The Hummmm

I don’t know if you’ve ever had this problem? But… Have you ever sat down for a few minutes of silence only to find that when you close your eyes,

I don’t know if you’ve ever had this problem? But…
Have you ever sat down for a few minutes of silence only to find that when you close your eyes, your mind goes into overdrive. Like busy little bees the messages, To Do’s, pieces of conversation, unresolved feelings, ideas all buzzing around. Such a simple thing and yet so elusive to me until I discovered humming. I would breathe in and hummm as I breathed out. Some people call it chanting or toning, all I know is it kept my thoughts at bay and as my mind cleared, relaxation would deepen. It was visceral and for a while after I stopped humming I could feel the sound resonating in my ear drums softly massaging, it was profoundly soothing.

As it turns out, humming is one way to stimulate the Vagus nerve. This nerve, technically comes as a pair, one for the right side and one for the left. It is a squiggly, shaggy branching nerve that connects most of the major organs like the heart, lungs, liver, stomach between the brain and the colon. It has been described as largely responsible for the mind-body connection in its role as a mediator between thinking and feeling. When stimulated it activates the relaxation response turning off the fight or flight reflex and reducing the heart rate and blood pressure.

As I continued to breathe and hummm, breathe and humm, thoughts slowed and my body relaxed, it felt like no thought ever truly surfaced, like it was swept away before it ever fully formed. Like a pianist I would raise the humm and lower it, looking for the perfect note to play with. The sound resonating and creating an awareness of calm and safety long after.

Put another way, your body senses your breathing and adapts its heart rate in response. When we breathe in, the sensory nodes on our lungs send information up the vagus nerve and into the brain and when we breathe out, the brain send information back down through the vagus nerve to slow down or speed up the heart.

Categories: : Goal Setting, Mindset, Listening, Health