Soundwork for Nervous System Regulation, Pt. 3 - The Advantages of Being a Hummer

You know, I have to admit, I was never a big hummer. Never really found much use for it. Even in 2017, after my dear colleagues, Jonathan and Andi Goldman, gifted me a copy of their newly published book, The Humming Effect [1], I still didn't quite get it. It's a great book! However, why hum when you can sing?

Then I began to study the effect of sound on human nervous system regulation. After seriously tuning into the vagus nerve (See my August blog, Soundwork for Nervous System Regulation. Pt. 2), I came to see that the simple act of humming was a great way to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.

The bottomline is that if you want to regulate your sympathetic nervous system (SNS), the best route is through the parasympathetic nervous system companion (PNS). And the best way to talk to the PNS is thru the vagus nerve (VN)… and humming, like toning or singing, vibrates the larynx AND the vagal nerve.

However, it gets even better than this. Since you can only hum with your lips closed – thus breathing out through your nose – nasal exhalation brings a few more advantages to being a hummer. You don't get the following side effects from singing or chanting. It is only by exhaling through your nose and humming that you activate the release of the neurotransmitter nitric oxide (NO), which is a big healthy benefit for three important physical systems. The immune, cardiovascular, and nervous systems all profit from NO and humming; together they cause 15-20x more NO release in the sinus cavities.

It ends up that humming, a simple  by-product of nasal exhalation, is really good for you. Extended nasal exhalation is even better; longer out breaths cause more nasal stimulation of NO. Humming helps us breath slower, therefore longer exhalations.  Humming is a winner! Who knew? 

About Humming 

I have a trusty Webster’s Dictionary that goes on and on trying to define “hum” without much relevance to the physiological process in which we are employing it. (I’m also curious about how hum became the first three letters of the word, human.) Trivialities aside, there is something about … a low, continuous steady sound that seems to aptly sum up the essential human hum.

“Humming is breath made audible," says Jonathan Goldman, co-author of Humming. When we breath out through the nose, with lips closed, and make a sound, we're humming. With our lips closed, by passing breath through the throat’s larynx, the vibrating folds produce a low, continuous steady sound – a hum!

In the context of autonomic nervous system equilibrium, there are three distinct areas humming impacts

1. Vibration: Knowing that the vagal nerve (VN) innervates the larynx, we want to make a sound to perform that function. It’s a smart use of the breath. Simply by humming, the VN carries vibrations to the PNS, stimulating the parasympathetic NS.

2. Nitric Oxide (NO): If we head north from our hum – to the nasal cavities at the top of the nose – the vibrations from humming also cause the mucosal linings of the sinuses to release many times the normal amount of NO molecules into the nasal cavities. Net effect: better circulation, inhibition of viruses and bacteria, and greater release of these positive neurotransmitters.[2] NO has a direct impact in vagal tonification. The vagus nerve and nitric oxide systems interact in several important ways: NO acts as a neurotransmitter in the VN pathway, helping mediate vagal effects on the heart, anti-inflammatory responses, and regulation of digestion.The interplay between the VN and NO is another example of how different physiological systems work together in harmony beyond normal job descriptions.

3. Shelfing: When singing or toning, we intuitively learn to breathe using our diaphragm. This increases oxygen intake and lung capacity, resulting in more available breath for exhaling. The same is true with humming. Humming is a demonstration of breath conservation. One of  our Sound Breath Toolkit (SBTK) goals is to have extended exhalation. By adding a hum to the exhale, we conserve the breath and have more air for the double outlay of breath necessary for the preferred breath ratio of 1/inhale: 2/exhale.

Smart Breath

Have you noticed that because of the closed lips necessary for humming, you are inadvertently causing nasal exhalation? This is good! Any exhale is a good opportunity for creating a sound hum. [3]

It’s a shame to throw away the opportunity to create extra nitric oxide or stimulate the vagus nerve. Both of these are done simply by adding a hum to your nasal exhalation. This is smart breathing! By using a smart breath, i.e., humming whenever you can, you add the side benefits of extra NO production and VN stimulation.

____________________________________________

1  Goldman, Andi & Jonathan. The Humming Effect–Sound Healing for Health and Happiness. (2017) Healing Arts Press, VT.

2  Add’l neurotransmitters impacted by humming include Acetylcholine, GABA, Serotonin, Dopamine.

3 You cannot hum or tone when inhaling, unless you’re trained in a woodwind player’s technique of circular breathing.

An upcoming blog will continue this Soundwork for Nervous System Regulation series. We'll look at Breath Ratios, specifically about 1:2 – How breathing with a double length exhale can make a big difference therapeutically and how sound shelfing helps make a longer exhale possible.