This is a technique you can use anytime. It may be tricky in public & social situations. But even in those settings, the technique can be subtely employed to promote mindfulness, bodily presence, & coherence in your brain & heart waves.
Generate vibrations in your air & body.
Start with a simple hum at your lips. You can hum a tune. Or you can simply hum a steady vibration, like a drone.
Notice the sensations. Notice how it feels at the point of vibration. Notice how it feels in your overall body. Notice any shifts in your thoughts, emotions, or mood.
Move the hum's focal point throughout the body. Try humming:
- in your throat
- in your chest
- in your belly
- as low as you can go
- as high as you can go
Once you've established a variety of focal points, slide a single hum along the points. You can start the hum at the belly, bring it up to the heart, then into the throat, then to the lips, & then up into the forehead and crown. All the while, notice how your body feels at the focal point & generally. See if you notice any:
- softening
- relaxation
- increased clarity
- increased coherence in thinking
- inner quietness
- lightheartedness
- reduced stress & preoccupation
Have fun with it. Play with volume, duration, intensity. Play with choice & free will: can you guess where you'll hum from next? Can you surprise yourself with where & how you hum?
We spend so much of our days thinking & doing. Humming is a simple way to break the trance of compulsive activity. As long as we're humming, we're in our bodies, & we're not chasing thoughts for too long or too intensely. It gives the mind a break from relentless adulting & lets us be like kids again, doing a (seemingly) unproductive activity for as long as we want to simply because we want to.
Suggestions for humming:
- make the "aum" sound: ahhhhhhhhh-oooooooooo-mmmmmmmm (some consider this the primordial sound of consciousness)
- make the "hmmm" sound, like a bumble bee
- make a "woom-woom-woom" sound, like a washing machine
- put your lips into a whistling shape, let your cheeks puff out with air, & let your inflated mouth be like a bagpipe, contouring the vibrating air as it passes through
