One of the first sounds you likely heard was your mother humming you to sleep. This soothing sound also created vibrations that you felt from her body. Scientists are beginning to understand that we live in a world of vibrations. What does humming do for your daily health? 

Humming produces vibrational frequencies, which may improve your health, calm your nervous system and lift your spirits. The long-winding “om” of Buddhist chants produces vibrations that may stimulate the human body. While humming isn’t a cure-all, it’s potentially the latest biohack to consider. 

Are you ready to hum?   

What Happens When You Hum?

Some people hum naturally when they are happy, which may result from early childhood when you couldn’t yet form words, but you heard music and hummed along with it. You can likely hum the tune of your favorite song, or it happens when an annoying song gets stuck in your head — like Baby Shark. 

When you hum, your throat produces sounds, which remain unarticulated because your lips are closed. Air gets forced over the vocal folds — previously called vocal cords — to produce different frequencies or vibrations. Place your hands on your throat while you hum and you will feel these vibrations in action. 

These sound waves pass through different parts of the body, resonating, evolving and changing as they go. Usually, people hum when they feel happy and content. It’s rare — or unheard of — to hum when you feel angry. 

Humming and the World of Vibrations

All things on earth vibrate at a unique frequency. Vibrations are measured with different equipment, depending on what aspect of the frequency is being tested. The theory of vibrations and how various body parts vibrate at unique wavelengths is not new, and Dr. Albert Abrams theorized vibrational treatment of medical conditions in the early 1920s. 

The ever-popular Rife machine originated shortly after scientist Raymond Rife designed a device that sends low-energy electromagnetic waves into the body via a pair of hand-held bars. Further experimentation and study later determined the vibrational frequency of body parts, such as the head vibrating at 20Hz-40Hz.

Back to humming — when you hum, it produces different frequencies as vibrations, which naturally travel through muscle, organs, tissue and bone. The question then arises whether humming is the body’s natural pathway to introduce healing when it’s ill and whether you can use it for personal wellness. 

Does Humming Help With Anxiety? 

One area where you can answer the debate on whether humming improves your health is to look at its management of anxiety. Humming at different tonal levels creates vibrations that raise or lower your energy levels, which can help you discover inner peace by drawing your attention into your body with the vibrations for better mindfulness. The physical vibrations also stimulate various organs and nerves in the body, such as the vagus nerve. 

Humming, which is often a part of meditation, changes the body’s frequencies, and anxiety is lessened. But it’s not quite as simple as that. Here’s what the science says about the vagus nerve: 

• Stimulating the vagus nerve: Humming triggers a parasympathetic nerve response, which releases tension and decreases cortisol — the stress hormone — reducing stress and anxiety. The activated vagus nerve mediates high anxiety states with long-lasting results of up to three weeks.
• Treatment of seizures: Vagus nerve activation is currently used as a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment to prevent seizures in epilepsy patients. 
• Vagus nerve treatment for headaches: Stimulating this important nerve also reduces headaches.
• Artificial vagus nerve stimulation: Doctors use a vagus nerve stimulator, a device implanted beneath the skin with leads that connect with tissues in the throat and base of the skull. The leads generate low-energy electrical signals, triggering the vagus nerve like a pacemaker stimulates the heart.  

Humming and Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Is it then possible that the ancient practice of meditation and humming embodied wisdom thousands of years ago that scientists are only beginning to grasp today? Vibrational frequencies activate the vagus nerve and help alleviate mental health challenges like stress, anxiety and depression. And while you can sign up for an external vagal nerve stimulation device or have one implanted, there’s potentially an easier and more natural way to do this — humming. 

The vibrations of humming and other body percussion techniques could activate the vagus nerve if you hum at the right frequency. Even if you don’t quite hit the right note, humming is soothing in itself, which is one of its main benefits. 

Benefits of Humming

Various other benefits of humming that might make it worth your time to start doing it daily include:

• Lowers your heart rate: Regular humming can reduce your heart rate, helping to boost the natural rhythm for better cardiovascular health. 
• Manages stress and anxiety: As already shown, humming helps to manage stress and reduce anxiety. While the link between humming and vagus nerve stimulation still requires exploration and study, vibrations help activate this vital nerve. 
• Better breathing: Humming requires deep breathing, which increases blood oxygenation and aids in relaxation. 
• Improves respiration and reduces sinusitis: An older study found that humming for an hour daily increases the body’s production of nitric oxide, which is vital for managing sinusitis and allergies. Regular humming eliminated nasal congestion within a few days. 

Better Humming How-Tos

As a child, you hummed without any reservations or self-aware awkwardness, but as an adult, you may need to relearn how to hum. The yogic practice of Bhramari pranayama, also called bee breaths, involves creating a humming sound like a bee with your fingertips pressed on your ears. The bee breath is similar to Kundalini yoga that uses specific breathing techniques called kriyas.  

To hum correctly: 

1. Sit tall with a peaceful smile on your lips.
2. Breathe deeply and slowly. Become aware of your body sensations while closing the world out and focusing on your breathing. 
3. Inhale through your nose, gently hold your breath and slowly release it through your mouth. 
4. Close your mouth while you exhale, letting the sound of your breath turn into a vibration against your lips and down your throat. 
5. Raise your fingertips to your ears, gently exhale and allow the humming vibrations to stimulate your ears and chest. 
6. Imagine a bee gently landing on flowers, its little wings vibrating as it buzzes around you. Continue letting the vibrations build as you inhale and hum. Let each hum carry your tiredness and any worries out of your body while each breath brings fresh energy and power that the vibrations carry to your vagus nerve and into your body. 

Start Your Day With a Hum

Humming may seem like an odd habit to cultivate, but it’s no stranger than taking an ice bath or drinking salt water. It’s perfectly harmless — unless you annoy your partner. Whether you hum like a bee or along to Baby Shark, the vibrations that travel through your body are powerful enough to reset your frequencies and help you live a pain and worry-free life.