The Humming Effect: Sound Healing for Health and Happiness
144
The Humming Effect: Sound Healing for Health and Happiness
144Paperback
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Overview
• Details conscious humming and breathing exercises from simple to advanced, including online access to examples of these practices
• Examines the latest studies on sound, revealing how humming helps with stress levels, sleep, and blood pressure, increases lymphatic circulation, releases endorphins, creates new neural pathways in the brain, and boosts blood platelet production
• Explores the spiritual use of humming, including its use as a sonic yoga technique and its role in many world traditions
• Includes access to online examples, allowing you to experience the powerful vibratory resonance that humming can create
Humming is one of the simplest and yet most profound sounds we can make. If you have a voice and can speak, you can hum. Research has shown humming to be much more than a self-soothing sound: it affects us on a physical level, reducing stress, inducing calmness, and enhancing sleep as well as lowering heart rate and blood pressure and producing powerful neurochemicals such as oxytocin, the “love” hormone.
In this guide to conscious humming, Jonathan and Andi Goldman show that you do not need to be a musician or singer to benefit from sound healing practices—all you need to do is hum. They provide conscious humming and breathing exercises from simple to advanced, complete with online examples, allowing you to experience the powerful vibratory resonance that humming can create and harness its healing benefits for body, mind, and spirit. They explore the science behind sound healing, revealing how self-created sounds can literally rearrange molecular structure and how humming not only helps with stress levels, sleep, and blood pressure but also increases lymphatic circulation and melatonin production, releases endorphins, creates new neural pathways in the brain, and releases nitric oxide, a neurotransmitter fundamental to health and well-being. The authors show how sound can act as a triggering mechanism for the manifestation of your conscious intentions. They also examine the spiritual use of humming, including its use as a sonic yoga technique and its role in many world traditions, such as the Om, Aum, or Hum of Hindu and Tibetan traditions.
Providing a self-healing method accessible to all, the authors reveal that, even if you have no musical ability, we are all sound healers.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781620554845 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Inner Traditions/Bear & Company |
| Publication date: | 06/27/2017 |
| Pages: | 144 |
| Sales rank: | 105,107 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d) |
About the Author
Andi Goldman, M.A., L.P.C., is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in holistic counseling and sound therapy, the director of the Healing Sounds Seminars, co-director of the Sound Healers Association, and coauthor, with Jonathan Goldman, of Chakra Frequencies. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Read an Excerpt
The Humming Effect
Sound Healing for Health and Happiness
By Jonathan Goldman, Andi Goldman
Healing Arts Press
Copyright © 2017 Jonathan Goldman and Andi GoldmanAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62055-484-5
CHAPTER 1
Why Hum?
The Power of Our Voice
This is a book about humming — one of the simplest and yet most profound sounds we can make. We can all hum. The very young can hum. The very old can hum. If you have a voice, you can hum. And that hum has extraordinary abilities that can be utilized for healing and much more.
Like humming, the intention of this book is simple and, yes, profound: to introduce you to sound and the power of your own voice. At a most basic level, sound is nothing more than vibration. But vibration has a powerful energy. The vibration of an opera singer's voice can break glass. The vibration of the humble hum can affect subatomic particles and shift molecular structures. We are not talking about music now — which many categorize into different genres such as classical, rock, jazz and so on. We are simply referring to sound, which is classified as vibration. These vibrations have the ability to heal and transform. As noted, one of the simplest sounds we can create is the hum. Humming has extraordinary physiological effects, reducing stress, inducing calm, enhancing sleep, and healing us in incredible ways. In addition, as we discovered in our research on humming, the more specific our focus upon the hum, the more advanced its benefit.
In this book, we will move from the more basic aspects of this seemingly simple sound to a deeper understanding that some of the oldest spiritual texts in the world suggest that the "Word" we find in the Beginning (or as written in the Old Testament: "And the Lord said: 'Let there be Light!'") was in actuality the humming of energy. The ancient mystic masters understood that everything is vibration.
The subtitle of this book, "Sound Healing for Health and Happiness," makes a grand promise. As we have delved deeper and deeper into the subject, we have seen, time and again, the evidence: humming can improve not only your health but also the quality of your life, contributing greatly to your happiness.
