The Magical Benefits of Yawning
Feeling like you need to yawn? Yeah, me too.
That’s ok though. Go ahead and yawn. In fact, I encourage it. Even if you don’t feel like yawning, go ahead and give it a go. Give yourself half a dozen good yawns. I bet you end up feeling refreshed and more alert by the time you finish. Don’t worry, I’ll wait. In fact, I think I’ll even join you…
There, doesn’t that feel better? I know I feel better.
So here’s the deal: a wealth of medical information shows that yawning actually has significant benefits. Everyone knows that you yawn when tired – but why is that? It’s actually because yawning helps to relieve the brain of the feeling of being sleepy. So when used at a time when you aren’t about to nod off, yawning’s effects can actually perk you up and bring the brain to a higher cognitive state. Similar to some meditation techniques (and actually activating similar structures in the brain) yawning can very rapidly induce a level of awareness that may take minutes with meditation.
Yawning is also highly contagious. You may have even felt like yawning just by looking at the photos at the top of this article? Why is that significant? It is because yawning activates a region of the brain thought to be involved in empathy, thus, when you and others yawn together it can actually help you work better together.
So if anyone ever tells you yawning is rude, just explain to them that it’s an important neurological function, and it actually is helping you become more alert, more aware, and more a part of whatever is going on.
