At the beginning of our lessons and as a part of our warm up, we hum! This was something that I thought would be good for little ones to asserting their voice, to build confidence and say, I am here and ready to go!

Turns out, humming does a lot more - humming while exhaling not only helps prep the student for blowing bubbles, but it also helps increase nitric oxide production in the body, which in turn, helps with neural plasticity (building and repair of the nervous system).

Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, meaning it helps blood flow more easily through the body it makes breathing easier by relaxing the muscles in the lungs and widening the airway. Humming dilates blood vessels, helping to oxygenate and relax the body. “If there’s better blood flow, you have reduced blood pressure, and because of that, it also relaxes the nervous system. When you relax the nervous system, your agitated mind is also calmed down,” said Faisal Tabusalla, a functional breathing instructor and movement coach also based in the Philippines. 

All this vibration likely stimulates our vagus nerve (we actually have two), part of our parasympathetic nervous system. This is the nervous system that calms and restores body functions such as our heart rate, digestion and respiration. The vagus nerve, governs the body's parasympathetic “rest and digest” state, lowering anxiety and releasing potent relaxing hormones.People often hum as a way to relax.

Here is a link from the National Institute of Health!