Why Can’t I Stop Yawning?
By: Edie Tuck
Tags: Empathy, Yawning, Body, Health, Brain

I’ve yawned about fifteen times between the time I typed the title of this article and the time I finally chose an image and uploaded it. And I yawned again just now. I have a feeling I’ll be yawning throughout this entire article.

Why Do We Yawn?

The most popular theory is that our body needs more oxygen; let’s nip that one in the bud right now. That is false. Although you are in fact bringing more oxygen into your body when you yawn, that’s not why you do it.

When I was little, I had this strange and irrational fear that if I yawned in the dark and didn’t cover my mouth, the devil would see it and sneak in. I’m really not sure where that came from, as I’m sure nobody ever told me that. But for years, I would go as far as pulling the blankets over my head and covering my mouth with both hands before yawning. Glad I got over that one…would make for some pretty awkward pillow talk.

In actuality, there are many things that can trigger yawning; tiredness, boredom, exertions — these are all things that will cause your brain temperature to change. The root — or real — reason we yawn is that it’s our body’s built-in brain-cooling mechanism. Basically, it stops us from being hot-heads…literally.

“ You may also find yourself yawning more if you get migraines. During a migraine, your blood clots in your brain. Yawning helps to cool your brain down from that clotting.” — Jennifer Purdy, Healthline

Scientists say that so our brains don’t over-heat, our body brings in rushes of cooler air — by yawning, not only do we fill our lungs with lots of cool air, but our jaw and face muscles stretch (and sometimes our entire bodies, if you’re anything like me!) which gives our circulation a boost and allows that cool air to get to our brain faster.

It might be embarrassing if we do it in public; we don’t want others to feel like we’re bored. I’ve often heard ‘keeping you up?’ whenever I yawn in front of others — it’s actually an involuntary action and you shouldn’t try to stifle it (as I often do). When you yawn it’s because you need to. It isn’t a sign of disrespect; it’s your brain’s way of staying cool.

( Photo by Serena Koi from Pexels)

The Contagion is Real

You look at someone when they’re yawning, and before you know it, you’re yawning yourself. And then they’re yawning again — it’s a vicious cycle. You can even just read about it and off you go… you just yawned, didn’t you? I’ve been yawning since I started this! And as I just learned, domestic animals and certain other species also suffer from this phenomenon; my cat just proved it to me by following my yawn with one of his own. Too cute!

But why is it contagious? The simple answer is empathy. Just as you might laugh when someone else laughs, or cry if someone else cries.

Experts say we’re more likely to involuntarily mimic the yawn of someone we care about than a stranger, but speaking only for myself, it truly doesn’t matter who it is. A perfect stranger on the street, someone on television…the dog… I’m actually considering cutting this piece right here because dammit, I can’t stop yawning!

Make It Stop!

Not tired, but can’t stop yawning? Try taking several deep breaths, or drinking cold water to cool yourself down. Taking slow, deep breaths, in through your mouth, will mimic the effect that yawning does; filling your lungs with cool air — doing this outdoors if it’s a cool day (cooler than in your home), will help this along even better. The same goes for drinking cold water; it will cool your blood so that it’s not as hot when it goes up to your brain.

…if nothing works, maybe you’re tired and just don’t know it; take a nap!

Sweet dreams…yawn! Zzzz…..