On Yawning

I yawn often. Especially in the morning. Especially on dreary rainy mornings like this one. And not in the positive way that Centered and Connected suggests. I had an 83-year-old Italian professor in college who, if he saw you yawning in class, would stop his lecture and either wait until you apologized to him for your lack of propriety, or would walk up to your desk and congratulate you—with as much sarcasm as the Italian language can convey (which is a lot)—for such an accomplishment. Then he would ask the offender if there was anything that he could do to make the lesson more interesting. An espresso? Some exercises? An early dismissal—permanently? Needless to say, after witnessing these events, yawning was the last thing on my mind in his class.

But yawning can be good for us. It’s a stretch for your face, and can ease tension that your muscles hold in that area. Have a look at the following two exercises on yawning, excerpted from Centered and Connected: A Therapeutic Approach to Mind-Body Awareness by Thea Rytz.

Yawning

Easing Tension and Refreshing Yourself
You can always stretch in your daily life, and you don’t have to lie down to do it. You can, for example, pull up your shoulders to your ears, make fists with your hands, and listen for the impulse to stretch.

The following ideas may serve as helpful reminders so that you remember to stretch and relax: Stick a note on your computer or have your computer make a sound at regular intervals. If you live with children, stretch and roll around with them, and maybe imitate lions and tigers growling and hissing. If you have to stand a lot, sit down from time to time and have a good long backstretch.

Stretching in bed can relax muscle tension and help you to fall asleep more easily.
In the morning before getting up, it may support you to make a gentle transition between sleeping and being awake. Feel free to yawn during breakfast and later on as well. Yawning refreshes your body with oxygen and often brings a release. Sigh sometimes, even if you don’t have a “reason” to do so.

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
Consider situations in which you think you may have bitten off more than you can chew—situations that might be very demanding or distressing. In these situations, you could try to focus your attention on your jaw joints, gently placing your hands on them and massaging the musculature.

In bed in the evening after a stressful day, hold your head between your hands or place your hands on your forehead. Become aware of what you sense, feel, and
think. Try to relax your jaw. The next day may be stressful as well. Instead of worrying about what it will be like, try to focus on the present moment, the sensation in your head, jaw joints, and body. Get some rest and relaxation.

Notice situations in which you clamp your teeth together—for instance, when you are in great pain, or when you are disappointed and on the verge of tears. As soon as the unpleasant situation has passed, take some time to ease the tension. Holding back feelings can be useful and appropriate, but it is always connected with muscle tension. There’s nothing bad about muscle tension, unless the tension gets stuck in one’s body, where it will create stress or pain in the long.

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What about you? Do you notice your yawns? What are you doing to get your mind to listen to your body?