TL;DR • The vagus nerve is the body's master regulator of calm — and it runs directly through the larynx, which is why the voice is one of the fastest tools for nervous-system regulation. • Peer-reviewed evidence (2024 Sage scoping review; 2024 Wiley narrative review) confirms that singing, humming, and slow vocal exhale measurably reduce anxiety, cortisol, and depressive symptoms. • Perukua has built her four-decade practice on this physiological truth — long before the science caught up with it. |
Why the Voice Is the Body's Calm Switch
The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body. It originates at the base of the skull and travels through the neck — passing directly through the larynx — and down into the heart, lungs, and digestive system. When the vagus nerve is well-toned, the body shifts more easily into the parasympathetic state required for digestion, sleep, sexual response, and emotional regulation. When it is poorly toned, the body lives chronically in low-grade fight-or-flight.
Because the vagus nerve passes through the larynx, anything that vibrates the larynx — humming, singing, sighing on the exhale, chanting — directly stimulates the nerve. This is no longer a metaphor. The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS) has documented this relationship, and a 2022 randomized study by Inbaraj et al. found that Om chanting significantly increased heart rate variability, the most reliable physiological marker of vagal tone.
What Perukua Says About Voice as Bridge
Long before the polyvagal vocabulary entered mainstream wellness, Perukua was teaching women that the voice is the most direct route between body and mind. In her 2023 Grief and Rebirth Podcast conversation she said: “The voice is the bridge between the soul and the body.”
She has expanded this in her LA Weekly interview: “Each song is like an elixir of healing because it brings to light a different sickness or aspect or something that needs healing in a woman. Whenever I’m singing, I have this enormous power coming through my body.”
And on the integration that has structured her practice: “I created a practice where people are entering the body, releasing fear and anxiety, and nourishing the body with their voice, their breath, and their touch.”
“The voice is the bridge between the soul and the body.” — Perukua, Grief and Rebirth Podcast (Irene Weinberg), 2023 |
The Evidence: Singing, Humming, and Mental Health
A 2024 scoping review in Music & Science (Sage) examined eleven studies of singing interventions for depression between 2013 and 2023. Group singing produced statistically significant reductions in depressive symptoms across the body of work, mediated by neurochemical change (notably oxytocin and reduced cortisol), breath regulation, and social connection.
A 2024 narrative review in Brain-X (Wiley) confirmed singing as a low-cost, low-side-effect intervention for depression and anxiety, and highlighted Wulff and colleagues' 2021 RCT (n=120) showing that mothers' singing to their infants significantly reduced maternal postnatal anxiety and cortisol levels.
A Three-Minute Vagal Tone Practice
This practice can be done seated, standing, or lying down. Inhale slowly through the nose for four counts. On the exhale, hum quietly — at any pitch — until the breath ends. The exhale should be at least twice as long as the inhale. Repeat for ten cycles, which takes about three minutes.
What changes is not dramatic and is not meant to be. You will feel the chest soften slightly, the shoulders drop a few millimeters, the mind quiet a little. This is the vagus nerve doing its job. With repetition over weeks, the baseline tone improves and the body returns to calm more easily on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does humming actually stimulate the vagus nerve? Yes. The vagus nerve passes through the larynx, and vibration from humming, singing, or chanting directly activates it. Studies of Om chanting and structured singing show measurable increases in heart rate variability — the standard physiological marker of vagal tone. How long until I feel the effect? Most people feel some shift within a few minutes of practice. Durable improvement in baseline tone usually appears after four to eight weeks of daily practice. Do I need to be able to sing well? No. The physiological effect comes from the vibration in the larynx, not from musical quality. Humming, sighing on the exhale, and quiet chanting work equally well. |
In Closing
The voice is the body's calm switch — and it is built in. No equipment, no membership, no prescription. Three minutes of humming a day is, by the standards of contemporary neuroscience, one of the most reliable interventions a midlife woman can give her own nervous system.
References & Quote Sources
1 | The Vagus Nerve and Voice. National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS). |
2 | Wei Y. et al. Singing interventions in depression: a scoping review. Music & Science (Sage), 2024. |
3 | Wang et al. Music therapy for depression: A narrative review. Brain-X (Wiley), 2024. |
4 | Inbaraj et al. Om chanting and heart rate variability, 2022. |
5 | Wulff V. et al. RCT on maternal singing and postnatal anxiety, 2021. |
6 | Perukua interview, Grief and Rebirth Podcast (Irene Weinberg), 2023. |
7 | Perukua interview, LA Weekly. |
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