleeping than, you know, a can of Coke or Red Bull or something like that, obviously.

But yeah, I think it's maybe it's the baby thing. Maybe it's the warm milk. Maybe it's the only time I've ever had warm milk really.

Well, I probably didn't. But I mean, babies have warm milk when they're born and they have warm milk and stuff, whether out of the tap or out of the bowl. And I don't I've never really been into warm milk even.

I mean, technically, I used to be into lattes, coffee lattes. So thrifty milk and stuff, not anymore. But I used to be into that.

But yeah, if I have a coffee, which I don't drink, drink coffee anymore. But if I was, it'd have to be just a little bit of milk. And definitely not enough to create a skin on top.

No, didn't like that. Never like that. And even tea when I drink tea, a tiny little bit of milk in the tea.

Just enough to make it not just enough to make it not not without milk, I suppose. It's a little dash little little bit. Okay, sloths are so chill.

Is this is the same that I've never used that expression. I'm so chill, man. So chill.

Sloths are so chill that they only come down from trees once a week to do a poo. Their slow pace is okay. They're adding our own material in there.

So but once a week, I had a girlfriend once that said that she only went to did a poo once a month. Jordan name. I believe that I don't think it's true.

Because I don't think that'd be possible with it. Once a month. Blimey.

I do multiple times. Anyway, let's let's just move on from that. foot rubs in ancient Egypt.

So ancient Egypt's revered, revered, revered foot massages. There's evidence of reflexology on two moors dating back thousands of years. So I know about that anyway, because I studied reflexology.

I did two courses on reflexology in the past. And yeah, it's, it's kind of based upon that. And all to do with nerve endings and, you know, the bodies mapped out on the bottom of the feet, or the feet, you know, but it's not just that it's just the toes and the same with the palms.

It's kind of mirrored. So if I remember rightly, that's the that's the that's the thumb. Oh, that tickled me for some reason.

And that's that's the head. And that would be kind of the spine, I think, or whatever. I remember this being quite a relaxing thing.

So get do that. If you want to see what I'm doing it just between your finger and your thumb, that bit there just gently massage is quite relaxing to relax away to calm down. And do on both.

The problem is when I was doing this back in 2003, I did it a bit and I got very bruised. And it was no longer relaxing. It was just painful.

But, you know, back in those days, I was researching every single possible way that I could reduce my anxiety. I was trying to just increase my relaxation was and I tried everything. acupuncture, I didn't try everything, obviously, but I tried a lot of things.

Reflexology massage. I never did Indian hand, I have had an Indian head massage, but I never did it at that time. acupuncture, exercise, exercise is good.

Do you know what, Vinnie had me running around the park earlier. So he was on the lead and he decided to run. So I thought, okay, every now and then I will just run with him.

And he ran all the way around the park. And I didn't really get out of breath. Weird, isn't it? Even 30 years ago, okay, 25 years ago.

30 years ago. If I had done that dash, I'd have been coughing for about an hour. 30 years ago.

But now just weird. I guess I'm just super healthy. relaxation room.

Some Japanese offices have designated napping rooms, where employees can grab a nap. So I've had jobs where I did that grabbed a nap. And I remember one job, it was in a factory I worked.

And there was a bloke there and he was so popular. Everyone liked him. All the management loved him.

He was a bit of a drinker, but they knew that and they just loved it. It was friendly and they you know, it's lovely. But unfortunately, the there was a, the people that owned the company were doing an inspection.

So there was all these big wigs with their ties on and stuff with their white coats, you know, to keep yourselves nice and tidy and clean. And with them days, you know, even then we had health and safety and stuff. And they came around and they found him in the ticket cupboard, the label cupboard asleep, right at the top.

And the management couldn't do anything about it. I had to sack him. Because, you know, the people at the top from the headquarters had caught them.

See, it's like, why would you choose now to do that? So I've done it as well. I don't think I know. Yeah, I did do it after that.

But it was all right. It was this, you know, we always had a lookout. I used to do, I think.

Oh, man, I remember once, wow. I've forgotten about this. When I was in a call center, the second call center, I was on the sales floor.

