Overwhelmed by stress? You’re not alone. The holiday season is an especially stressful time for most people. What’s more, finding a tried-and-true technique to quiet your rising blood pressure and your anxious mind during chaos can feel next to impossible. Even worse, living with chronic stress is terrible for your health and wellbeing.
Fortunately, there’s a simple technique that can melt away physical, mental, and emotional stress in seconds. And it couldn’t be easier. All that’s required is to put your lips together and hum. New medical research reveals it’s a stress-busting technique we should all try.
Chronic stress has harsh consequences which can wreak havoc on your health. It takes its toll on your cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, nervous, and reproductive systems. In other words – every system in your body. That’s right, no part of your body is spared when you’re under stress. As a result, managing your stress level is a must.
How to manage stress
Treating stress at the source is the ideal option. This can look like changing your daily routine, your environment, or removing yourself from a stressful situation. However, we all know that sometimes what’s causing your toxic stress can’t be changed, removed, or resolved. In that case, you need to stop your rising stress level from damaging your health.
Experts point to choosing one of several different methods of relaxation to protect your body from the effects of stress. These methods include meditation or praying, walking, reading, socializing, listening to music or being surrounded by nature. We’ve regularly reported on the benefits of all of these for reducing stress levels within your body.
But the latest science reveals that there’s another stress-relieving method that is faster and more effective than all of these.
Humming is a leading stress-reliever
Brian Lai, a breathwork specialist based in Hong Kong, told Vice Media: “When a person first hears that the simple act of humming has various benefits, it sounds way too simple, almost ridiculous.
“But when we take a look under the hood of the human body, we can begin to understand why it has been used for centuries, and why the science is finally beginning to catch up.”
The renowned cardiothoracic surgeon and author Gerald Lemole recommends we hum throughout the day because it dilates the lymph vessels, increasing the flow of lymph. This promotes immune cell transport and helps eliminate toxins from our body’s tissues.
Humming gives a repeat performance for the blood vessels. It dilates the blood vessels by boosting the production of nitric oxide—a very beneficial gas molecule that can help keep your whole cardiovascular system healthy. Nitric oxide levels increase because air-filled cavities that surround the nasal cavities, called the paranasal sinuses, are a major source of this gas.
Researchers from Sweden found nitric oxide increased 15-fold during humming compared with quiet exhalation. That means better blood flow, reduced arterial stiffness, lower blood pressure, improved exercise performance and a better functioning immune system just from humming.
Practitioners of some forms of yoga will be well acquainted with humming, especially the type that uses the ommmmmm sound. One form of yoga eliminates the “o” and goes straight to the mmmmmm. It’s called bhramari or bumble bee breathing. It was recently tested for its ability to lower stress.
Improved heart rate variability—a key factor in longevity
For the study, 23 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 60 wore a Holter monitor for 16 hours. This monitor records the moment-by-moment electrical activity of the heart. Researchers analyzed the data while the participants were humming, undergoing physical activity (walking, jogging, or cycling), were under mental and emotional stress, or were asleep.
The results showed participants were least stressed when they hummed. In fact, humming was even 12 percent more effective than sleeping and restoring the body from stress!
How?
Humming decreased heart rate and improved heart rate variability (HRV). This refers to slight time fluctuations between each heartbeat. A higher HRV is linked with better health and a longer life and a low one has been linked to illness and an earlier death.
The researchers wrote in the journal Cureus in April that an “increased HRV can eventually increase focus and attention, enhance the quality of life and cardiovascular and lung parameters, and improve baroreflex (blood pressure) function.”
They suggest a key reason why humming is so calming to the body is because it enhances the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation, and dampens down the sympathetic nervous system, which prepares the body for a fight or flight response. They concluded that humming “can be an effective stressbuster.”
No special humming technique is required, but for the study, participants were asked to inhale for up to three to four seconds followed by an exhalation of about six to eight seconds while making a humming bee sound. The participants carried this out for at least ten to 15 minutes twice daily.
