Breath

The Humming-Bee

From the first moment on earth, we begin to breathe. Until the very last moment. Our breath so often tells us how we are feeling. We just have to look closely and take it and its signals seriously. We breathe around 23.000 breaths a day and we only breathe a fraction of them consciously. Most of the time, we only notice that we are breathing when we have previously stopped breathing, held our breath or been out of breath. 

In the blog article on pranayama, you can find out more about how we can use the breath to achieve different effects in the body.

I would now like to invite you to do a breathing exercise that will help you to become more aware of your breath. The buzzing bee - the Humming Bee or in Sanskrit (ancient Indian) Bhramari. It turns your attention inwards. There are no contraindications or things you should be aware of. You can do this breathing exercise, for example, when you need to find concentration but your thoughts won't leave you alone. When you need a conscious break, when you are anxious or stressed. Brahmari is practiced to counteract restlessness and agitated emotions and to provide more balance, more cooling of heated feelings. Breathing also directs the focus and attention more inwards. In the truest sense of the word, it is also about making your own voice audible.

This is how it works:

Get into a comfortable and upright seated position. Place both index fingers and middle fingers on your eyebrows, your ring fingers and little fingers on the left and right sides of your nose so that the nostrils remain free. Now close your ears with your thumbs. Breathe in and then start humming as you breathe out - like a bee. Let your voice be heard. Repeat this for a few minutes. Then take a few natural and spontaneous breaths and see if anything has changed and if you can perceive any effects.