Let us now take a look at some of the proven effects of humming — positive benefits that have been documented in well-established peer-reviewed journals. We were quite surprised to find that any research at all had been done on the benefits of humming. We'd like to share this research with you because the results are quite stunning.
Reduced Blood Pressure and Heart Rate
We would like to begin by acknowledging our first source. From Nepal Medical College we find a study with a most interesting name and most important data. The article is called "Immediate Effect of a Slow Pace Breathing Exercise Bhramari Pranayama on Blood Pressure and Heart Rate." If you were wondering, bhramari pranayama is an advanced yogic exercise from the Hindu tradition, which we will discuss in chapter 7. It is basically humming combined with deep breathing. That's all. Yet from this medical school in a small (but highly enlightened) country comes proof positive of the ability of humming to lower blood pressure and heart rate.
As the authors note, participants in the study practiced bhramari pranayama by humming for five minutes at a time, focusing on creating "a humming nasal sound mimicking the sound of a humming wasp." Five minutes seems to be the minimum time necessary for sound to create an effect on our body. The slow-paced humming caused both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of participants to decrease significantly, accompanied by a slight decrease in heart rate. Thus, as the authors conclude, this type of humming induced "parasympathetic dominance" on the cardiovascular system.
For those of you missing your Ph.D. in anatomy, the autonomic nervous system has two different branches. The sympathetic nervous system is the one that causes what is known as the "fight or flight" response, which basically puts us in a state of stress. The parasympathetic nervous system can be thought of as the "stress eraser" — it puts us back in a state of balance. Interestingly, the primary parasympathetic nerve is the vagus nerve. This nerve is highly associated with our sense of perceiving (listening) and creating sound (vocalization). It is responsible for carrying the nerve impulses that slow heart rate, dilate blood vessels, activate digestion, and store energy. Our voice, our breathing, our heart rate, and our digestion are all affected by this nerve, which is, in turn, affected by sound.
We ask that you stop for a moment and think about the importance of this therapeutic aspect of humming. The bottom line is that humming can reduce your heart rate and lower your blood pressure. Essentially, it can reduce your stress response. And that includes reducing all those nasty hormones associated with stress, such as cortisol. Hmmmmm ...
The limbic system is the part of the brain that includes the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and cingulate gyrus. The amygdala is the portion of the brain that controls emotion. The limbic system regulates autonomic and endocrine functions, particularly in response to emotional stimuli. When the limbic system is activated, we often experience the "fight or flight" phenomenon and experience stress.
More research on the use of sound to lower stress came from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience in India. A 2011 study titled "Neurohemodynamic correlates of 'Om' chanting: A pilot functional magnetic resonance imaging study" from the International Journal of Yoga showed similar aspects of the stress-reducing power of the hum. With this study, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), it was found that there was deactivation of the limbic system when participants of this study chanted Om. As noted, the limbic system encompasses various parts of the brain that deal with emotion. Deactivation of the limbic system provides significant reduction of stress and enhanced calmness for the individual.
The Om sound is considered very similar to humming and is often considered to be essentially the same sound. For this study, the Om chanting was compared with pronunciation of the sound ssss. When this ssss was sounded, there was no limbic deactivation. When the Om was chanted, limbic deactivation occurred. This indicates that, as opposed to many other sounds, there may be something quite special about the ability of humming to reduce stress hum.
If there is a number-one killer on this planet, it's stress. This fact should not be a great revelation to anyone who has paid even the least bit of attention to the media's coverage of health topics over the last thirty years. Stress causes heart attacks. Stress causes strokes. Stress causes cancer. Stress causes neuron depletion, which damages your brain. Shall we continue?
The studies from the Nepal Medical College and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience in India both demonstrated that just five minutes of humming can radically reduce stress. It's that powerful and that simple. So, before you reach for that Xanax, that glass of wine, or whatever you use to unwind, perhaps you'll take five minutes for a finely tuned sonically prescribed hum.
Increased Nitric Oxide Levels
Nitric oxide is a very important molecule. It is, in fact, so important that it was named "Molecule of the Year" by the prestigious journal Science back in 1992. Among its attributes, it enhances our immune system, our cardiovascular system, and our respiratory system. In particular, nitric oxide causes vasodilation, or widening of our blood vessels, which increases blood flow and decreases blood pressure.
