3 Great Reasons Why You Should Hum a Little Bit Every Day

You may not even realize you're humming when a favorite song comes on, or you're busy cleaning or shopping, but for some reason, you find yourself comfortably in the zone, humming quietly.

Even more important is that you may not even realize it's literally calming your nervous system down and actually soothing your soul.

Then there's purposely humming the minute you start hearing that critical inner voice reprimanding you, or something triggers stress and anxiety.

Yes, humming is one of your superpowers.

According to the Livestrong website, humming hinders that inner chatter you want to get away from and fast thanks to the vibrations.

You see, when you're stressed or anxious, you activate the fight-or-flight part of your nervous system, which is part of the sympathetic part of your nervous system. By humming, you combat the fight-or-flight response and activate the rest-and-digest response.

To get briefly scientific, humming stimulates the vagus nerve that runs from your brain to your stomach. The vagus nerve is part of your parasympathetic nervous system, known as the "rest-and-digest" system, according to the Well and Good website.

According to the Medium website, humming releases happy endorphins and nitric oxide, which widens your blood vessels and basically interrupts all your thoughts.

When you hum, your body begins to vibrate. So does your brain. A vibrating body and brain is happy. Peace, happiness and contentment can be found in this state.

According to the Oprah Daily website, humming has two additional benefits.

THE POSITIVE AFFECTS OF HUMMING

1) The nitric oxide I mentioned boosts your heart health because it widens constricted blood vessels, which is what relieves stress on your heart and vascular system.

2) While you're lying awake in bed, close your eyes and start humming. It's your own personal lullaby that releases melatonin.

Add it to your sleep stack, beginning in the hour before you turn in: Hum while you journal, shower, or tie up loose ends around your home. You don’t have to carry a tune to benefit—let it be easy and light, not an added stress.

Humming simply feels good to your body, creating freedom from your head.