Bhramari pranayama: how to do the humming bee breath

A simple humming breath for settling the mind, with clear steps, the finger positions and an honest look at the research.

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What are the steps of Bhramari Pranayama at a glance?

Table 1. Bhramari pranayama at a glance

Sources: Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.68 (classical description); technique as used in Pramanik et al., Nepal Med Coll J 2010.

What is Bhramari Pranayama?

Bhramari takes its name from bhramara, the Sanskrit word for a large black bee. You make a soft, even buzzing sound on the out-breath, like a bee in flight. It is one of the easiest breathing practices to learn because it needs no counting and no breath-holding.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a classical text on hatha yoga, lists bhramari among its eight classical breathing practices. It describes breathing in briskly with the sound of a male bee and breathing out very slowly with the sound of a female bee, and says the practice brings a kind of joyful play to the mind (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2.44 and 2.68). Most teachers today keep the in-breath quiet and hum only on the out-breath, which is the version below.

This page is the guide: what bhramari is, how to do it and what the evidence says. If you would like to be talked through it, try our guided bhramari humming bee breath session.

How do you do Bhramari Pranayama step by step?

Before you start: sit somewhere quiet, ideally before a meal or a couple of hours after one. Sit rather than lie down.

1. Sit upright. Use a chair with your feet flat or sit cross-legged on a cushion. Lengthen the spine, soften the shoulders and close your eyes.
2. Settle. Take a few ordinary breaths through the nose.
3. Breathe in. Breathe in slowly and comfortably through the nose. Do not strain to fill the lungs completely.
4. Close the lips. Keep the lips gently together, the teeth slightly apart and the jaw loose. Rest the tongue softly.
5. Hum on the out-breath. Breathe out slowly through the nose while making a steady, low “mmm” sound. Keep it soft and even, not loud.
6. Feel the vibration. Notice the buzz in your lips, face, head and chest.
7. Let the breath finish. Hum only as long as the out-breath lasts comfortably. Do not push the last of the air out.
8. Rest. Breathe normally for a moment, then repeat.
9. Finish in silence. After your last round, sit quietly with your eyes closed and notice how you feel.

Start with a few rounds and build up slowly as it feels comfortable. A smooth, gentle hum matters more than how many rounds you do.

Where should you put your fingers in Bhramari?

The basic practice needs no hand position. Many people add Shanmukhi mudra, "the six-gate seal", which gently closes the ears, eyes, nose and mouth to turn attention inwards. Here is where each finger goes:

1. Thumbs: rest them on the tragus, the small flap of cartilage at the front of each ear, and press it gently over the ear opening. Never push your thumb into the ear canal.
2. Index fingers: rest them lightly on the closed eyelids, or just above the eyebrows if you prefer no pressure on the eyes.
3. Middle fingers: place them on the sides of the nose, without closing the nostrils.
4. Ring fingers: rest them just above the upper lip.
5. Little fingers: rest them just below the lower lip.

Keep the elbows out to the sides and relaxed. With the ears covered, the hum sounds louder inside the head, which makes it easier to stay with the sound. If holding the arms up is tiring, use only the thumbs on the ear flaps, or drop the hands to the knees.

Where does the humming sound come from in Bhramari?

The sound is made in the throat. As you breathe out, the vocal cords in the larynx (voice box) vibrate, just as when you hum a tune. Because the lips are closed, the air and sound travel out through the nose, and the vibration spreads through the nasal passages, sinuses, face and skull. In a published description of the practice, the humming makes "the laryngeal walls and the inner walls of the nostril mildly vibrate" (Pramanik et al., 2010).

That buzzing airflow also changes the air in the sinuses. In a small study of ten healthy adults, nasal nitric oxide was 15 times higher during humming than during quiet breathing out (Weitzberg and Lundberg, 2002). Nitric oxide is a gas the sinuses produce naturally. The study measured the gas, not any health effect, so it tells us humming moves air through the sinuses, not that it treats anything.

What does research say about Bhramari?

The research is small and early, so it is best read as encouraging rather than proven.

Table 2. What studies of bhramari have measured

Sources: Kuppusamy et al., J Tradit Complement Med 2018; Ghati et al., Explore 2021; Pramanik et al., Nepal Med Coll J 2010; Weitzberg and Lundberg, Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2002.

What this adds up to: bhramari seems to nudge the nervous system towards a calmer state while you do it. Part of that is likely the long, slow out-breath, and part the steady sound giving the mind something to rest on. There is not yet good evidence that it treats any condition.

Do long hums reduce blood pressure?

Not reliably, on current evidence. The best study so far, a randomised trial at AIIMS New Delhi, gave 70 people with high blood pressure either one 5-minute session of bee-humming breathing or a slow-breathing comparison. Blood pressure did not fall significantly more with bhramari, although heart rate variability, a marker of rest-and-digest activity, improved (Ghati et al., 2021). An earlier small study without a control group did see a fall after five minutes (Pramanik et al., 2010).

So bhramari is a pleasant way to wind down, but it is not a treatment for high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, keep to the plan agreed with your doctor and never stop a prescribed medicine.

Which dosha is Bhramari good for?

Bhramari is traditionally considered useful for Vata and Pitta, and suits Kapha too.

• Vata: Vata is light and changeable, and a busy, scattered mind is a common sign of Vata running high. A low, slow hum is grounding. Evening practice suits many people with Vata leading. More on the Vata hub.
• Pitta: Pitta is hot and intense. A steady, moderate hum gives that intensity somewhere quiet to go, and many people with Pitta leading like it when they feel impatient or wound up. Pair it with the cooling sheetali breath. More on the Pitta hub.
• Kapha: Kapha is heavy and steady and does not usually need more calming. Practise bhramari sitting very upright with eyes open or half open, perhaps with a slightly brighter pitch, and use it to focus before meditation rather than to relax. More on the Kapha hub.

When is the best time to practise Bhramari?

• Morning: after waking and freshening up, as a short way into meditation.
• During the day: a few quiet rounds at your desk, without the hand position, when you feel tense.
• Evening: before bed, with Shanmukhi mudra, as part of winding down. Our guide to Ayurveda for sleep has more evening ideas.

Avoid practising straight after a large meal. For other breathing practices to try alongside it, see pranayama for beginners.

When to see your doctor

1. Avoid bhramari if you have an ear infection or ear pain, or have recently had ear surgery.
2. Rest your thumbs on the small flap at the front of each ear; never push anything into the ear canal.
3. Breathe gently and never force the hum or hold your breath. If you feel dizzy, light-headed or short of breath, stop and breathe normally.
4. If you are pregnant, keep the practice gentle and do not hold your breath.
5. Breathing practice can help you settle, but it is not a treatment for anxiety or panic. If anxiety or panic is severe or stops you getting through the day, speak to a doctor. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, speak to a doctor or a crisis line today.

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How we wrote this

Drafted by the InnerVeda team from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the studies linked above. Breathing practices support wellbeing; they do not replace medical care.

Updated 19 October 2026: new step-by-step guidance, finger positions, where the hum comes from and what the research shows.