So yeah, I was still on the sales floor at this point. And there was, they could always see how long we was away from the phone. So we had to log out the phone every time we left.

So that way, the phone call wouldn't come through to that empty phone. Did that make sense? They didn't lose customers. So when we went to the toilet, had a tea break, lunch break, whatever, or, you know, left for the day, we had to log out.

Sometimes I'd forget, but generally had to do that. And they could also see what time you log in as well. And they were just the management was doing their thing.

There was a assistant manager and a manager, sales manager. And they were busy. And then one of them noticed that one of my colleagues, one of the sales people was missing.

Like, where's Charlie? I don't know if that was his name. Where's Charlie? Now asking where's Charlie? I went to the toilet. Okay.

Because we've gone an hour and a half. He fell asleep. He literally fell asleep.

And he came back and he was like, he looked absolutely shattered. He looked like he'd been properly. I don't know how you fall asleep on a toilet if if he was sober.

I don't know how we did that. But yeah, it was completely because I went down and get on went to get him and they found him asleep. He didn't even get in trouble.

They found it hilarious. So that's good. Good for him.

So another time there was this is not really related, but it's related but not not to do with sleeping. There was I really got on well with this this bloke. He was one of these people that gets on with everyone.

You know, because not everybody used to talk to me in that place. Especially at the beginning. He was just nice.

He was one of the top sellers. Right from the start. It was on the top sellers table.

And he put no effort in. You know, he was actually doing I think university course in mathematics. While he was at work, he just be doing this coursework while he was at work.

And he just answered the phone and it just, it was easy, easy for him. But he was also super nice to everyone. And I don't know why I'm telling you that bit.

But he was Yeah, I liked him. I only saw him once after I left. I saw him in this town funny enough, because that was when I lived in a probably a year.

So still remembered me. But it's a long time now wouldn't even pretty wouldn't recognize me now. I don't think I had hair back then.

And I was a little bit younger. I was wearing this green shirt. I just realized I'm peeling the bits off of this chair, peeling bits off of the the handrail rest thing.

Yeah. I'm just wondering if this is actually picking up the thing. Oh, did I tell you the other day I did a recording and a microphone to the batteries for the microphone cut out.

So I missed half of like only got half of the recording. That was annoying. So and but didn't been been Yeah, so he came back.

Again, same sort of situation. Does anyone know where Ralph is? I don't know if that was his name. Ralph.

Anyone know where Ralph is? And I said, I was he was in the pub. Because I used to go to the pub opposite. So okay, he was in a bookies or something like that.

So I'm kind of I think I was sitting next to him at this point. So I kind of noticed he wasn't there as well. But I haven't been out to lunch with him.

He turns up. We're good two hours late for lunch. And he will.

It's amazing. Honestly, he walked up to the manager's desk, because my desk was literally just near there as well. So I won't lie to you.

I was gambling. I was on a fruit machine. And I thought I was gonna win.

But I didn't win. I lost everything. But I thought I was gonna win.

And that honestly, again, they laughed because the honesty, there was no made up story. It was just I mean, he could have he didn't get disciplinary nothing. And if you'd have done that at Churchill, where I used to work before that.

Wow, that would have been a disciplinary, very likely sack, you know, but with this place, they were a lot more lenient. The only way to really get sacked was to not sell. For the people that didn't sell much, they would be laid off.

But if you fail, you made a few mistakes, it's fine. As long as you sold, that was the main thing at the time anyway. But the place did shut down.

So I don't know how successful that I that working model was. But yeah, I, when I was a security guard, I used to go for naps, because I was doing night shift. I said that, like, you should know that I was doing night shift.

Not all the time. I had lots of different. I've never talked about my security jobs, I don't think.

Not really gone in depth. Maybe that's Monday's boring objects. Because I forget sometimes all the different places I went to, I'm thinking about it now.

And Canary Wharf, nurse's home. Then I was a printers. Then I was at Covent Garden.

