Bhramari Pranayama (Humming Bee Breath): How to Do It Step by Step

Bhramari Pranayama (Humming Bee Breath) is a yoga breathing technique in which you breathe in through the nose and breathe out slowly while humming with your mouth closed, like a bee. The hum makes the exhale long and steady and gives the mind a single sound to follow. Most people use it to settle down: before meditation, at the end of a yoga class or before sleep.

Type: seated pranayama. Level: beginner friendly. Time: 5-10 rounds, about 3-5 minutes. Props: a cushion or a chair.

What does Bhramari mean?

Bhramari (भ्रामरी) comes from bhramara, the Sanskrit word for a large black bee. The name describes the sound: a low, even buzz. Pranayama joins prana, breath or life force, and ayama, extension. Read together: a breathing practice that sounds like a bee.

Bhramari is one of the eight classical breath practices (called kumbhakas) listed in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a 15th century manual of hatha yoga. The text gives it one short verse: breathe in quickly with the sound of a male bee, breathe out slowly with the sound of a female bee, and the practitioner feels a kind of bliss. That is all it says. Most of what is taught today, including closing the ears, comes from later teachers.

How to do Bhramari Pranayama step by step

1. Sit tall. Choose a seat you can hold for five minutes without fidgeting: Sukhasana (Easy Pose) on a cushion, Padmasana (Lotus Pose) if it is comfortable for your knees, or the front edge of a chair with both feet on the floor.
2. Settle the breath. Rest your hands on your knees, for example in Jnana Mudra, the index finger touching the thumb (one of the classic yoga mudras). Breathe normally through the nose for a few rounds.
3. Close the ears. Place your index fingers or thumbs on the small flap of cartilage in front of each ear canal (the tragus) and press it gently over the opening. Do not put your fingers inside the ear.
4. Close the eyes. Keep the face soft, the jaw loose and the teeth slightly apart behind closed lips. If closing your eyes makes you uneasy, keep them open with a soft gaze at the floor.
5. Breathe in through the nose. A comfortable, full breath. No need to fill up to the limit.
6. Hum on the exhale. Breathe out slowly through the nose with a steady "mmmm", lips closed. Keep the pitch low and even, and let the sound last as long as the exhale lasts without strain.
7. Listen. With your ears closed the hum sounds loud inside your head. Feel it in the lips, the cheeks and the skull. Let your attention stay on the sound.
8. Repeat. When the exhale ends, release the hum, breathe in through the nose and hum again. Start with 5 rounds and build to 10.
9. Sit quietly. Lower your hands to your knees and sit for a minute with normal breathing. Notice the quiet after the sound.

Variations

• Shanmukhi Mudra. Thumbs close the ears, index fingers rest lightly on the closed eyelids, middle fingers beside the nose, ring and little fingers above and below the lips. Shanmukhi means "six gates": the ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Rest the fingers on the eyelids without pressing the eyeballs. This version is common in the Bihar School of Yoga and in many Indian teacher trainings.
• Hands free. Hum without closing the ears. Useful at a desk or when your arms tire. The sound is quieter inside the head, the long exhale is the same.
• Silent Bhramari. After 5 rounds with sound, keep the same rhythm and only imagine the hum. A good bridge into meditation.
• Higher pitch. Try a slightly higher hum and notice where you feel it. A low hum tends to buzz in the chest and throat, a higher one in the face and head. Pick the one that settles you.
• With Ujjayi on the inhale. Some teachers pair Bhramari with an inhale through a slightly narrowed throat, as in Ujjayi Pranayama (Victorious Breath). This is closer to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika's two sounds, one in and one out.

What Bhramari does

It slows your breathing down. Humming stretches the exhale, often to twice the length of the inhale or more. A long, slow exhale shifts the nervous system toward its resting mode, and your heart rate tends to drop a little with it. This is the best supported effect, and it is the same mechanism behind most slow breathing practices.

It gives the mind one thing to do. A loud inner sound and a vibration you can feel are hard to ignore. For a busy mind, following the hum is easier than following a quiet breath. This is why many teachers use Bhramari before sitting meditation.

It raises nitric oxide in the nose. A 2002 study by Weitzberg and Lundberg found that humming raised nasal nitric oxide about fifteenfold compared with a quiet exhale, because the vibration moves air in and out of the sinuses. Nitric oxide plays a role in the airways and the sinuses. Whether regular humming changes anything for your health is not known.

Blood pressure and heart rate. A systematic review of Bhramari research (Kuppusamy and colleagues, 2017) found small studies reporting lower heart rate and blood pressure after practice, and changes in brain activity linked to relaxation. The studies were few, small and mostly short. Read it as "promising", and keep taking any treatment your doctor has given you.

