what's the buzz about yogic bee breath?

Bhramari Pranayama, often called Humming or Bee Breath, is an ancient yogic technique.

It involves making a humming sound during the exhale, similar to the buzz of a bee. It's usually simple, easy to pick up, and pretty enjoyable for most people who join the modern yoga classes.

There's a classic Hatha Yoga guide, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, that calls Bhramari a "relaxation breath." It talks about how calming this practice is and how it helps people get ready for deeper focus and meditation. The book even says that doing Bhramari regularly can lead to "bliss arising in the heart." And honestly, lots of people who try it say they can feel how it calms their mind and nerves, leaving them feeling peaceful.

a honeybee in my garden

Lately, science has started looking into Bhramari and its health benefits, backing up some of the things yogis have said for ages. There are quite a few studies now, including some "meta-studies" (where researchers look at the results of lots of older studies all together).

So, what's the verdict? The research shows Bhramari Pranayama seems to be good for your mind, heart, and lungs. Doing it is linked to better focus, better sleep, and less stress, anxiety, and depression. Plus, some early studies hint it might help people dealing with high blood pressure or tinnitus feel a bit better.

A lot of this science buzz around Bhramari took off after scientists figured out more about something called Nitric Oxide (NO). Until the mid-90s, most people thought NO was just pollution or poison. That view changed big time in 1998 when three scientists won the Nobel Prize for showing that NO does a bunch of crucial, good things in our bodies.

Think of NO as a super important messenger molecule. It helps relax muscles, which widens the blood vessels (good for blood pressure and blood flow). It's also involved in how the nerves talk to each other (helping with learning and memory) and plays a key role in managing the immune system and inflammation (swelling). This new understanding didn't just lead to new medicines; it also gave us a science-backed reason why an old practice like Bhramari might work so well!

Here's the cool part: Research shows that NO is made and stored in the lining of your sinuses (those air pockets in your face). And it turns out the humming we do in Bhramari is good at getting that stored NO out! One study even found that doing Bhramari can boost the NO levels in your nose by 15 times compared to just breathing out normally.

So, how does that work? The main idea is that humming creates vibrations in the nose and sinus cavities. These vibrations shake loose the NO trapped in the sinus lining. It acts like a little pump, pushing the NO down into your throat and lungs where it enhances immune function, and perhaps even into the brain (via the “nose brain”, olfactory pathways), positively affecting a few other things.

There's also research hinting that Bhramari could be especially good for people with long-term illnesses, who often catch bugs more easily. It seems to boost so-called "vagal tone" (a good thing) and gets the body's "rest and digest" system going. That's why just humming (or singing!) anytime makes us feel better!

By integrating body, breath, and mind by doing the actual Bhramari Pranayama on purpose, after mindful yoga postures to get ready, can give us a more focused and potentially bigger boost. Especially when done regularly over some time, we might experience that "bliss arising in the heart" mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika.

Check for yourself what happens when a yogi meets a bee.

Sources:

• Chetry D, Chhetri A, Rajak DK, Rathore V. Gupta A. Exploring the health benefits of bhramari pranayama (humming bee breathing): A comprehensive literature review. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2024;68:71-85. doi: 10.25259/IJPP_325_2023.

• Granqvist, S., Sundberg, J., Lundberg, J. O., & Weitzberg, E. (2006). Paranasal sinus ventilation by humming. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119(5 Pt 1), 2611–2617.

• Ushamohan, B. P., Rajasekaran, A. K., Belur, Y. K., Ilavarasu, J., & Srinivasan, T. M. (2023). Nitric Oxide, Humming and Bhramari Pranayama. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 16(5), 377–384. https://doi.org/10.17485/IJST/v16i5.1212

• V Venugopal, Deenadayalan Boopalan, R Poornima, & K Maheshkumar. (2023). Self-induced sound therapy for sound sleep. Journal of Primary Care Specialties, 4(1), 38–39. https://doi.org/10.4103/jopcs.jopcs_30_22