From Humming to Skipping Mouthwash, Here Are 5 Unusual Wellness Habits Experts Swear By
Wellness trends come and go, but sometimes the most effective strategies are surprisingly simple – and a little unconventional.Beyond established routines, experts are increasingly highlighting the benefits of practices like humming, which taps into the body’s natural calming mechanisms.
The Power of the Hum
Humming isn’t just for cheerful tunes; it’s a potent tool for stress reduction. The practice creates gentle vibrations in the throat, sinuses, and chest – areas densely populated wiht branches of the vagus nerve. This nerve is central to regulating stress, mood, and even heart rate. These vibrations, coupled with the extended exhale inherent in humming, signal safety to the body.
Recent research published in the National Libary of Medicine supports this,demonstrating that humming produced the lowest stress index when compared to physical activity,emotional stress,and even sleep. The study assessed long-term heart rate variability (HRV), a key indicator of stress resilience, across these daily activities.
“The nervous system responds to cues of safety,” explains Sam Bloomfield, a Dance Movement Psychotherapist and Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapist at the UK Council for Psychotherapy. “Humming is frequently enough patterned in the nervous system as an early response to warm and comfortable relationships and surroundings. Think of a cat purring! [humming] is our own form of cat purr.”
Simone Hatiel, an Integrative, Somatic, and Transpersonal Therapist, further emphasizes the connection. “Humming creates vibration along the pathways where the vagus nerve lives,” she says. These vibrations “provide gentle bottom-up stimulation to the parasympathetic system,” signaling to the brain, “I’m safe enough. I can settle.”
For those struggling with anxiety, humming can be particularly effective.Hatiel notes it “interrupts the loop of fight, flight, or freeze by offering the system a predictable rhythm, soothing vibration, and gentle exhalation, unlike other somatic practices that may feel intense. It restores regulation without overwhelming the system.”
A simple technique, like Peter Levine’s “Voo” sound method – a small inhale through the nose followed by a long “vooooo” exhale until the breath naturally ends - can be practiced for 3-5 repetitions, lasting just 1-3 minutes. Interestingly, research suggests the way we hum can vary with age: playful humming suits children, teenagers prefer humming along with music, and older adults benefit from shorter, more relaxed hums with pauses.
(Note: The prompt requested 5 unusual wellness habits,but the provided text only contained details about humming. To fulfill the prompt wholly, information about the other 4 habits would need to be provided.)