Then I was a former asylum, the grounds surrounding the asylum, former asylum, like the, I think Europe's biggest mental hospital, it was called at the time, in North London, massive, massive place. I was also working in Middlesex hospitals, some of the closed empty hospitals. Spooky.

I also worked in a bookies, a betting shop. This was the weirdest one. Right.

This place was known for being rough, rough. And it was on this book, bookies, this, this betting shop and say bookies. That's what I'm used to calling it.

I think it was next to a pub on a council estate. There's literally a shop, probably a post office, slash like news agents, groceries, and probably a laundrette, a pub and a bookies and probably a chip shop or something. Like a takeaway kebab shop or something.

And that was all there was on the estate. And there was just loads of like tower blocks. This is in London.

So there's loads of this. I've done it. I think it was in East London.

I think I don't remember exactly where. But I get there and I get taken there off of my other place because I was on a I was on a I think I was in North London. And I was Yeah, I was North London.

That's where the big huge asylum place was. That's what it's called back then. And they Yeah, we had two people on so they took me off that site to go and do the to do one shift at this bookies.

And basically what my job was was to stand there. And be security for all these rough people that were drunk and gambling. And I was there until I think nine o'clock 10 o'clock.

And they it was weird because they were they were making fun of me. But I was just joining in. Because I was saying stuff like what are you going to do if we get out and what are you going to do? I said nothing.

I probably join in. It's like they couldn't believe I was saying stuff like that. I said, Yeah, but you're here to make sure that we behave.

I said, I don't care what you do. Did you know how much I'm getting paid? getting paid like four pounds an hour or five pounds an hour or something? Like you found going to put myself in danger for that amount of money? I don't think so. I said, I just have to be here.

That's all I have to do. So I'm not I'm not making enemies of anyone in there. Because I've got to leave out the same door that you've got to leave out of.

And so this and they just like, okay, they didn't know what to make of me. Because I think some security guards would give it a big and they go in there and show a bit of authority. Because I knew I was only there for one night, or one day if it was like probably Yeah, it's the end of my shift.

So probably I was there for about four to nine or so I don't know something like that. I had to make my own way home though, of course. And it was weird.

It's almost like everyone. It's like the pub emptied, everyone came in just to look at me. And I said, Why? Why? Why are you making such a big deal? And they said, Because of what happened to the last one? I said, Well, what do you mean? They said, Well, there's a reason you're here, isn't there? I said, Well, yeah, because my security patrol person brought me here.

He said, Yeah, but because the other one's not here today, is he? He's in hospital. And I'm like, Oh, really? Well, what have I stepped into? But I think they couldn't be bothered. It's like, Okay, I was ready to walk out if I had to.

Because this wasn't worth it. But luckily, I didn't have to go back. I didn't want to do that.

I was just, it's not my crowd. It's not I'm not into gambling. Not into really being around pubs and stuff.

And it's, you know, it's not good. It wasn't really my my scene, my scheme was my scheme. But then there was another place where and I didn't want to do this at all.

Because part of working at Middlesex Hospital is they also looked after the emergency ward, the casualty now called A&E. Being in London, in the centre of London, Middlesex is in the West End. It's like they are a lot of hassle, a lot of problems.

And the all of the all of the security on the doors there were tough guys. So had to be because of what happened there. And then one was out of a broken arm, and they I was told to go and stand on the doors for an evening.

I spent half the evening just hiding under a table. Yes. Yeah, that wasn't good.

I didn't enjoy that. Wasn't really my scene. Again, just like nah.

I knew all the lads that did it, and they loved it. They absolutely loved it because they get you got a chance to, they got paid to have a punch up every weekend, every Friday, Saturday night. I mean, again, it's not really my thing.

But I heard all the stories. And yeah, they got through a lot of staff as well. Yeah, well, it wasn't really my thing.

I was, I'm more sitting on a desk, being quiet. You know, looking cute. Maybe not now.

Maybe then I look better. I probably never looked cute. I used to be cute when I was about 10 or seven.

Yeah, up to going to high school, I was cute. And then everything went wrong from there. But up to the age of about 11, I was cute, little and cute.

