Bee breathing is an extremely powerful yogic breathing technique that releases mental fatigue and calms you down within just a few seconds.
What does bee breathing involve? As the name implies, bee breathing involves making a humming sound (similar to the bees) using your nostrils when breathing out. The humming sound produces a positive vibration which the cells of your body pick up. In turn, they start vibrating at the same frequency resulting in deep relaxation and mental clarity.
If you suffer from constant mental fatigue, restlessness, depression, anger, frustration, autoimmune diseases, allergies, back pain, headaches or insomnia, then please read on as bee breathing can be extremely beneficial to you.
Every cell in your body is in vibration
Before we learn more about the technique, let’s first understand what vibration is and how it affects our state of being.
Every cell in our body vibrates at a certain frequency. When we are relaxed, the vibrations are more coherent. There is perfect symmetry and harmony. Whereas in states of fatigue and stress, the vibrations are highly incoherent.
In-fact, a research done at MIT suggests that cells vibrate at different frequencies depending on their level of vitality. Healthy/happy cells vibrate at a higher frequency as compared to fatigued cells. The research indicates that we can actually figure out state of a cell simply by measuring its vibrational frequency.
Humming generates positive vibrations!
It has been noted that the vibration generated when we hum, relaxes our cells and helps them recover from states of stress and fatigue. The hum sound is present in many ancient mantras be it OM, HUM, RUM etc. All of these mantras end with a humming sound of mmmmmm.
When you produce the humming sound through your mouth or nose, it creates a certain vibration in the body; and this vibration has the power to heal. The constant humming sound also causes all cells in your body to vibrate at the same frequency and hence they begin getting back into harmony. This harmonious vibration generates a sense of relaxation and peace. You no longer vibrate at lower frequencies that anger, depression, frustration and fatigue generate.
Research also indicates that humming or chanting the word ‘OM’ stimulates the vagus nerve and helps put the body in a state of relaxation.
The vagus nerve is one of the most important of the 12 cranial nerves in the body and helps put the body in the rest and healing mode. Stimulating this nerve has been associated with a host of health benefits including improved digestion, reduction in inflammation, relief from headaches, mental clarity and overall feeling of peace and happiness.
Another research done at Sipna College of Technology, indicates that humming the sound word OM resulted in regularization of brain waves, bringing them into perfect symmetry and harmony resulting in better focus, mental clarity and relaxation.
Humming has also been known to promote blood flow and oxygen to the brain, boosting mind power and clarity.
The amazing bee breathing technique
Now that we know the powerful results humming produces in the body, let’s see how to perform bee breathing.
For beginners, here is a simple variation of the method that you can try out. If you feel comfortable, try out the alternate methods mentioned below for maximum benefits.
Step 1: Sit comfortably in a chair, keeping your spine fairly straight.
Step 2: Relax your facial muscles, keep your mouth closed.
Step 3: Breathe in slowly yet deeply, filling your lungs with air.
Step 4: Breath out slowly making a humming sound like mmmmmm (This sound can be as loud or as mild as you feel comfortable with). As you do this, feel the vibration the sound produces in and around your head.
If you can also, gently cover both your ears with your index finger and repeat the above steps. Covering your ears allows you to experience the vibrations with greater intensity.
An advanced variation is to cover your ears with your thumbs, press your index fingers on either side of your forehead, close your eyes with the middle fingers and place the remaining fingers around your nostrils. Inhale deeply and while exhaling, slightly press the sides of your nostrils as the block the passage of air. This produces an even stronger vibration resulting in maximum benefits.
Repeat for 4 to 5 cycles and you will feel completely relaxed and rejuvenated.
Here is a demonstration of this breathing technique:
This exercise can be done any time of the day. If you suffer from sleep disorders, do this exercise before going to bed to drastically improve your quality of sleep. You can also do this exercise after waking up to gain mental clarity, feel energetic and a sense of aliveness.
