OpenTube

Hum This Tonight to Calm Your Nervous System (Backed by a Nobel Prize)

Neal K. Shah

223,157 views

When you HUM, it's a measurable medical event happening inside your body. In this video, I break down the real science of humming - what it actually does to your blood vessels, your nervous system, and your brain.
Just ONE "hum" floods your sinuses with nitric oxide, the molecule whose discovery won the 1998 Nobel Prize in Medicine. It also vibrates the vagus nerve in your throat, flipping a built-in "calm switch" that lowers your heart rate and shifts you out of fight-or-flight. Best of all: it's free, and it's almost impossible to do wrong.
We'll also explore one of the most beautiful patterns in all of science — how nuns reciting the rosary and yogis chanting mantras, oceans and centuries apart, independently landed on the exact same breathing rhythm (about six breaths per minute) that modern research says is close to optimal for the human heart. And we'll look honestly at what humming and chanting can — and cannot — do for an aging brain, including the moving story of why Tony Bennett could still sing every word of his songs years after Alzheimer's took almost everything else.

I'm Neal K. Shah, a Johns Hopkins- and NIH-funded caregiving researcher and CEO of CareYaya, where our work supports thousands of older adults and family caregivers across the country. I'm not a clinician; I'm a researcher and innovator. The lens I bring to everything here: what's real, what's free, and what actually helps.

⚠️ A note on scams: Fraudsters have used fake AI-generated videos of me to sell supplements I've never endorsed. I never sell miracle cures. Subscribe to stay connected to the genuine source and the real research.

⏱️ CHAPTERS
The hum is a medical event
Nitric oxide: the Nobel Prize molecule
Your sinuses are a nitric oxide factory
The vagus nerve & your hidden "calm switch"
What humming does NOT do (the honest limits)
Nuns, yogis & the six-breaths-per-minute secret
Gregorian chant, throat singing & convergent evolution
Can it help an aging brain? Kirtan Kriya & the research
Music, dementia & why the hum is the last thing to go
How to hum: the simple practice (and a version for caregivers)
Tony Bennett's last song

🎵 TRY IT TONIGHT
Sit comfortably. Breathe in gently through your nose for about 4 seconds. Then, with lips lightly closed, hum out a low, steady "mmmmm" for about 6 seconds — feel the buzz in your face and chest. That's "bee breath" (bhramari) in yoga. Repeat 5–6 times. Slowing to roughly six breaths a minute is the sweet spot. Hum any song you already know and love — "Amazing Grace," "You Are My Sunshine," or a single long "Om." There's no wrong song.

👵 FOR CAREGIVERS
If you're caring for someone with memory loss, don't hum at them — hum WITH them. Put on a song from when they were 18–25, the years that stamp our deepest musical memories, and hum along together. It asks nothing of their failing memory and often opens a door: eye contact, a smile, a few words.

⚕️ A gentle note: If you have significant heart or breathing conditions, keep it relaxed — don't strain or hold your breath. Easy is the entire idea. This video is educational and is not medical advice.

👉 If this helped, SUBSCRIBE and turn on the bell for more free, low-risk, research-grounded tools for caregiving, brain health, and healthy aging. And share it forward with one person who could use more calm today.

#Humming #StressRelief #NobelPrize #VagusNerve #NitricOxide #BreathingExercises #Mindfulness #Meditation #Dementia #Alzheimers #MusicTherapy #CaregiverSupport

20 Comments

@C2C. 3 months ago (edited) Pinned

You've done another wonderful job synthesizing and summarizing this topic and its facets. (As an integrative health coach, I've heard the vagal system, its management, and reset presented countless ways.) This has quickly become one of my favorite channels.

@FaizaKhan-ys5pe 4 hours ago

If you often feel overwhelmed by everything going on in your life, Anwen Reid’s anxiety quiz might be worth trying. It can help you look at your anxiety patterns in a different way.

@colleenhaithcock216 3 months ago

I was an activity director and a rather large nursing home and in the unit that was locked down essentially that people couldn’t go out unless someone was with them, many of the people came and sat in front of the television. I had a friend who was also the nurse practitioner who charted on many of these residents, and both of us and the nurses aid decided that we were going to get these folks to sing. So we knew many of the songs that were familiar to people of that age and we started singing. The nurses aids would often time sing while they were making beds or whatever so they knew the songs and so while they were sitting around in the television room, we turned the volume of the television off and started singing, familiar songs, slowly others in the group. The people who had dementia started singing. One of these residents had been a singing teacher there were times when she would just begin singing, and others would join her. That was amazing. Some of the people were able to find speech say a few things anyway this is an incredible tool for people because when you sing, you breathe more. When you sing or when the resident sing, you can ask them if they’d like to sit in their chair and make their feet large and raise their knees in a marching pattern to give them some exercise and people who can sing are just so much easier to work with thank you for your work.

