Andrea [00:00:00]:
Hey, I'm Andrea, and welcome to Magic Monday. Come back every Monday for a bitesized episode, sharing a modern magic trick that will make your life happier and a bit more enchanted. For more magic, come find me on Instagram at Dreamlife Connection. I'm so grateful that you're here. Now let's open our digital spellbook. Happy Monday, everyone. Hello. Welcome back to Dreamlife Connection.
Andrea [00:00:27]:
Now, this is a new series called Magic Monday, and this is the very first episode of these Magic Monday episodes. And I'm so excited about these because they're just going to be like little bite sized episodes, just a few minutes long. This one might be a little bit longer because it's the first one. But each episode will focus on one modern magic trick, not necessarily the type of magic that we're accustomed to, like spells and enchantments. There's going to be some of that. But I like to think that there's magic in the everyday, in every moment, in the little things. And these tricks are intended to make your life happier and easier, more relaxing, more whimsical, all the magical things and help you grow your magic from within. Because you are the magic.
Andrea [00:01:24]:
And when you look at things with a magical lens, that's what creates the magic, in my opinion. So, for example, when most people walk on the sidewalk and they see a flower, that's what they see, a flower. But when people like you and I see this flower, we see the magic. We know the transformation that happens when a flower grows and blooms. We recognize the beauty that comes from a teeny, tiny seed. And we don't just see a flower, we see the miracle that it is. At least, that's how I look at flowers. Like I said, I don't necessarily think that magic is something outside of us.
Andrea [00:02:11]:
I think you are the magic. Not only are you magic, you are the magic. It's by you looking at that flower and perceiving that flower to be magic. That's what creates the magic. How many times have I said magic so far in this episode? So many times, but it's my favorite word. I love magic. And you can look at anything, anything, and think of anything as being magical and special. And by you giving it that meaning, that is creating the magic.
Andrea [00:02:44]:
And life becomes a lot more grand and more special and happier when you have this magic lens on all the time. And the thing about this lens is that it's like a muscle that needs to be worked out. So it's a muscle that I've been working on a lot for many years, and I've been cultivating hundreds of everyday things and ideas and tools that truly create magic. So every Monday, I would love to share one of these modern magic tricks with you. This is actually the first anniversary of my Magic Monday newsletter. So prior to my newsletter a year ago, I was actually recording YouTube videos and talking about Magic Monday magic tricks and doing tarot card readings. So Magic Monday has really been a prominent part of my life for years now, and I always thought that Monday had well, I don't think I know. Collectively, we think of Monday as a bat.
Andrea [00:03:51]:
It's like, oh, we got the case of the Mondays. But I love Mondays. Monday are actually one of my favorite days of the week because it's a fresh start. And so I started Magic Monday with this hope of giving people more excitement on Mondays so that we're not so scared of Mondays. We're actually excited about a new week. So I started doing the YouTube videos, and then last year, I started doing a newsletter. And for the past year, every Monday, I send a newsletter with a modern magic trick and some resources and some updates on my life. Since I'm a digital nomad, I'm traveling.
Andrea [00:04:32]:
I don't know. I think it's kind of interesting. And then just some links and a quote of the week, which I'll share in this episode. So if you want the most up to date magic tricks, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. And when you do, you'll also gain access to the Magic Monday archive filled, filled, filled with so many magic tricks already. Like I said, this is the first episode that I'm releasing, and there's so many more magic tricks to come, but a lot of these tricks are already in this archive. So if you want to binge on some magic, be sure to subscribe to my podcast and my newsletter. Pretty please and thank you.
Andrea [00:05:16]:
And my hope is that we spread this magic. I would love to spread some more magic into your life and have a ripple effect and just make the world in general a more magical place. So most people might hear these magic tricks and think, oh, what? This is not magic, andrea, what are you talking about? This is not magic. But like I said, there is magic in everything. So, yeah, some of my tricks might not be spells from a spell book, but I promise all of these tricks have truly worked magic for me and for the people in my life. And there are so many tricks in various categories, like spirituality, mindfulness, self love, even technology, productivity, travel, dreams, the list goes on. And a lot of these tricks are going to be practical. And that's what I love so much about Magic Monday.
Andrea [00:06:13]:
It's all about bringing magic into our 3D world. So, are you ready? Without further ado, the first Magic Monday modern magic trick is drummer, please, ambience Videos. Okay, stay with me. Stay with me. Stay with me. I know maybe you're thinking, what the hell Ambiance videos? How is this magic? But I promise, ambiance videos are for real magic. And the reason why I chose Ambiance Videos for my very first Magic Monday newsletter is because they help me so much in so many different ways. I'm just going to say it.
Andrea [00:06:56]:
I'm a huge advocate for Ambiance videos. So if I ever want to be productive or if I just want to relax or I just want to kind of transport my mind somewhere else, I put on an Ambiance video and it just relieves so much stress and it takes me to another place. Just for fun, I'm going to try putting on some Ambiance in the background of this episode starting now. And you'll notice it just creates such a calming environment. So Ambience videos feature ASMR, which stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, which is actually like this tingling sensation that you experience. Not everyone. Some people experience this tingling sensation in response to auditory or visual stimuli. And there's actually Ambience behind what ASMR can do for us.
