Bee Breath For Anxiety Relief

The Bhramari Pranayama (bee breath) is a gentle breathing practice that allows the nervous system to relax by bringing our awareness to the vibrating sensations within ourselves. The humming sound is achieved by relaxing the jaw, bringing the lips together, the teeth slightly separated and the tongue resting in the center of the mouth. We produce an "M" sound on the exhalation that lingers in the body. This practice is better done sitting, either crossed legged on the floor or on a chair, with enough space for the diaphragm to move freely.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. Today I would like to show you the Bee Breath. Brahmari Pranayama. This is a breathing practice from the yogic tradition. That helps. Helps us calm our thinking minds, Anxious minds. And ground ourselves in the present moment. It is a regulating practice because with this breathing practice, We're activating the Rest and Digest. Branch of the nervous system, The parasympathetic nervous system. So the breath activates both branches, The sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system. System. With inhalation, There's an activation in the sympathetic. And with the exhalation there's an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system branches. So what we're doing with the B breath is we're breathing. In through our noses and we are exhaling. Slowly and gentle. And bringing the awareness to that humming, Breathing sound of the exhalation. To do this, I would like to invite you to be in a sitting position. You could be sitting on the floor, Cross-legged. On a cushion or a bench. Or you could be sitting on a chair, Like I am right now. The important thing is that you have enough space on your belly so that your diaphragm can move freely. So if you're sitting on a chair like I am right now, I would invite you to come a bit forward to the edge of the chair to have your feet flat on the ground and your back not just resting and hunching but really in an active posture. And notice. Maybe by placing your hands on your belly. If it can move freely. It's also quite important that the shoulders are parallel. Relax. There's not tension. It is an active posture. But not a tense one. So by what we're doing to do this humming bee sound is first of all relaxing the jaw We keep the lips together and the teeth slightly open. And the placement of the tongue, The tip of the tongue. Comes to the back of the teeth. Sew the lip. Our juice slightly together. Slightly open. And tip of the tongue behind the teeth. Right in the center. Relaxed and not tense. And the sound that we're trying to make is like an M sound. There is a mudra that can accompany this pranayama. The mudra is the placement of the hands. And this mudra is done if there's distractions in the room, If there's a lot of noises or too many things to see. Because what we're trying to do is really bring the awareness within. We're bringing the awareness to the body, To the sensations of the body, To the vibration inside of the body. So if there's too many things to see, To look at or to listen around you, I would invite you to do this mudra as well. What we do is we place the thumbs on the ears. So that we're not listening. To anything else other than the humming, The vibration. Inside our bodies. We bring the index and the middle finger to the eyes, Not pressing, Just slightly closing the eyes. The ring finger right next to the nose, Also not closing in entirely, We need to breathe. And the pinky finger right next to the mouth. So it's something like this. I'm not going to be doing the mudra, So I can guide you through the breathing practice. And you can see if it's comfortable for you to do it today maybe You would like to not do it, Maybe on another day, However you decide to do it is fine. But I would like to invite you now to find the right posture. Take a couple of Kanjus. Deep breaths. Through your nose. And exhale through the mouth. One more time. And if it feels right, You can close your eyes. If you're not closing your eyes already with the mudra. And then Closing your lips. Relaxing your jaw. Relaxing your teeth. Gently. Bringing your tongue on the back of your teeth. We're going to inhale. And on the exhale, Do that mmm sound. Mmmmm. Inhaling through the nose. And exhaling. Inhaling through the nose. And exhaling, Doing the B sound to your own rhythm. You noticing how the vibration grounds you. In this present moment, Inhaling through the nose. And doing the B sound on the exhalation. Mmmmmmmmm. And maybe doing a couple of rounds here to your own rhythm. Noticing how it is to bring the awareness to the vibration in the body Maybe you feel it in your chest. Or maybe it's really a vibration of the entire body. Just noticing. Where you feel the vibration when you're doing. The B sound. And whenever you're ready. You can Gently stop. Keeping your eyes closed, If they're closed. And now taking a couple of deep breaths and exhalations through the mouth. Hmm. Inhaling. And exhaling. Taking a moment here. To notice. Maybe there's some lingering sensations. Of the vibration in your body. Maybe you can even steal here the. . . Humming bee sound. Inside of you. Whenever you're ready, If your eyes are closed. You can Gently open them. Taking a moment. Just to notice if anything has changed. If the mind has calmed. Even just a slightly. Noticing if the body feels a bit different. If there are different sensations or a general mood. That has Shifted. So this practice can be done really wherever you are. And I would recommend to do it sitting down. If there's a lot of distractions around you, I would invite you to do the mudra. So the awareness really comes. To your breath, To the vibration in your body, Allowing you to calm your nervous system. Thank you for doing this practice with me today.