And then I don't know, just something changed. So maybe I'll talk about that one day. Yeah, that was a weird.

Yeah, it's a weird job set. But I used to go to sleep. And on the night shift, the problem is, is they used to have a what do they call it patrol or the person mobile, the mobile guard who used to come around in a car and check all the different sites to make sure we was all awake.

And everything was okay. And in an emergency, we could call them and they'd come to us, you know. So they'd come in and they'd, they'd have a little thing, you know, so that so they could prove that they'd been working as well.

And they have to fill a form in and all that stuff. Blimey, this is quite a long time ago now. Nearly 30 years ago, 28 years ago.

And well, 2029 years ago, because 2006, I started doing that. Around this time, it'll be April. Yeah, be soon.

Was it now March? Can you believe it's the 18th of March already? Nearly the end of March already. Blimey. In the printing place, I used to go to sleep, where the lifts were.

And so I used to just buy I used to, I think I took a sleeping bag with me once, but I had to squeeze it into the, to my bag. So it didn't really work. So I didn't bother with that.

And oh, there was another place who worked as a security. I forgot about this place. It was a huge office block just around the corner from Liverpool Street Station.

And it was always more one of us on the reception. Usually at least two people on reception and it was a big block. We used to go up and have to turn all the lights off.

And yeah, I don't know what they did in there might be in multiple companies. But it was a big old place. Huge reception.

Like I don't know if you if you've never been to London. And I'm not saying that nowhere else is like this. But I've never been anywhere like this, where they had such huge receptions as they do in the city of London.

Now I spent a decade walking past these buildings sometimes going in them, but just seeing how huge they were, like the escalators and almost unnecessarily big spaces. And it's probably the same everywhere in the world. It's probably maybe the same in every city of this country as well.

But I just not lived in every other city. And this was the same. It's like huge reception area.

I mean, you literally fit probably 400 people standing up just in that space between the door and the reception. Probably 500 people standing up next to each other. Like huge like unnecessary.

Why? Why is this so big? And you think they make use of it just have a go forward a bit and make use of all the backspace and I don't know have a canteen or like sell sandwiches or something. But yeah, we had a we should take turns to go to sleep. It felt it might have actually had three people working there.

So we take turns. And there was a one floor which had a city. And there was no camera on that part of the thing.

So we knew where all the cameras were. So we'd lay down on the city go to sleep. We have a radio so they call us when we needed to come.

So if the patrol or whatever they were called, the mobile people came to check on us, they'd say, Oh, where's where's Robbie? And so he's on patrol. He's, you know, he's doing patrol in the building. And then it's okay.

And so I want to go do you know where he is? I think he's on fourth floor 100 floor. And then it's like, Jason, or Bobby, Robbie, Stevie, wherever. Sometimes I forget my name.

Wake up, wake up. And just get up, get dressed. And carry on like patrolling.

It was great. Although I remember some of the staff in that particular office used to complain about some of the smells that were there when they got in in the morning. lavender was a spit there.

Lavender is often touted for relative through at 11. I can't say the words. lavender is often touted for relaxation.

But research suggests that the smell of peppermint can also calm nerves and reduce stress. Yeah, I because I studied plumbing, I studied aromatherapy for a while. It's true.

I'm not making this stuff up. It's true. And I have the oils and I used to mix stuff together.

And I like lavender. And peppermint. Yeah.

The one that I like the most, maybe not the most, but the one and one of the ones I like the most is what's that thing that Jesus Jesus got as a gift? Gold frankincense. I don't know what Mary's frankincense didn't even know what frankincense was. Until I until I did know what it was.

I love the smell of frankincense. Absolutely. And I used to make oils that were very relaxing.

I made some for my dad's piles. I made some for my nan for her shoulders and stuff because she had some chronic pain and stuff. And I made some for myself.

I actually used to sprinkle some on a hanky and take it to work with me to try and calm me down and be relaxed while I was at work. People complained about the smell. Mind you, people were complaining about my smell before I even started doing that.

So can lower their metabolic rate so much during hibernation that they essentially pause. Yeah, I've heard about that. That's the thing.

