• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

What Is That Warm Feeling?

GNC

King-Sized Canary
Joined
Aug 25, 2001
Messages
33,634
You know that warm and cosy feeling you can get sometimes which briefly tingles all over your body, or sometimes mainly around the neck and shoulders? It tends to happen if you've been cold and then quickly feel warmer again, or are just suddenly very comfortable.

It's difficult to describe, but if you know what I'm on about, what is the reason for that sensation? What purpose could it possibly serve other than relaxing you? Have scientists given it a name?
 
Maybe it's just blood close to the surface of the skin, rushing into tiny capillaries that had closed up tight because of the cold? Similar to blushing, but all over.
 
Mythopoeika said:
Maybe it's just blood close to the surface of the skin, rushing into tiny capillaries that had closed up tight because of the cold? Similar to blushing, but all over.

Yeah, but do you actually go red when it happens? I don't think you do.
 
On a bitterly cold, wet day, go out and run around in football kit for a couple of hours or so.
I guarantee you'll go a bit red or pink when you get back into a warm room. :)
 
Mythopoeika said:
On a bitterly cold, wet day, go out and run around in football kit for a couple of hours or so.
I guarantee you'll go a bit red or pink when you get back into a warm room. :)

I'll let my test subjects do that, I think. But the warm feeling doesn't necessarily happen when you're cold, it often happens when you feel really cosy and comfy. What could it be?
 
Hmm, interesting one.

I've never had an all over cosy feeling but have many times felt the warmth in the chest - I suppose similar to the sensation described in the bible as the "burning in the bosom".
It's never been in any religious context but usually connected to inter-personal situations.
 
I wonder if that's part of the same thing? I'm also wondering if this sensation is as prevalent as I thought it was - it's not just me who gets this, is it? It feels like the opposite of a shiver, kind of comforting in a strange way.
 
Nope, not experienced what you've described if it's an all over feeling.

Spoke to my little brother about the warm chest feeling a few years back and he said he often felt it after he'd had a spliff! Read into that what you will :D
 
It's not quite the same, but if you've ever had a pleasant tingling sensation on your scalp and down your back when listening to certain sounds - someone whispering, wrapping presents or rustling the pages of a book, for example, you're not alone. It's not 'proper' science but glorifies in the term Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/i-have-asmr-do-you/

If you can't ever sleep I recommend searching for ASMR vids on YouTube.

Just thought I'd share.
 
Synchronous said:
It's never been in any religious context


Well, can you be sure of that?

Maybe you've experienced the presence of the divine.

Maybe... you're Saint Synchronous.

:p
 
dreeness said:
Synchronous said:
It's never been in any religious context


Well, can you be sure of that?

Maybe you've experienced the presence of the divine.

Maybe... you're Saint Synchronous.

:p

:lol:

By religious context I meant setting, as in not in a church environment.

I do like the sound of 'Saint Synchronous' though! 8)
 
maxley said:
It's not quite the same, but if you've ever had a pleasant tingling sensation on your scalp and down your back when listening to certain sounds - someone whispering, wrapping presents or rustling the pages of a book, for example, you're not alone. It's not 'proper' science but glorifies in the term Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/i-have-asmr-do-you/

If you can't ever sleep I recommend searching for ASMR vids on YouTube.

Just thought I'd share.

Thanks for that, I'd never heard of it before. Might be connected, too. Maybe certain people get this in different ways?
 
I think I know the sensation youre talking about - a kind of spreading glow of relaxing warmth, very pleasant. I've always thought of it as the sensation of letting go of unconcious muscle tension, as can result from psychological state or physical or sensory simulus e.g. a light stroke or hearing someone speak in a hypnotic manner. I think it *is* the same as what Maxley describes. I can often make it happen voluntarily with deep breathing/pseudo-meditation.
 
Glad it's not only me! I wonder if there's been any research into it? One for the IgNobel Awards, maybe?
 
I often get that warm and cosy feeling about 3 hours after dinner.

I've always put it down to the biochemistry of digestion and energy/heat production, although I've no idea why, I couldn't even begin to guess the time frames involved.
 
Yes, a lot of this sounds 'right'. Because the sensation is nice, mild and rather short-lived, giving it an acronym seemed initially to be bigging it up a bit, but after reading more about it (here and elsewhere) I do think it's different enough from just enjoying something to warrant a bit of investigation.

What sets it apart is the physical tingles. It's like, but sort of the opposite of, that hackle-raising feeling you (or at least I) get when something really moving happens in a film or a book.

I thought everyone felt this but apparently not. I can do it al will, just by recalling lines of poetry etc. I humbly apologise if I sound like an arse.
 
On a slight tangent:

I was quite an active child and was always hurling myself into things or falling out of them. Quite early on I realised that the pain of a banged shin, elbow, knee etc would be followed by that warm tingly feeling you get when your body starts to do whatever it does to deal with the damage - I could almost time it, and I think the knowledge made me all the more adventurous.

I've often wondered if this is how masochists start off in life. (I'm not one - I hasten to add; much as I'm not averse to that post-accident glow, I don't go around inducing it.)
 
When my kids were little they'd be most upset about being nettled, as kids are, and as I well remember myself. However, I'd remind them that after a while the site starts to tingle and it's quite a pleasant sensation.

They thought I was mad. Is this the same for everyone or am I indeed nuts?
 
Back
Top