Jennifer Waldron, PhD

If you’re lucky, you’ve had at least one teacher who impacted your life on a deep level. Pat Moffitt Cook of the Open Ear Center (where I participated in the Certification Program for Music and Sound Healing) was one such teacher for me. Pat started our first session with a humming exercise designed to give maximum effect to the mind, body, and VOICE.   This simple and profound exercise has made a huge difference in my voice and my spirit.

Unlike the simple “wake up” exercises called “mouth yoga” I outlined in my last blog, I recommend that you get out of bed for this one. Find a chair or sit yogi fashion on the floor; this will make the effect stronger and more meaningful.

Take a breath and hummmm it out.  You don’t have to push or strain your voice, just relax your jaw, close your lips and hum. Keep your entire face soft and relaxed. At first, you may feel a little silly, but close your eyes and put yourself into this state of sound grace you deserve. Be bold and gradually get louder. Notice how energy builds, intensifies, and recharges your personal light as you hum.

Humming is a gentle way to release the real sound of your voice and train your ears to hear that beautiful, authentic, natural sound.

Humming is a drug-free way to overpower your “monkey mind”. Daily humming starts your generator, warms your voice, and keeps the bears away. My Great Aunt Betty was a hummer and she lived into her late 90’s. She hummed all the time.   My siblings and I used to laugh because to us, she was like a walking sound machine.  Now I think her humming habit might be one reason why she lived so long!

With a regular practice of humming, you can affect your physiology.  For example, a 2002 study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that humming makes your breath more efficient; it helps oxygenate your blood which can lead you to feel more relaxed and energetic.  So if you start to feel better, it’s not just your imagination!

Try it. Reserve ten minutes day and you’ll begin to feel dramatic effects: a clearer mind, stronger voice, and more energetic body. You might even get hooked! Hum on!   Notice the difference. Tell me about it.