But hibernation is to say hibernation there. Yeah, hibernation. When animals hibernate, they almost I mean, it's the most relaxed really that they could be.

It's like it's almost a few heartbeats a minute or something like wow. Chicken soup for sleep, hot soup, especially chicken soup is a traditional relaxation remedy in many cultures. There's no magic ingredients.

Okay, I know. It's quite an old thing to have when someone's feeling a little bit under the weather. Oxytocin, known as the cuddle hormone, is released during hugs.

So okay. Okay. I don't have hugs.

So I don't know. I don't. I remember the last time I really had much in a way of human contact.

I gave Vinnie a hug the other day. But he let me because he was being he was worried about a dog. So he let me pick him up.

Oh no, there was that and also when we got on the bus. Yeah. He doesn't like buses.

Okay. A quick daydream session can lower stress hormones. That makes sense to me.

Because I do. I mean, a daydream session, as long as you're daydreaming about something nice. And scientifically, psychologically, brainwise, and it has been proven that when you imagine something, the brain doesn't really know the difference.

So if you were you imagine feeling relaxed, then you're more likely going to feel relaxed than if you were actually relaxing. Or just just the same. You know, so it depends, I guess it depends on how good your imagination is, I guess.

But if you imagine if relaxing on a beach is something that is particularly calming for you, then by imagining yourself relaxing on a beach can have almost the same reaction in your body. Because your mind technically doesn't know the difference between what we imagine and what is real. That's why what we think about has such an impact on on our lives.

Stress. So think about nice things. Stress fighting laughter, laughter floods the body with endorphins, endorphins, which reduce stress and improve mood.

It's basically an internal spa treatment. And, yeah, I agree with that. I mean, if you go to a comedy show, or watch a comedy show, or what you know, you feel good, don't you afterwards, or you feel good during you feel good afterwards, you got a laugh, had a laugh.

It's nice. It's very healthy. And I remember hearing an old story is years ago when this this man was he had a serious condition, which had been, you know, diagnosed as being as serious as it could get.

And he decided to spend pretty much all his days watching comedy. And he actually recovered. So he was, he spent while he was watching stand up comedy and comedy shows.

And, you know, just ignore the rest of the world. And he actually became better. In medieval Europe, it was common for people to carry around small talismans, or worry beads to handle anxiety.

Well, they're still used. I mean, when I was in Buddhism, I mean, in, yeah, in different religions, I have beads, where maybe with tantric or with tantric, with repeating the same mantra, and just like sort of beads to count it, or just maybe counting your breath, or just focusing, just focusing on how each bead of the necklace or the way we want to call it, the pearl necklace, it's a count, it's a counting each pearl on the pearl necklace and just feeling it and noticing how it feels can be calming.

In the same way, just noticing how your shoulders feel in the moment or how your eyes feel when they're closed, you know.

Oh, that's a nice little drink you have in there. A cat's purr vibrates at a frequency that can promote healing and relaxation. Yep.

I'll agree with that 100%. And I remember in 1997, I was going through a very difficult time emotionally, and I moved into this place and there was a cat there. And the cat took a shine to me.

They had a few cats, but one particular cat, it's a ginger cat. I've always got on with ginger cats. I nearly said the wrong thing then.

I really, yeah, I like ginger, I mean, look, I've got a ginger dog, I like gingers. And this cat would walk up and down my back. It was weird because I was standing up.

Oh, dear. Scratch the hell out of me. No, I'd be lying on my bed and just like walking up and down and purring.

And honestly, it's almost like the cat knew, knew, knew, knew, knew that I needed something. So it was lovely. Knitting, knitted studies show, I know about this, studies show knitting can induce a relaxed state similar to yoga.

Yeah, I used to work with someone when I was a counsellor. She was a counsellor and she, I think she ran a knitting group. Like a knitting group.

I mean, and it is very much. I mean, it's probably a social thing as well. And I remember my nan used to knit.

Yeah, my nan used to be a knitter. She used to knit while she was watching TV and all kinds of stuff. And she was very often extremely relaxed.

