Happiness Break: A Humming Technique To Calm Your Nerves, with Priyanka Gupta

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2024

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Discover Humming Bee Breath (Bhramari Pranayama), a soothing breathing technique that uses gentle humming to promote relaxation and mental calm.

It’s important to take a moment to pause and take a long, slow exhale as we navigate life. In our podcast series, "Breathe Away Anxiety," we explore ancient breathing techniques alongside cutting-edge research that reveals the powerful effects of slow, controlled breathing on our mental and physical well-being. We also share Happiness Break meditations to guide you through these science-backed methods, helping you reduce anxiety and cultivate calm in your everyday life.

Summary: Priyanka Gupta guides us through Bhrmari Pranayama, also known as Humming Bee Breath. Regular practice of this calming technique has been shown to improve sleep, reduce anxiety, and support cardiovascular health.

Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/549v3w62

Time: 15 minutes, or as long as it feels right.

How To Do This Practice:

Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for 3-4 seconds.
Exhale for 6-8 seconds, making a gentle humming sound (like a buzzing bee) as you breathe out.
Adjust the timing of your inhale and exhale to find a rhythm that feels comfortable for you.
Continue the practice for as long as feels right, focusing on the sound and sensation of your breath.

Note: This version of Bhramari Pranayama, practiced without specific gestures (mudras), was studied by Dr. Gunjan Trivedi.

Guest: Priyanka Gupta is a yoga and meditation instructor.
Learn more about Priyanka:
https://www.yogawithpriyanka.ca
https://www.youtube.com/yogawithpriyanka
https://www.instagram.com/yogawithpriyanka
https://linktr.ee/yogawithpriyanka

Related Science of Happiness episodes:
The Science of Humming (Bhramari Pranayama): https://tinyurl.com/549v3w62
How Breathe Away Anxiety (Cyclic Sighing): https://tinyurl.com/4jyvkj4t
How To Tune Out The Noise: https://tinyurl.com/4hhekjuh

Related Happiness Break episodes:
A Breathing Technique To Help You Relax (Cyclic Sighing): https://tinyurl.com/3dtwyk44
A Mindful Breath Meditation, With Dacher Keltner: https://tinyurl.com/mr9d22kr

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Mm-mmhmm. You might recognize that sound from last week's episode of the
0:08.2	science of happiness where we explore bramari praniamaama or humming be breath, name for the gentle humming sound
0:16.0	you make when exhaling which resembles a bee's hum.
0:19.2	I'm Dacker Keltner and welcome to happiness break where we share short science-based
0:27.2	meditations and practices. Research shows humming bee breath helps calm the mind, promote relaxation, improve sleep, and
0:36.6	support heart health by lowering blood pressure.
0:40.5	There are different ways to practice it. One way is to block out external sound and sight by placing your thumbs in your ears and covering your eyes with your fingers.
0:50.0	But today, we'll try a simpler version. Guiding us through this technique is
0:55.8	meditation teacher Priyanka Gupta. Here's Priyanka.
1:07.0	So we're going to do this together. I'd like to invite you to just make yourself comfortable and you're welcome to close your eyes or have a downward gaze.
1:15.0	And then gently bring your
1:25.0	breath to your breath.
1:26.0	Just noticing if your breath is a deep or a shallow breath.
1:32.0	Noticing your head over your heart, shoulders relaxed, arms comfortably placed.
1:50.0	And then when you feel ready, you're welcome to breathe in. And then when you feel ready, you're welcome to breathe in.
1:51.0	And then hum on your exhalation. What I'm going to do is invite you to do three more at the pace that's comfortable for you.
2:45.0	Taking a deep nourishing breath in, and then humming once again. Oh. Mm-mmhmm. Mm.
2:47.0	Mm.
2:48.0	Mm.
2:50.0	Mm. You're welcome to relax your hands, place them back down in your lap, noticing any sensations that may arise. noticing any subtle changes in your breath. Then when you're ready you're welcome to countdown from 5 to 1 and then just gently open your eyes and return to whatever it is that you were doing in your day.
3:49.0	And I invite you to practice it as long as you want, as many times as you want during the day.
3:55.0	You can even hum when you're washing dishes and that just adds a more fun aspect to
	...

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