What the old version of this page claimed and we no longer do: that Bhramari stimulates the pineal and pituitary glands, clears the throat of waste, relieves migraines, or balances pitta. None of these has good evidence behind it.

Who should skip or modify it

• Ear infections or ear pain: skip it until the ear has recovered, or hum without closing the ears.
• Recent eye surgery or eye pressure problems: do not use Shanmukhi Mudra with fingers on the eyes.
• Pregnancy: the humming exhale is gentle and many prenatal teachers use it. Do not hold the breath after the exhale, and sit rather than lie down.
• Anxiety or panic: closing the eyes and ears can feel trapping for some people. Keep the eyes open and one ear free, and keep the hum short.
• Dizziness: if you feel lightheaded, stop and breathe normally. It usually means the exhale was forced.

Common mistakes

• Pushing a finger into the ear canal. Press the tragus, the flap in front of it, instead.
• Humming through a tight jaw. Clenched teeth dampen the vibration. Leave a small gap between the molars and keep the tongue soft.
• Forcing a long exhale. If the next inhale comes in with a gasp, the hum was too long. Shorten it.
• Pressing the eyes. In Shanmukhi Mudra the fingers rest on the eyelids with the weight of a feather.
• Going loud. Volume adds nothing. A steady, medium hum carries better than a loud one.

Where sources disagree

Humming on the inhale. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika describes a sound on both the in-breath and the out-breath. Most modern schools hum only on the exhale, because an inhaled hum is hard for beginners and easily turns into a strained snore. Both versions exist. Start with the exhale.

Closing the ears. The old verse does not mention the ears. The ear-closing and the Shanmukhi hand position come from later texts and teachers, such as the Gheranda Samhita, where Bhramari is linked to listening to inner sounds (nada), and the modern Bihar School. Closing the ears makes the practice more inward. It is a teaching choice, and practising without it is still Bhramari.

How much the research tells us. Wellness sites cite Bhramari for everything from sleep to thyroid health. The research answer: slow breathing and a long exhale have decent evidence for short-term relaxation; the specific Bhramari studies are small; the nitric oxide finding is real but its health meaning is unclear. The teacher's answer: students feel calmer after five minutes, and that is reason enough to practise. Both are true. We state the first and trust you with the second.

Breath retention. Because the Hatha Yoga Pradipika lists Bhramari among the kumbhakas, some teachers add a hold after the inhale, with the chin lowered. If you want to try that, learn Kumbhaka Pranayama (Breath Retention) first and keep holds short.

Where Bhramari fits in a practice

Before it: a few minutes of belly breathing or three-part breath, then Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing) to even out the breath. For the bigger picture, read our guide to pranayama, the yogis' art of breathing.

After it: sit in silence or meditate, or lie down in Savasana (Corpse Pose). Bhramari also pairs well with chanting Om, which uses the same closed-lip hum at its end.

When to use it: at the end of an asana class, at the start of a meditation, in the evening before bed, or at your desk for two minutes. Our guide to breathing exercises for anxiety and stress covers other techniques for tense moments.

To practise it with a teacher, take the 15-minute Bhramari Pranayama class, or learn it in week two of the eight-week Pranayama Program Level 1 with Guy Powiecki.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bhramari Pranayama good for?

Mainly for settling down. The humming makes the exhale long and slow, which shifts the nervous system toward rest, and the sound gives a busy mind something to follow. Small studies also report lower heart rate and blood pressure after practice.

How to do Bhramari Pranayama step by step?

Sit tall, close your ears by pressing the flap in front of each ear canal, and close your eyes. Breathe in through the nose. Breathe out slowly through the nose with a steady "mmmm" and your lips closed. Repeat 5-10 times, then sit quietly for a minute.

How many minutes should we do Bhramari Pranayama?

Start with 5 rounds, about 2-3 minutes. With practice, 10 rounds or 5 minutes is a common amount. Some teachers use it for 10-15 minutes as a meditation. Stop sooner if you feel dizzy or your exhale starts to strain.

Who should not do Bhramari?

Skip it with an ear infection or ear pain, and leave the fingers off the eyes after eye surgery. If closing the eyes and ears makes you anxious, keep them open. In pregnancy, practise sitting up and without breath holds.

Is it Bhramari or Brahmari?

Bhramari. The word comes from bhramara, bee. "Brahmari" and "Bramhari" are common misspellings, probably mixed up with Brahma, the Hindu creator god.

Can I do Bhramari lying down?

You can hum lying down, and some people do it in bed before sleep. The traditional seat is upright, which keeps the chest free and you awake. If you use it to fall asleep, drop the ear closing and let the arms rest.

Why do I feel dizzy after Bhramari?

Usually because the exhale was forced or the rounds came too fast. Make the hum shorter and softer, breathe normally between rounds, and stop if the feeling stays.