Weirdly, some people find the smell of coffee relaxing. Not really. Wouldn't probably go with that one myself, but each to their own.

And we've all got things that smell nice, don't we? I mean. Yeah. We're all just so different sometimes, yet so similar.

In regions known as blue zones, places where people commonly live past 100. Never heard of that before. Daily relaxation routines like afternoon naps or leisurely social meals are common.

And apparently siesta equals longevity. I don't know if that's what it really means. Or it's just what they're saying.

I have afternoon naps. I have mid morning naps. Sometimes I actually stop napping so I can have a nap.

And leisurely social meals. Okay. Strange sauna customs.

In Finland, business meetings often happen in saunas. I don't know anymore. Yes, I do actually.

Okay, it's not saying anymore. Just that. Okay, while goldfish are rumored to have three second memory memories, they can actually remember things for months.

I mean, I'm not being rude to goldfish. Okay. I'm not.

I mean, any goldfish listening or watching, just please forgive me. I'm not anti goldfish. I'm really not.

I don't go that way. You know, I'm all about peace and equality. However, to any goldfish watching or listening, yeah, you can remember things for months.

I believe that. You've not got a lot to remember, though, have you? To be honest. I mean, a little arch, which you can maybe a little castle.

Oh, it's a castle. And you can swim through it. You can remember that the foods at the top so you can eat that.

And remember not to eat the stuff that comes, you know, the long stringy stuff. Don't eat that. Eat the stuff, the flaky stuff at the top.

What else is there to remember? It's literally the whole routine, the whole day. Yoga has been around for over 5000 years, originally created to help ancient sages sit comfortably in meditation. Isn't it interesting? So yoga has been around longer than any of today's religions.

That's interesting. Well, maybe not any of today's religions, but any of the main ones. I thought yoga was Hindu.

Maybe Hinduism has been around for 5000 years. World record bubble bath, the largest bubble bath on record has thousands of people soaking simultaneously in one bath. One bath.

I'm getting this right. Well, first of all, how could you have thousands of people soaking simultaneously in one bath? How would they get a bath big enough? I mean, if you did it in a an Olympic size swimming pool and decided to call that a bath, maybe put a handle on each side, some taps. I mean, it still wouldn't hold thousands of people, would it? Well, a lot of them.

But where would they go? Because once you're off the edge, where are you going to sit up, try and sit up and it's not really a bath, is it? I feel I need to do a little bit more investigating. Anyway, oysters and clams spend most of their lives relaxing and with minimal movement, sitting on the beach, literally just vibing. It feels sad then, doesn't it really? Because they're just relaxing most of their lives and then.

Aristotle's walk and think. So the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle taught while walking around, perhaps a moving lecture was more relaxing than a stiff classroom setting, or he didn't like sitting down because he had piles. Maybe could be true.

Zebras don't get ulcers. According to a famous stress researcher, zebras, or you may call them, you may wrongly call them zebras, but zebras don't stay stressed or once a threat is gone, they go back to grazing. Yeah, that is that's pretty good skill to have if you can relax very easily and go back to being calm almost straight away.

I've met a few humans like that, not many. It's usually the other way around though, they can be both be from calm to. Hot chocolate isn't just tasty, it contains magnesium, which can help muscles relax.

I do like hot chocolate. I haven't had any in decades. But it's weird because I can almost smell it.

It might just be one of the neighbors is drinking hot chocolate. Shinrin Yoku in Japan, aka forest bathing, involves soaking up nature's atmosphere with no agenda. That's just chilling out, isn't it? It's just relaxing in a forest.

I like doing, I used to like doing that. Used to, because trees have been around. The big, big trees have been around longer than anyone's on this on this planet that's currently alive now.

You know, the big, big trees been around hundreds and hundreds of years, some of them. And I think I have a bit of respect for something that's been around a long, long time. I'm about as serious as I can get about trees, sorry.

And yours can be contagious, even though, even through phone calls. I know that I used to do that on the phone calls when I was talking to people. You would talk about it back to me.