Andrea [00:07:54]:
It relieves stress because it first of all, drowns out the noises in the environment that distract us. And this masking effect occurs because the sounds and Ambiance videos encompass our entire hearing range, which is from 20 to 20,000 Hz. So by listening to Ambience noises and ASMR, you're creating a consistent auditory environment that helps you focus and relax and sleep or whatever it is that you're needing. And there's actually a big trend right now with ASMR where people are whispering and they're making clicky or tapping sounds or they're like brushing objects. It's kind of interesting. I even came across an account where this woman has this bowl filled with water and these big wooden beads. And she takes a wooden spoon and she just stirs this bowl for like hours. And just honestly, it's the strangest thing because you'll come across this and you'll be like, what is this? But then it'll kind of suck you in and it's like again, maybe I've never experienced that tingling sensation.
Andrea [00:09:04]:
But I do get this sense of like, oh, this is like a massage for my brain. I kind of love it. It's kind of strange, but I love it. So the Ambiance videos that I'm talking about include sounds like that. Maybe not wooden beads, but most of the Ambiance videos I watch include sounds like light rain or cats purring. That's one of my favorites pages turning. There's videos of kitchens and you'll hear the bubbling sounds, but it really depends on the theme of the video. And my favorite part of Ambiance videos is the visuals.
Andrea [00:09:44]:
So if you search Ambiance videos on YouTube, you'll find so many, so many stunning scenes that you can have on your computer or your smart TV. That's my recommendation, having it on your smart TV throughout the whole day. So right now think of a scene that you'd like to mentally go to and when you search it, you'll definitely find an Ambiance video for it, if not multiple. So personally, I love the magical scenes. Is that really a surprise? There's videos with mushroom villages and cottages and a witch's kitchen and hogwarts common rooms, anything? Oh, there's so many. And it's like every day there are creators pumping out these videos. So like every day there's a new video that I just get sucked into. And most Ambiance videos are paired with music, like piano, acoustic guitars, and there's a lot of jazz Ambiance videos.
Andrea [00:10:48]:
I have noticed most like Cafe Ambiance videos. They're usually paired with jazz music. The cafe ones are amazing. I love the Cafe Ambiance videos. But a lot of videos are also just natural sounds. So if you want more of the natural sounds, just type in ASMR and you'll likely get videos with only natural sounds as opposed to music. So when I was living with my parents for a couple of months this past summer, while I was in between my travels, I taught my mom about these Ambience videos. And every day I would choose a new scene for the TV.
Andrea [00:11:24]:
Sometimes it was like the beach with the waves or a big cabin. I especially love the cabin porch scenes. And sometimes I would just sit on the couch and watch the video with the light water lapping against the dock and the fireplace and the cat purring on the deck. Oh, I love it. I want to be there right now. Those are my favorite videos. And it was so funny because I would work all day with these videos on. And what's awesome is most of these videos are like eight to 10 hours long for this purpose.
Andrea [00:12:01]:
Like the purpose is to leave them on all day or all night. And there are even some videos that have a scene that start in the morning and you progress through the entire day. And the video ends at night and then you get the night scene. It's so cool. It's so fun. And it was so funny because every day my mom would come home from work and she'd be like, what's this scene of the day? So she got really into it too. And even when I left, she kept playing these videos on her TV. So you can really escape with these videos on.
Andrea [00:12:35]:
And you can find any video that fits your interest. You can find seasonal ones. The fall videos are the so, so cozy. And I'm so glad it's fall right now. I've been playing a lot of fall Ambiance videos. There's also Ambiance videos for popular shows and movies and even video games. Like I love the Gilmore Girls ones in Luke's Diner. There's.
Andrea [00:13:00]:
Lord of the Rings harry Potter friends zelda And I even watched one that's in Jack's Bar from Virgin River, which is the show I'm currently watching on Netflix. It's not a huge show, but even these kind of smaller shows, maybe it's not that small, I don't know. But you can find Ambiance videos for anything that you're interested in. So in the show notes of this episode, I'll leave two links which go to my Ambiance playlist. In case you're interested. Maybe you've already heard of this or do this, but if you're new to this and you want a good set of Ambiance videos, check out these links. One of the links has videos with music in the background and then the other one is without music. So definitely give it a try.
Andrea [00:13:51]:
And like I said, highly recommend doing this on your smart TV if you have one. And all you do is you open YouTube, type in whatever scene you want, followed by Ambiance or ASMR and voila, you'll get completely hooked. And yes, I consider this magic. And this is the modern magic that I'm talking about. So in my Magic Monday newsletters, I always include a quote of the week, something to ponder on. I always like to leave with some type of nugget that we can chew on as our week progresses, and I'll do the same here. So much like magic. Monday the Ambiance videos.
Andrea [00:14:34]:
I chose Ambience videos as my first magic trick because I love them so much. And same with this quote. I chose this quote because I love this quote so much and it is how you do one thing, is how you do everything. So just think about that for a little bit. And I have come to learn that this is very, very true. So make sure everything you do has a touch of magic and thank you so much for being here. Be sure to subscribe so you can keep the magic flowing. This is just the first trick and oh man, there is so much more to come.
Andrea [00:15:17]:
Have a great week. Thanks so much for being here. If you want to infuse more sparkle and whimsy into your life, head over to Dreamlife Connection on Instagram. And be sure to subscribe to my Magic Monday newsletter, where I'll send you exclusive content, free downloads and stories. As a wandering nomad, you'll also gain access to the archive filled with modern magic tricks and resources. Remember, magic is real and it's everywhere and you are the magic. Have a great week and see you next time.