@brylynt53 3 months ago

I’m 73 with SVT. Yesterday while scrolling on my iPad, my Apple Watch told me 3 times in a row (30 minutes) that my heart rate was over 130 for 10 minutes during a period of rest. So I started humming. Within a minute my heart rate dropped to 63 beats per minute. That’s fantastic! Best wishes 🌸

@SallyO716 3 months ago

Thanks for this. 20 years ago, a year before she passed, my mother had non-Alzheimer's dementia. I visited her in the nursing home and although she did not know who I was (until I told her), when I sang old hymns from her youth, the "light" came back into her eyes and I felt she was connecting with me. Music is the universal language of praise to God, so it is no surprise to me that He uses it for us to reach our loved ones when words cannot.

@sallieschuetz1796 3 months ago

As a professional singer, I know all of this is true. Thank you for validating this for me.

@emilyS-i9f 1 month ago

My husband died very suddenly. I can’t follow a tune at all, but I would find myself humming a tone that also vibrated where my heart hurt. I guess it was calming in more ways than I realized. Thank you.

@chris-y6e3o 3 months ago

❤Neal K. Shah: Thank you for the work you do. July 1, 2026.

@marywest2896 2 months ago

I always sang, from a very young child I sang, I was taught breathing exercises to be able to hold a note for as long as possible...I had neck surgery 4 years ago and the left side of my vocal cords became damaged and it is paralyzed. . I don't sing very much at all..I lost a lot of the ability...I began to suffer from insomnia...and depression... singing with the vocal and breathing is the most calming thing I could do. I felt so present...I am going to attempt just humming.

@karenmeer2320 3 months ago

I am 61, I have 9 children, and a birth doula. I have used an "OM" for every birth and for all my clients and helped keep calm during labors and delivery. I used it and never needed pain meds and my 3 daughters used it and went to 10 cm with no pain meds. It works 50% of the time for me. But the depth and pitch, and duration are the most important. Slower. I did not know it had a name!! So soothing and anxiety relieving.

@MispelledOnPurpose 3 months ago

I played music for my parent the night they died. It seemed to be relaxing, definitely a positive response. I played a mix of familiar religious songs and favorite old tunes.

@reneecasey4721 3 months ago

good to know. your NOT selling stuff- thanks

@ghorarhoreen 3 months ago

we'll be huming down the mountian when we humm, when we humm...

@marywest2896 2 months ago

I worked with dementia patients, as a nurse, and while I worked in the hospital I was always called in to give meds to patients with dementia if they fought taking their meds...and all I would do was to ask the family what their favorite song, especially if it was a gospel song, I would sing a verse of whatever their favorite song was, after the first time through they would start to sing with me, after we sang their song, I would say would you please take your meds and we can sing more...they would and we would sing their song again...now it makes sense as to why that worked. I would instinctively sing to my dementia patients to calm them when they became agitated especially at sunset...I was told I had a gift with elderly dementia patients. I didn't realize it was the singing I guess. Thank you, that explains a lot to me about my past nursing career.

@mganesh58 3 months ago

My sister-in-law was suffering from dementia and she even forgot her son, daughter and other family members. But she used to sing Carnatic songs with her son daily over a Zoom call. She used to even correct him if he made a mistake. So it is true that music is something which a person suffering from dementia can always relate to.

@glowinthelight 3 months ago

I love humming; it relaxes me. Been doing it since I was young. I baby sat my Nieces and Nephews and I learned to hum when I put them to sleep. I am still doing it at old age.❤

@KalaKantha-pl8gd 3 months ago

Thanks for this video. Sometimes I cover my ears with my hands and hum "OM" several times. The vibrations in my brain are an unbelievable experience!

@janetbaker1945 3 months ago

A point about humming done by someone else. A young woman named Shakira worked at my doctor's office. Her job was to get the patient from the waiting room, interview him or her about the reason for coming and any life or medicine changes, and last take the vital measurements of temperature, oxygen saturation, and blood pressure. I had moderately high blood pressure usually and visiting the doc made it worse. But not when Shakira was my nurse for that day. She would put the cuff on me, and then instead of sitting down at the computer to type in her notes, she would stand quietly and hum while the machine inflated and then gradually fell. Sometimes she hummed a gospel song, sometimes an old hit, sometimes a little melody she made up. But whatever. In that two minutes my blood pressure would fall wonderfully. It did not happen with other techs, although all of them were sweet young women. Shakira just made me feel peaceful. Since then I've told other nurses aids or whatever their title is about Shakira's technique. I don't know if any took it up. This podcast makes me consider if I should take it up on my own.

@louisegagnon7840 3 months ago

I’m glad that this video was in my feed today. I’m 65 and I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t humming when I’m doing a task or an activity that doesn’t demand a lot of thinking. Every time my thoughts wander, I hum and it always bothers me. From time to time, people point to me about my humming and it makes me mad that I can’t stop. I try to think hard on staying quiet but after a while, my mind escape me and I begin humming again. Thank God it’s not very loud . Today, after listening to your video, I’m more at peace with me and I’m kind of happy that I learned about the things my humming can bring me. Thank you ☺️