Beginners Bee Breath Tutorial: Tone Your Vagus Nerve

Brahmari, or Bee Breath, is one of yoga's most powerful and accessible pranayama practices — named for the gentle humming sound you make on the exhale, and used for centuries to calm the nervous system and tone the vagus nerve. In this beginner-friendly breathwork tutorial, you'll learn exactly how to do this simple humming breath step by step, so you can use it any time you need fast, effective stress relief. The vibration created by the hum directly stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, shifting you out of anxiety and into deep relaxation within just a few breaths. This yogic breathing practice is ideal for sensitive people, those living with anxiety, or anyone looking for a somatic breathwork tool they can return to again and again. Come back to this Bee Breath tutorial whenever you need to regulate your nervous system, settle before sleep, or simply find your way back to stillness.

Transcript

Welcome to this short tutorial on how to practice Brahmari breaths. Otherwise known as B-Brass. This is a brilliant breathing technique to regulate your nervous system. And simply what we're going to do is we're going to hum. An extended humming noise. And it allows us to withdraw from the external world. In yoga this is called Pratyayada, Withdrawal of the senses. It allows us to find calm within. I would really encourage you to find a comfortable position. Maybe that is on a chair or a meditation stool. We're going to take two variations of this. One is more traditional with a mudra and the other one I like to take because it's slightly easier and it comes more naturally. So to take the more traditional approach what you're going to do is you're going to close your ears with your thumbs and then you're going to place that index finger, It can just rest on the eyebrows and then the middle finger comes to close the eyelid and then the ring finger comes to press the nostrils closed and then the little fingers rest on the outside of the mouth, So you're closing off the senses. We're going to take a deep breath in. Then you're going to hum through the bow. So that's just a demonstration. Now we're going to do several more together. So I simply like to just take the peace fingers over the tops of the eyes and close off. The ears with the thumbs. We're going to do is we're going to inhale through the nose and then exhale to hum. As you hum just making sure that you're really getting that deep breath through the belly so that you can extend that exhale as long as you can. So we're taking three rounds this time. The idea is that we just continue on but for today we'll stop in between so that I can just help you a little bit. We're just closing down the eyes, Closing down the ears, Deep breath in through the nose and then you're going to hum out. Still having that mouth closed. Breathing in. And then breathing out. I'm going to take that again, So breathing into the nose. Humming out through the mouth with the mouth closed. Mmmmm. Then. . . One more, Breathing in through the nose. You can just place your hands down on your lap. It's really important in these practices to take a moment of integration. Maybe your mind feels more quiet, Maybe it doesn't, Either is fine. I would really encourage you to find some time each day to practice this really powerful breathwork technique. Thank you for practicing. Namaste.