Theres a right time and place when it comes to yawning.

Work isnt the place for it if you want to look alert and prepared.

Yawning in a class isnt great either.

Itll annoy your professor and youre likely to miss something important.

Yawning in the middle of a conversation: also not ideal.

Youll look bored and detached.

Have you yawned yet?

Well, get it out now, because youre about to read a lot about it.

Welcome to the weird world of yawning, in which there are few answers and a multitude of questions.

Why does simply talking about yawning get us to yawn?

How do we stop a yawn when we feel one coming on in the depths of our souls?

And how many more times can I mention yawning before these sentences become a blur?

But forget everything you know about yawning.

Turns out that [it] facilitates physiological processes which facilitate brain cooling, Gallup said.

So it essentially alters the rate and temperature of blood flow traveling to the brain.

In other words, a simple yawn actually prevents your brain from overheating.

Then why do you tend to do it when youre especially tired?

Well, it coincides with two times when your body temperature is at its highest, according to Gallup.

Other hypotheses include yawning as a simple transitional tool when your bodys in a state of change.

According to Gallup, contagious yawning is defined as the kind that is triggered by social cues.

Empathy is defined as the ability to affected by or share the emotional state of others, he said.

Change your breathing to avoid a yawn

Need to stop a yawn quick?

And if an ice pack looks weird, simply change how you breathe.

The reason for that is that repetitive nasal breathing actually cools areas of the frontal cortex.

And if that doesnt work, try getting some sleep while youre at it.

It might not solve your yawning problem, but youll be benefit from it either way.

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