The relationship between sound and nitric oxide was initially observed at the Neuroscience Research Institute of the State University of New York, when research subjects simply listened to soothing music and experienced greater levels of nitric oxide. This relaxation response was also observed in the application of specially designed tuning fork frequencies, which enhanced self-resonating sounds such as humming.
Researchers in Sweden studying the effects of humming found that it triggered the release of nitric oxide in a localized area of the body — the nasal cavity. This is not surprising, since, as we will discuss later in the book, in order to hum properly, your nasal cavity has to be vibrating. But we'd also like to take into account the fact that it's relatively easy to measure the release of nitric oxide in your nasal cavity. All you need is an inexpensive medical instrument to measure this. You would be insert it in a person's nose, have him or her hum, and measure the amount of nitric oxide that is released. The release of nitric oxide and the way it affects us may be localized to a specific organ (depending on the metabolic needs of a particular tissue, as during strenuous exercise), or it may be systemic.
Nearly two-thirds of the peer-reviewed papers we found on Medline, a reputable online database of biomedical research, that explored some therapeutic aspect of humming, focused on this phenomenon of nitric oxide being released in the nasal cavity. We were quite pleased by all this documented research on humming. Since the release of nitric oxide opens up the sinuses, the next time you have a stuffy nose, just hum for a few minutes and it'll open up your nasal cavity.
But we think there is more to effects of the release of nitric oxide — much more. Our colleague, renowned sound researcher Dr. John Beaulieu, was invited to participate in an experiment involving nitric oxide. As part of the experiment, he examined whether the sound of a tuning fork affected cells in a petri dish and caused them to release nitric oxide. It did. When they first registered the cells' release of nitric oxide, Dr. Beaulieu's scientific partners thought it was an error. They had him repeat his part in this experiment again and again, and each time, the cells consistently released nitric oxide.
In other words, even cells isolated in a petri dish will release nitric oxide when stimulated by sound vibration. While further research has yet to be done, we'd like to present our first hypothesis: when you are humming, and particularly when you are projecting your hum to specific parts of your body, you are actually causing cells in those parts of your body to release nitric oxide — with all the associated health benefits. In conversations, Dr. Beaulieu has agreed with this concept.
From our perspective, as well as many others, humming can act as an internal sonic massage. As Don Campbell, sonic expert and author of The Mozart Effect, states: "Humming actually massages the body from the inside out." This concept of massaging the body through self-created sounds is a principle of vibrational healing that most sound therapists as well as massage therapist find to be true.
As we've noted, the initial research had to do with the release of nitric oxide in the nasal cavity. It makes sense that researchers looked here first, because humming requires the nasal cavity — if you hold your nose, you simply can't hum. But as you'll soon discover, it is not only possible but relatively easy — particularly with the use of intent and a slight variation of pitch — to project a humming sound to different parts of your body and cause those parts of your body to vibrate.
The nasal cavity, other parts of the skull, and the chest are easy areas of the body to resonate with humming. You'll experience this once we begin our humming exercises. Given that the brain and heart — vital organs! — are located in the head and chest, we'd like to suggest that vibrating these areas of the body can be extremely helpful for our overall health, possibly even going so far as to prevent or mitigate stroke and heart disease.
Research has shown sound — vibration — stimulates cells to release nitric oxide. Is it possible that humming, then, could be used to resonate different areas of the body, causing the release of nitric oxide and opening up blood flow in those areas? Could we use humming to target, for example, neurological health, heart health, circulatory health, and so on? Hmmmmm ...
Increased Lymphatic Circulation
The lymphatic system is responsible for the circulation and filtering of lymph, the fluid that drains from tissues into the blood. It also acts as a highway, transporting white blood cells to and from the lymph nodes into the bones, as well as carrying antigen-presenting cells to the lymph nodes, enhancing our immune response. You get rid of a lot of bodily toxins through the lymphatic system — toxins that can be quite damaging to your health.
One of the effects of humming (and self-created sound in general) is increased oxygen levels in the cells. This is partly due to the fact that when you hum, you breathe deeply, which helps oxygenate your cells. But certainly the release of nitric oxide is also a contributing factor. This also applies to the lymphatic system, which is a subset of the circulatory system.