Just remembering something or imagining something like that can give you the feeling there and then, which means imagine being relaxed. Remember feeling relaxed. And a small once famous, a snail rather, can't see with my eyesight, a snail once famously spent nearly three years asleep.

I don't remember hearing about this to you. That's next level snoozing. How? How? How? How would they even know that? First of all, if you look at snail, how would you know if it's awake or asleep? I mean, it could be awake and sleepwalking.

Hedgehogs, hedgehogs. It's weird, but they move fast. They don't move slowly.

Hedgehogs, they stand still, they stay still. But as soon as you take your eyes off them, like really fast. Amazing.

I know we're not talking about hedgehogs. Wanky, wacky sleep pods. Some airports now have sleeping pods where you can pay body hour to catch a nap between the flights.

I did see some of that stuff a few years back, but they weren't. I don't think they were sleep pods. They were just like beds that you could sleep in or lay down in.

I'm not sure if those sleep pods. Stress busting board games. Playing cooperative board games is shown to reduce stress hormones.

I don't know. I mean, the last time I played games really was when I was a kid with my brothers at home. And that was never relaxing.

Monopoly, Cluedo, snakes and ladders or anything. It was never a relaxing experience with them. But I'm sure it can be.

For centuries, worry beads. Worry beads have been used in Greek culture. I bet they have.

And that's the same as what we were talking about before though, isn't it? Beads. And chocolate bath. Chocolate bath got my attention.

In some spas, you can book a chocolate bath to relax while literally soaking in cocoa. That's got to cost a fortune though, because chocolate is not cheap, is it? Imagine enough cocoa, enough chocolate to cover my body. That would cost thousands of pounds probably.

I've never tried it. I've never tried to melt down that much chocolate to fill a bath. I'm just thinking it's a lot of chocolate.

Imagine melting. It wouldn't stay melted long enough. Even if it melted like a saucepan at a time, or four saucepans at a time using all four hobs.

Maybe even using a microwave at the same time. Pour it in, but they're only going to like it's going to set before the next lot already. I suppose unless you added hot water.

So maybe it wouldn't settle if you put it into hot water to start with. I don't know. Quokka's eternal smile.

So quokkas. I don't know if I'm spelling pronouncing it right, rather. Small Australian marsupials appear to smile all the time, which makes tourists melt.

Oh, cool. I think I know. I thought that was sloths.

A sloth's heart rate can drop down dramatically when they're hanging upside down. Similar to how deep breathing calms their own heart rate. You know when you just like when relax, just breathing becomes deeper naturally.

And everything kind of slows down. Sighing. The power of sigh.

Sighing resets your breathing rhythm. It's like the body's quick refresh button, which also reduce tension. Counting sheep origin.

So the phrase counting sheep for sleep, possibly dates back countries. Shepherds who spent long nights washing flocks found themselves dozing off. Did they still get to keep their job? Mind you, I suppose shepherds are pretty self employed, aren't they? Astronauts basically have official permission to snooze on the job.

Blimey. I mean, I've never tested that out. But then I've never been a astronaut.

Moose can stay still for hours to conserve energy. Look at that. In a meadow.

I can't. I don't have a meadow. Basically practicing advanced doing nothing meditation.

You sure they weren't just not asleep? Because some animals can sleep on their feet, can't they? I've known a few people like that. Winnie the Pooh approach. Pooh bear's thoughtful spot is an early example of mindful relaxation in literature.

He sits and hums away stress, usually related to honey. Okay, chewing gum can reduce cortisol levels. So next time you're stressed, pop in a piece of chewing gum and pretend it's spa day for your jaw.

Okay. And camels can endure extreme desert conditions with a very steady heart rate. Maybe that's how they stay chill.

Chill, stay chill. Trekking miles in scorching hot. Should we say stay relaxed? Stay chill.

Is that this is I've never used and I said earlier, I just never used that tech that that that expression. I'm chill. I don't know.

Just weird. Groovy. I use groovy.

And chill is only like an expression like chill out, man, like from the 60s. So it's an old expression, just used a little bit differently. Gaspacho to cool down.

