You've done this I'm sure. You see someone else yawning and it makes you want to yawn too. You try to stifle your yawn, but anyone looking at you can tell what's going on. Or maybe you just let go and yawn real big. Maybe you set off an epidemic of full and suppressed yawns. Ho-hum...
Yawning comes natural to infants and even fetuses according to a story I recently read. However, there seems to be no evidence that babies are stimulated to yawn by seeing others yawn. Contagious yawning doesn't develop until around age five. Is it a learned behavior perhaps?
I can be a sucker for a yawn. I enjoy yawning. It is a relaxing exercise that can help bring me sleep or it can be a reviving action that energizes me with more oxygen. And when I see someone else yawning whether it be in person or on television, I too will often be given that inspiration to yawn.
Picture a baby stretching its arms and legs as it writhes a big yawn. When I imagine that it makes me want to yawn. But maybe I'm boring you. Maybe you don't care about youthful young yawners.
Do you sleep like a baby? Do you ever do yawning or breathing exercises to help you relax? Are you sensitive to contagious yawning?
Oh yeah, someone yawns, and I'm going to yawn as well.
ReplyDeleteDo you sleep like a baby? At one time I'd say yes I sleep like a baby and for the most part, I do get adequate sleep according to my Apple watch but there are morning when I feel like I didn't rest well at all despite my sleep log reading. Do you ever do yawning or breathing exercises to help you relax? Not regularly. On occasion when I'm having a difficult time drifting off I'll do some deep breathing for relaxation. It helps most of the time. Stressful situations may make it more difficult, though. The only thing I found that really works is talking to God.
ReplyDeleteOnly He can sooth my mind to make me fall asleep. Are you sensitive to contagious yawning? Yes, when I see someone yawn, I will yawn, too. In fact, I'm yawn frequently throughout the day and as bedtime approaches my yawns grown closer. However, the second I lay down I feel wide awake...at least for a short time. This was a fun read!
It can be entertaining to watch a yawn spread through a group. There really isn't another phenomenon like it that I can think of.
ReplyDeleteHa! Now I just yawned...
ReplyDeleteI try to yawn before my deep breathing exercise when I'm trying to go to sleep. The most irritating time is when you try to yawn and your body stops just short of one. So frustrating and unsatisfying!
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I learned something from my dog's trainers. A dog yawns when it's nervous, when it's stressed, to let off anxiety. I knew that about ferrets, but not dogs. Mine yawns a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm posting right below another Lisa! I'm visiting from April A to Z. Just reading this made me want to yawn! I have used breathing exercises many times in order to relax.
ReplyDeleteI was going to tell you a story about how Misty seems to always time her sighs just right- then I remembered a sigh is not a yawn.
ReplyDeleteCW, but I do think some sighs are closely related to yawns.
DeleteLee