Humming breath (bhramari): how to do it, what is known

Hold My Company · 2 min read · Updated 31 October 2026

Bhramari, the bee breath from yoga, is slow breathing with a long, humming breath out. It is simple and pleasant, and one striking lab finding stands behind it, but the health studies so far are small and mostly weak.

In short

Breathe in slowly through your nose, then breathe out slowly while humming with your lips closed, like a bee. Five to ten minutes is typical.
Humming raises nitric oxide in the nose about 15-fold compared with a quiet breath out, but repeated humming empties the store.
Its calming effect seems to come mostly from the slow, long breath out, not from the sound itself.
Health studies are few and mostly low quality. In one randomised trial, a session did not lower blood pressure more than slow breathing.

How to do it

Sit comfortably and relax your shoulders.
Breathe in slowly through your nose.
Close your lips and breathe out slowly through your nose while humming, a steady “mmm” like a bee. Let the breath out be long.
Repeat for five to ten minutes.

In the traditional version you also close your ears with your thumbs, and some versions rest the fingers lightly over the closed eyes. This is optional; the humming and the slow breath out are the core.

In one study, people breathed in for about 5 seconds and hummed out for about 15, which comes to about three breaths a minute. You do not need to count: let the hum last as long as is comfortable.

The bhramari rhythm from one study, next to the app's long exhale. Both make the breath out much longer than the breath in; bhramari stretches it to three times as long, with a hum.

What humming does in your nose

The sinuses produce nitric oxide, a gas that plays a role in the airways. In a study of 10 healthy people, nitric oxide in the nose rose about 15-fold during humming compared with a quiet breath out. The vibrating airflow seems to air out the sinuses.

Nitric oxide in the nose during a single hum, compared with a quiet breath out. A lab measurement in 10 healthy people, not a health benefit in itself.

There is a catch: the store runs down. With each repeated hum the peak gets smaller, and after five hums in a row the level in the nose was lower than before. It refilled completely after about three minutes of quiet. No study has shown that this nitric oxide boost brings a health benefit.

Why it may feel calming

Humming naturally slows the breath down, because a hum makes the breath out long. In a study of 24 healthy adults, humming slowed breathing to about six breaths a minute, the pace linked with the largest swings in heart rate (more in how breathing works). Humming with noise-cancelling earphones worked just as well, so the sound and vibration itself did not seem to matter. In a pilot with 16 people, humming and plain slow breathing (5 seconds in, 5 out) had the same effect on heart rhythm.

So bhramari is probably best seen as a pleasant way to do slow breathing with a long exhale.

What studies show

A 2018 review found only 6 studies, none of them randomised trials, all of very low quality. They suggested a shift towards “rest and digest” activity.
Blood pressure. In a single session with healthy adults and no comparison group, blood pressure fell a little. But in a randomised trial with 70 people with high blood pressure, one 5-minute session did not lower blood pressure more than slow breathing.
Tinnitus. In a trial with 46 older adults with chronic tinnitus, 30 minutes of daily humming for four weeks reduced how loud and annoying the tinnitus felt. It is unclear what the comparison group did, so it is a weak signal.

Relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people. We found no reliable safety guidance specific to bhramari; if it feels uncomfortable, stop.

Common mistakes

Expecting humming to treat sinus problems or infections. The nitric oxide finding is a lab measurement, not a treatment.
Humming non-stop to boost nitric oxide. Repeated hums empty the store; it takes a few minutes of quiet to refill.
Breathing in through the mouth. Breathe in and hum through the nose, with the lips closed.
Rushing the breath out. The long, slow exhale is what does most of the work.

Try it

Hold My Chaos guides you through it with a calm visual and gentle haptics. Coming soon to iPhone.

Sources

These guides explain, they do not diagnose or treat. If your symptoms are new, severe or worrying, talk to a doctor. In an emergency, call your local emergency number (112 anywhere in the EU).