Spaniards have used chill gaspacho soup to relax in hot weather for centuries. It's a tasty heat buster that soothes the soul. I've got no idea what it is.

Chilled. So it's a soup. I don't know what a gaspacho is.

Is it like a nut, peanut or something? Scooby Doo nap origins. The idea of taking a Scooby, Scooby nap. Short comedic nap stems from the show's frequent comedic rests.

Not sure if that's canon, but it's a fun excuse for a break. I've never heard of a Scooby nap heard of a snooze. A Scooby snack.

But a Scooby nap. No, not heard that before. Laughter yoga is a real practice, combining breathing with forced laughter until it becomes real laughter.

Sound weird, but it reportedly releases a tidal wave of intense laughter. Orphans. The thing is, I'm not sure I've ever tried it.

I might have done. I might have done. Yes, I've done a lot of weird things over the years.

But I imagine if you're in a room with 20 or 30 complete strangers, I imagine you're going to want to laugh. At something, there's going to be something that's going to be quite funny to laugh at. Just.

Just the idea of them, everyone being there to fake a laugh. To force laughter. The concept's funny in itself, really.

And then the fact that it's people you don't even know. So there's awkwardness, which I don't know about you, but sometimes that causes me to want to laugh inappropriately. So yeah, I can see.

And yeah, I think I did try it once. Long time, long, long time ago. Warm baths raise your body temperature slightly.

When you cool down afterwards, it signals your body it's bedtime. And some glowworms glow brighter when they're well fed and relaxed. Be like me.

I just glow all the time anyway. Humans might glow too. Yeah, it's called being pink.

Penguin huddles. I just remembered something about penguins right now. Penguins huddle for warmth in Antarctica's frigid, frigid climate.

Yeah, that's what frigid means, isn't it? Like really cold. I forgot about that. I just, I've not used it in that context before.

It actually means really cold. Okay, effectively creating a giant group snuggle. Okay, I don't think being bubble gum pink, the colour Baker Miller pink, aka drunk tank pink, was once believed to calm aggression.

Some prisoners tried to paint cells that colour, that colour to reduce stress. Results were mixed. Oh, dear.

Slow TV phenomenon. I get this. This next one makes sense.

It's kind of what I do really. In Norway, people watch hours of train rides or knitting on slow TV for relaxation. No plot, no jump scares, just mellow real time events.

And in a way, that's what I do with this podcast. I just talk for an hour or so about stuff. And there's no magic tricks.

There's no tightrope walking, no lion taming, no bungee jumping, just be talking about things. Apparently a bag of frozen peas on the forehead can relieve sinus tension and apparently help you look chill during a meltdown. They got a thing about looking chill and feeling chill on this chat GVT.

Let's have a look. Elvis Presley reportedly had a jungle room full of exotic decor for relaxing between performances. The smell of coconut can slow the heart rate.

So that's that's nice. Candle gazing is another way to relax. Bathrobes apparently traced back to the Middle Ages when fancy folks wore morning gowns for comfort.

You know what I need to start doing that because I haven't had a dressing gown for years. I gave both my dressing gowns to my neighbor and I quite like one. The thing is, I can't have it tight.

I don't like tight stuff. So it's gonna have to be like super large just so it can be flowing. You know, just nice and relaxed.

I don't like constriction. Just like to be able to be loose. It's nice, loose and relaxed.

Scalp massage bliss. An old tradition in India. Champi head massage.

I didn't know it's called champi. It's so relaxing that people have been known to doze off mid mentage or massage. It's also where the word shampoo comes from.

Okay. Waterfall white noise. So natural white noise like waterfalls and waves is said to lower cortisol.

I agree with that. As you know, it's something listening to listening to the waves on a beach or listening to the wind. Listening to the rain.

Anything like that. I like the sound of nature. And don't always want to be out in it if I'm honest.

But I do like the sound of it. I find it very relaxing. Yeah.

And on that note, I'm going to go and have something to eat because I'm hungry. I need to eat. So that's the end of this here recording.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Please remember to be kind to yourself because you do deserve to be happy.

Lots of love. Bye