Yawning - Is It The Most Efficient, Healthy Breath?

[DMF]

What's going on in the body - specifically with breathing while one yawns as opposed to when they're just breathing "regularly" - is one taking in more air (oxygen) and then expelling more CO2? It has almost a revitalizing, energizing sensation to it....

 

[lollipop]

I read it is to cool the brain by taking in a large amount of oxygen. Not sure exactly.

 

[DMF]

What - only 1 response...???
I thought this would be SO interesting
but I guess NOT ! ! !

 

[Diokine]

Is yawning a tool for wakefulness or for sleep?

Yawning is very interesting, I think the stretching of the tissues in the neck acts to "reset" electrical potentials in a sense.

 

[Bartman5]

This may give you some answers

Penn Gazette | Essays | Notes from the Undergrad

 

[Prosper]

I almost never yawn these days. When I was on escitalopram I felt like yawning all the time, but the yawning never relieved anything like it normally does. My jaw and neck just wanted to go through the motion.

I suspect yawning is a reflex that activates when something prevents regular breathing from maintaining sufficient levels of whatever in the brain. When the body is working optimally, there probably is not much need for it. "Cooling down the brain" sounds like vague blog-science.

 

[Xisca]

@DMF I made a full threat about breathing with yawning, and I explained also what it does. Basically, it is a way for the nervous system to accompagny a shift from sympathic to parasympathic state. When you breath in more or can't finish the yawn, it means it ost to relax. When you have a good full exhale, you can feel you are more relaxed.

 

[Whataboutbob]

Interesting......years ago when I was on ssri "paxil"yawning was one of the side affects.......... I would yawn on and off all day...... I wonder what was going on.

 

[DMF]

This may give you some answers

Penn Gazette | Essays | Notes from the Undergrad

Interesting - thanks much

 

[Djukami]

All antidepressants gave me this side effect too. I would yawn a lot. Ah!, and sleep a lot too.

Also, for whatever reason, dairy makes me yawn too.

 

[milk_lover]

I force myself to yawn on airplanes to open my ears so I can hear normally again due to, I think, its pressure gradient leveling effect.

 

[Capt Nirvana]

What - only 1 response...???
I thought this would be SO interesting
but I guess NOT ! ! !

Andrew Murray asked Dr. Peat about extended yawning for me, and his reply was, "Although some people think it's a possible diagnostic sign, I don't think it's specific enough to be useful, and I don't know of anything that's benefited by intentional yawning. It cools the brain, and it's not good to cool the brain too much." However, the rest of my question (paraphrased) wasn't answered: "It's interesting that everything Ray Peat is "against" (absolutely or conditionally) facilitates yawning (acetylcholine, adrenocorticotropic hormone, carbon monoxide, dopamine, estrogen, excitatory amino acids, nitric oxide, oxytocin, noradrenaline, prolactin, and serotonin), and everything he's "for" (absolutely and conditionally) inhibits yawning (GABA, melatonin, neurotensin, opioid peptides, and testosterone). Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Also, I've personally remedied many cases of edema by simply getting people to yawn and stretch (pandiculate) to the point of activating their lacrimal glands while simultaneously putting pressure on their Achilles tendons (the same tendons used for the Achilles Reflex Test used to diagnose hypothyroidism). The man who taught me this technique praised the benefits of a "cool brain" and a "hot tailpipe." The brain (the ovum grown to maturity) runs better "cool," and the spine (the sperm grown to maturity) runs better "hot," and the medulla oblongata (where the sperm penetrated the ovum) is the thermostat.

 

[Xisca]

Ray Peat is not convincing about anything about the autonomic nervous system. He is nevertheless right about "intentional ". Well it will often become spontaneous! It is an autonomic sign. Well nobody said anything about my previous post...
It depends if the accent is on inhale or exhale.

No surprise then for those Who were on SSRI.... if you have a ssymparhetic shut down meant to avoid a sympathetic state of anxiety!