There are sonic machines that use sound for the purpose of encouraging lymphatic drainage when the lymphatic system is blocked. Since, as previously suggested, we are able to to massage ourselves internally with self-created sound, vibrating our organs and glands, sounds such as humming could be used for the same purpose as these sonic machines. When you hum, whether generally or directed to a specific area of your body, you are also vibrating, massaging, and activating other areas of your body as well — including your cells, your circulatory system, and your lymphatic circulation. Nitric oxide is also released. As you increase lymphatic circulation, you increase the amount of oxygen in your cells. All of this is able to improve your immune system and more. Hmmmmm ...
Increased Melatonin Levels
Melatonin is a hormone that is associated with the circadian rhythms of several biological functions. Most of us have heard of melatonin and usually think of it as having something to do with sleep. In fact, some people with sleeping problems take melatonin to help them sleep. In humans, melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, located in the center of the brain. Besides its function as synchronizer of the biological clock, melatonin is a powerful free-radical scavenger and wide-spectrum antioxidant.
Research indicates that melatonin supports our immune system and has anti-inflammatory effects. Some studies suggest that melatonin might be useful in fighting infectious disease. Other studies have shown that melatonin plays a crucial part in the aging process and that it may act as an antiaging agent. Research into melatonin for treatment of depression continues, as do studies on the effects of melatonin on cancer as well as the use of melatonin for addressing learning disabilities, memory disorders, and Alzheimer's disease. Though much of the research to date has been inconclusive, many ongoing studies show great promise.
Our Canadian colleague Dr. Ranjie Singh was the first to demonstrate that self-created sounds stimulate the pineal gland to release melatonin, and he describes his research in his groundbreaking book, Self-Healing: Powerful Techniques. The pineal gland regulates many different bodily functions, including sleep patterns. In many esoteric traditions, it was thought of as the "seat of the soul" or the "third eye." This pinecone shaped endocrine gland is quite small but also quite important. Initially, Dr. Singh conducted his experiments on the pineal gland in a rather simple way — he divided his test subjects into two groups, had one group practice what he calls "meditative intonation," and then tested his subjects' urine for melatonin levels. He found significantly higher melatonin levels in the group that had practiced intonation. Dr. Singh's ongoing work with humming and melatonin has since been published in many prestigious journals.
Melatonin supplements are readily available; you can buy them at most grocery stores. However, they're not nearly as effective as the melatonin that your own body produces.
The fact that you can stimulate the pineal gland to release melatonin through humming is extraordinary. You can potentially enhance your sleep, your immune system, your aging process, and a whole lot more through your own self-created sound. Hmmmmm ...
Endorphin Release
Endorphins are powerful opiate-like neurotransmitters that block pain and contribute to feelings of pleasure and euphoria. Sometimes people talk about an "endorphin rush," a sensation that it is almost narcotic-like in its ability to make us feel good.
The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus produce endorphins not just during times of pain and stress but also when we are active, excited, or enjoying ourselves. Exercise, sex, and just about any activity that makes us feel good, including playing music, dancing, and singing, can stimulate endorphin release. These natural opiates are also generated when we hum.
Think about the times when tend to find yourself humming. Odds are, you hum when you're happy — that is, happiness leads to humming. Could the opposite also be true? Could humming lead to happiness?
If you've spent any time around very young children, you'll have noticed that they seem to like to hum — at least when they're content. They certainly cry when they're irritable. Perhaps humming is not only a way to express that we're feeling good, perhaps it's also a way of inducing those good feelings. Like nursing and laughing, humming may be one of the first natural impulses that makes us feel good. Maybe it's the endorphins? Maybe it's not. We can't ask the babies, but we can speculate that it may in fact be the endorphins and perhaps a lot more.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Humming Effect by Jonathan Goldman, Andi Goldman. Copyright © 2017 Jonathan Goldman and Andi Goldman. Excerpted by permission of Healing Arts Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Foreword John Beaulieu, N.D., Ph.D. ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Part I Basic Principles
1 Why Hum?: The Power of Our Voice 6
2 The Physics of Sound: How and Why Sound Heals 19
3 Breath and Sound 33
4 Our Thoughts Matter 40
Part II Practice Makes Perfect
5 How to Hum: Getting Started at Humming 52
6 Encoding Intent: Intermediate Humming 65
7 The Yoga of Humming: Advanced Humming Practices 80
8 The Humming Hypothesis 92
Afterword: A New Beginning 105
How to Use The Humming Effect Instructional Audio Tracks 110
Recommended Resources 112
About the Authors 125
Index 127
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