Bhramari: Bee Humming Breath Tutorial

This short educational tutorial guides you step by step through Bhramari, the humming bee breath, a traditional yogic pranayama practice. You'll learn how to set up your posture, breathe in slowly through the nose, and let a steady, resonant hum carry the exhale, like a bee settling into a flower. Many people find this simple breathwork practice deeply calming, making it a lovely tool for stress relief, anxiety relief, relaxation, better sleep, and a quieter, more focused mind. You'll also explore how changing the pitch of your hum shifts where you feel the vibration, so you can discover the tone that settles you best. Perfect for beginners and experienced practitioners alike, it's a gentle way to soften the nervous system and come home to stillness.

Transcript

Welcome, Loke here. Happy to share this practice of bremmary or humming breath. This is one of my favorite breaths as it really calms the nervous system and it's great if you're having a stressful day. Just take a couple minutes and it makes a big difference. The name Brahmari comes from an Indian black bee and as known as the buzzing or humming breath. And it's mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. And so it's been around, Passed down since the 15th century, As well as Ayurveda. I learned it personally from Baba Haridas. So the practice is very simple. It's just inhaling a full deep breath, Holding in for a second, And then exhaling with a humming sound. The sound I've heard taught in many different ways. It can be a high pitch sound or it can be a lower hum. Basically, When you're doing the lower hums, It's vibrating more in the chest and the higher ones are up in the head. So it really depends on the effect that you're going for. So let's practice once together and you can choose what tone you want or you can match my tone. So close down the eyes, Find a nice tall spine, Roll the shoulders back, Loosen the jaw, Tongue resting lightly on the roof of your mouth. We'll take a full breath in, Filling the belly, Chest, All the way up to the crown of the head. Pause, And then letting out that humming sound. So typically you'd do that. 15 to 20 rounds, Depending on your timing. And the best part is to really play with different tones and see how that affects your body differently. So for me, I learned this as a also sensory deprivation. So we learn to close down all the senses using our hands, And it really enhances this experience of the humming breath. So what we do is use the thumbs to close the ears, Twist two fingers over the eyes and the other two fingers are just resting, Kind of closing down the mouth. So it looks like this. Then you take a deep breath in. Relax the shoulders and then exhale. You're really letting all the air out, Extending that exhale and that hum as long as you can. The way I learned it was also with a very high pitch sound. So we'll try one now with a high pitch. Closing down the senses if you'd like. Take a deep breath in, Fill the lungs. When you're using this way to close down the senses. It's just important to remember to relax your shoulders and try not to create more tension in your body. Again, Try five to 10 rounds of that. You can play with different tones, Different frequencies, And you're getting this whole vibration throughout the body that's also very healing. Thank you for watching. Enjoy your day.