Or moan or make sounds?
When getting up from a seat. When sitting down after a long day. When taking a sip of cold water on a hot day. When the feeling of the warmth from a cup seeps into your skin. When getting a hug from a dear friend.
Why do so many of us find it so hard to make these animalistic, raw sounds? Even quietly. I'm not saying roar, although I think there needs to be spaces for people (esp women) to let our their rage and roar, but that's a post for another time.
Sounds we make help our nervous system regulate. (see links below for the science-y stuff). Sounds create waves in the atmosphere. Sounds take up space and create (dis)ruptions in our worlds.
Humming and singing have been part of many (most) cultures, especially to sing or hum with others. A collective regulating of nervous systems vs an individual one. Although both are important. I think organized religion provided a place for this, and it's one of the things that many of us miss (maybe sub-consciously, maybe not).
My pup laying next to me sighs and groans with a kind of uninhibited free-ness that I envy.
I hear it most in yoga or meditation class. When your are given explicit permission and encouragement to make noise. To exhale with an audible sigh. Yet, in our day-to-day lives that's unbecoming somehow.
There are spaces where sound is expected (obviously sex, "ummm, yummy!"), or a workout class, the grunting. "I am lifting heavy things!"
I'm guilty of the same. I am swimming in the same water of the social conditioning of our culture. I often repress my yawns, and sighs and groans of relief when stretching, but am finding myself paying more attention to those times.
I worry about people who sit through an entire movie, or go through a whole day without making a sound. Are you ok?
Where are moments that you find yourself making sounds of release and regulation? What does your body feel like when are able to release? Thoughts?
Reference Notes:
University of Ottawa: How to Stimulate Your Vagus Nerve for Better Mental Health
National Institute of Health: Humming as a Stress Buster
Oprah Daily: Humming Health Benefits