Bhramari

The humming breath. Named for the bhramari, the bumblebee, after the sound. Among the simplest practices here and, for a lot of people, the most immediately effective.

How to do it

1. Sit upright. Spine stacked, shoulders down.
2. Close the ears. Press the tragus — the small flap of cartilage at the front of the ear canal — gently inward with the index fingers, or use the thumbs and rest the remaining fingers lightly on the face. Close the eyes.
3. Inhale through the nose, slowly and fully but without strain.
4. Exhale through the nose while humming. Mouth closed, teeth slightly apart, jaw loose. A steady, low, continuous hum for the whole length of the exhale.
5. The exhale should be long — six to ten seconds, considerably longer than the inhale.
6. Pause for a moment at the end of the exhale before the next inhale.

Five to ten rounds to start. Build to fifteen or twenty.

The details that matter

Pitch: low. A low hum produces more vibration you can feel in the skull. A high one produces sound in the throat and not much else. Find the lowest note you can hold comfortably.

Volume: moderate. Loud is not better and it strains the vocal cords. Steady matters more than loud.

The jaw must be loose. Teeth slightly apart, tongue resting. A clenched jaw kills the vibration and makes the whole thing effortful.

Closing the ears is what makes it work. With the ears open, you hear the hum externally. Closed, the sound conducts through the bone of the skull and the sensation is entirely different — internal, filling, and much stronger. Do not skip this.

Do not press hard. Light pressure on the tragus is enough. Pushing fingers into the ear canal is unpleasant and unnecessary.

Where to feel it

The vibration matters more than the sound, and where you feel it tells you whether it is working.

You should feel it: in the front of the skull, around the forehead and the bridge of the nose, in the sinuses, in the roof of the mouth, and across the whole face.

If you only feel it in the throat: the pitch is too high, or the jaw is tight. Lower it and loosen.

Once you find it, put your attention on the sensation rather than the sound. That is the practice.

Why it settles

The long exhale. The hum extends the exhale naturally to two or three times the length of the inhale, which is the classic settling ratio, achieved without counting.

Resistance. Humming creates back-pressure in the airway, which slows the breath further and engages the diaphragm.

Vibration. The sensory input from vibration in the skull occupies attention completely, which is why the mind quietens even for people who find other practices difficult.

Vagal stimulation. The humming and the extended exhale together stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the primary parasympathetic pathway.

Whatever weight you give each mechanism, the practical effect is reliable, and it arrives within about two minutes.

When to use it

Before sleep. Ten rounds, lying down or sitting on the edge of the bed. Among the more effective things available for this, and it works within minutes.

When agitated. It works faster than most alternatives, largely because the vibration gives attention something concrete to hold onto when it is spinning.

For a headache, particularly a tension headache. Frequently helps. Sometimes does not.

At the end of a practice, before Savasana.

When you cannot concentrate. Five rounds resets attention more effectively than trying harder.

The two-minute version

The one worth memorising.

Sit or lie down. Close the ears and eyes. Five long humming exhales. Then sit still for thirty seconds without doing anything and notice the quality of the quiet afterwards — which is the actual point, and which people miss by moving straight on.

Two minutes. Works almost every time.

When not to

Very few cautions with this one.

• Ear infection, or any current ear problem — do not close the ears; do it with the ears open, or skip it.
• Recent ear or head surgery.
• Do not do it lying face down.
• If it produces dizziness, the exhale is too forceful or too long. Shorten it.

Safe in pregnancy, safe with high blood pressure, safe for most people for whom the stronger practices are ruled out. If retention and rapid breathing are off the table for you, this is one of the practices that remains, and it is a good one.