Why humming can reduce stress and how to practise a yogic breathing technique at home
Humming stimulates the vagus nerve and has other health benefits, and is the base of the yogic breathing technique ‘humming bee breath’
There are plenty of reasons to feel stressed all year. The holiday season ushers in many more.
Everyone handles stress differently – some find relief in exercising or being outdoors, while others indulge in hobbies or spend time with friends. There is one simple yet surprisingly powerful tool, though, that can instantly help anyone feel calmer: humming.
As well as being something that many people might do to music, humming is used in a yogic breathing technique known as Bhramari pranayama, or “humming bee breath”.
Gunjan Trivedi, a key researcher in the field, describes Bhramari pranayama as “a basic nasal sound – a combination of ‘mmmm’ and ‘nnnn’ – that gets repeated for several minutes at a time”.
Trivedi, the co-founder of Wellness Space, a mental health and therapy centre in the city of Ahmedabad in India’s Gujarat state, believes humming is the simplest form of chanting, which involves repeating a mantra – a sound or phrase.
“Chanting, given the use of a mantra, adds specific emotion and thoughts, which makes it a more advanced practice with additional benefits. Both humming and chanting involve slow, rhythmic breathing and sound vibration during exhalation.”