How to Do Nasal Humming (the Nitric Oxide Practice)
How to do nasal humming: hum on each exhale for 1-2 minutes, then breathe slowly through the nose to carry the released nitric oxide onward.
Why it works
Humming sets up oscillating airflow between the nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses, and that oscillation dramatically increases the exchange of air between the two — which is why measured nasal nitric oxide rises many-fold during humming compared with quiet exhalation. The nitric oxide itself is not created by the humming; it is continuously produced in the sinus lining and normally stays trapped there behind narrow openings. Humming is essentially a pump that flushes that reservoir into the airstream, which is why the following breath matters as much as the hum: nitric oxide released into the nose only reaches the lower airway if the next breath is a nasal one.
How to do it
- After waking, sit upright and breathe in through the nose.
- Hum steadily on the exhale for the full exhale duration.
- Repeat for 10-20 breath cycles (about 1-2 minutes).
- Follow immediately with slow nasal breathing for another minute to carry the accumulated NO into the lungs.
Evidence
What is actually measured is narrow and solid: Weitzberg & Lundberg (2002) found that humming substantially increases nasal nitric oxide compared with quiet exhalation. That finding is about the concentration of nitric oxide in the nasal airway — nothing more. It is not evidence that humming improves immunity, infection resistance, cardiovascular health, or athletic performance. (mechanistic)
Treat this as a measured change in nasal gas concentration, not a health outcome. No trial has shown that a daily humming routine produces a clinical benefit in healthy people, and any claim connecting humming to immune or antiviral effects goes well past what the research supports.
Sources
- Weitzberg & Lundberg (2002), Humming Greatly Increases Nasal Nitric Oxide, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Common mistake
Humming but immediately breathing through the mouth afterwards, which means the nitric oxide flushed out of the sinuses is never carried into the lower airway at all — the hum did its job and the next breath discarded the result.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Nasal Breathing for Performance
- Mouth taping during sleep
Place a small strip of paper tape over your lips at bedtime to encourage nasal breathing through the night.
- Nasal-only breathing during light-to-moderate exercise
Train yourself to breathe exclusively through the nose at a pace where you can sustain it.
- BOLT score — measure your CO2 tolerance
The Body Oxygen Level Test gives you a repeatable number to track nasal breathing progress.
- Reduced-volume breathing to raise CO2 tolerance
Breathe slightly less than your body demands — a mild air hunger — to recalibrate the CO2 set point.
- Breathe light to breathe right (nasal at rest)
Maintain habitual nasal breathing at rest by consciously catching and correcting mouth-breathing episodes throughout the day.
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- The Wim Hof Method, Honestly Assessed
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- Nostril Breathing: Pranayama for Calm and Focus
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