BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA (Humming Bee Breath)

 BHRAMARI PRANAYAMA  (Humming Bee Breath)

Breathe in quickly, making a reverberating sound like the male black bee, and exhale slowly while softly making the sound of the female black bee. Bythis yogic practice one becomes lord of the yogis and the mind is absorbed inbliss (68).

In bhramari pranayama, you make sound during respiration like the sound of a black bee. Bhramari should be practiced after asana, nadi shodhana and dynamic forms of pranayama, and before meditation or sleep. It is best to practice on an empty stomach. Bhramari helps to awaken psychic sensitivity and awareness of subtle vibrations, therefore, it is better to practice in theearly hours of the morning or late at night.

Technique 1

Sit in any comfortable meditative pose, relax the body and practice kaya sthairyam. Keep the eyes closed throughout the practice.

Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose, listening to the sound of the breath.

Close the ears with the index and middle fingers by pressing the middle outer part of the ear ligament into the ear hole.

Keep the ears closed and exhale, making a deep soft humming sound.

Concentrate on the sound, keeping it low pitched. When exhalation is complete, lower the hands to the knees and breathe in slowly.

Continue to practice in the same way, performing ten to twenty rounds.

When finished, keep the eyes closed and listen for any subtle sounds.

Technique 2

Stage 1: Practice in the same way as Technique 1, but after exhalation perform bahir kumbhaka and jalandhara bandha.

Practice ten to twenty rounds, taking a few normal breaths between rounds if necessary.

Stage 2: Practice as in stage 1, but add moola bandha after jalandhara.

Technique 3

Stage 1: Practice Technique 1 with shanmukhi mudra. That is, after inhalation do kumbhaka and close the ears with the thumbs, the eyes with the first fingers, the nostrils with the middle fingers and the mouth with the ring and little fingers.

Hold for as long as comfortable, then exhale maintaining the same hand position.

Keep your awareness on the subtle sound vibrations or any images that may appear in front of the closed eyes.

Stage 2: Practice stage 1 with shanmukhi mudra, but add moola bandha.

Benefits

Bhramari Pranayama soothes the nervous system and helps to connect us with our truest inner nature. Other benefits of Bhramari are releases cerebral tension, stimulates the pineal and pituitary glands, supporting their proper functioning, relieves stress and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, bolsters the health of the throat, supports the healing of bodily tissues, and induces sound sleep.