The Healing Hum: How Sound Grounds Us Back Into the Body

I had the extreme good fortune to be taught how to chant by an opera singer. When we first moved to our farm, and before the retreat centre had been created, I decided that Richard and I needed to become yoga teachers. By lucky chance, one of the teacher trainers was an opera singer, and we experienced the joy of beautiful sound created by a magnificent human. He taught us how to use our diaphragms to extend our breath and make sounds together as a group that felt delicious. While I can’t claim to have come close to his mastery in a few short weeks, I can say that I fell in love with the feeling of an “Aum” chant reverberating through my body with that extended mmmmmmmm at the end.

There’s something ancient and deeply human about the sound of a hum.
It doesn’t belong to any one language or culture. It’s not taught.
It simply rises — a low vibration in the chest, in the throat, in the bones (yes, it even vibrates your bones).

It’s the sound we make when we soothe ourselves. When we rock a baby. When we feel comfort or concentration. And more often than not, we do it without thinking.

But there’s a lot going on beneath that simple sound.
Humming is one of the most powerful, accessible tools we have for calming the nervous system, rebalancing our energy, and bringing ourselves back into the body.

And today, we’re going to explore why.

The Body Responds to Vibration

At a very basic level, we are vibrational beings.
Every cell in your body pulses with electrical energy. Your bones conduct sound. Your organs resonate. Your nervous system, which runs everything from your breath to your digestion to your emotional state, responds instantly to frequency.

You’ve heard me say it – everything is energy. To know how this works in the body is to unlock the mother of all toolkits.

When we hum — especially in the lower tones — we create a steady, internal vibration that moves through the tissues of the body. This activates the vagus nerve, a long wandering nerve that runs from the brain down to the gut, and plays a key role in calming the body’s stress response.

Humming stimulates this nerve gently. The result?

• Lower heart rate
  
• Deeper breathing
  
• A drop in cortisol (the stress hormone)
  
• A shift from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest
  

That hum you feel in your chest is more than sound. It’s a signal of safety.
And your body listens.

The Science Behind the Stillness

A growing body of research backs up what many have instinctively known:
Humming and chanting are direct tools for regulating the nervous system and improving health.

One study found that humming increases the production of nitric oxide in the nasal passages — which improves oxygen uptake, relaxes blood vessels, and supports immune function.

Another showed that toning and vocal resonance help regulate the autonomic nervous system, promoting emotional regulation and stress relief.

This isn’t about singing in tune.
It’s about frequency, vibration, and breath.
It’s about the felt experience of sound — and how it shifts your state.

Humming as a Grounding Practice

When life gets overwhelming or we start to float into our heads, humming becomes an anchor.
It brings us down into the body, into sensation, into presence.

If you’ve been following this chakra series, you’ll remember our deep dive into the Root Chakra, or Muladhara — the energy centre that governs our connection to the physical world. It’s the base of the spine, the seat of safety, and the foundation for everything else.

When the Root Chakra is out of balance, we often feel:

• Anxious or scattered
  
• Disconnected from the body
  
• Unsafe, ungrounded, unsure
  

Humming is one of the quickest and most effective ways to begin rebuilding that connection.
The low vibration settles the nervous system.
The sound brings you into your own presence.
The breath connects you to life.

Try This: A Simple Humming Practice

• Sit or lie down comfortably.
  
• Place one hand on your chest, one on your lower belly.
  
• Take a slow inhale through your nose.
  
• As you exhale, gently hum, any tone that feels natural.
  
• Feel the vibration in your chest, your throat, maybe even your spine.
  
• Repeat for 3–5 rounds, eyes closed if it feels safe.
  
• Notice how your body begins to soften.
  

No music required.
No experience necessary.
Just your voice, your breath, and your body.

We’ll explore more sound-based practices as we continue this series, including toning for specific chakras and how vibration helps clear energetic blockages.

But for now, this is enough.

Let yourself hum.

Let the sound bring you home.