Exploring the health benefits of bhramari pranayama (humming bee breathing): A comprehensive literature review

Abstract

Bhramari pranayama is a popular, widely practiced and researched pranayama in yoga that is described in many ancient Indian yoga texts. Several experiments have been conducted on bhramari pranayama to investigate its potential health benefits. The present review aimed to explore all currently available experimental research on bhramari pranayama and its health benefits. We investigate Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar to conduct our literature review. The databases mentioned above were searched in April 2023, and 46 experimental studies between 2006 and 2023 – including 18 single-arm clinical trials, 22 clinically controlled trials (CCTs) and six randomised control trials (RCTs) – were considered in the final evaluation for qualitative synthesis. Bhramari pranayama has been found in RCTs and CCTs to have a positive effect on psychological, cardiovascular and pulmonary health; it may also help those with hypertension and tinnitus lessen the associated symptoms of their conditions. Bhramari pranayama practice is found to be associated with higher levels of attention, quality of sleep, parasympathetic activity and pulmonary functioning and lower levels of stress, anxiety, depression, sympathetic activity and blood pressure across the included studies. This comprehensive review of the literature looked at each experimental trial of bhramari pranayama that examined people’s general health as well as specific medical conditions. To fill in the gaps in the currently available literature, researchers can organise their investigations to address these gaps and carry out more extensive research on bhramari pranayama in the future with the aid of this review.