Is It Good to Yawn and Stretch Our Body After Waking Up?

Yawning and stretching our body after wake up is a common habit that people
usually do. Most of the people don’t even realize that they are yawning and
stretching their body after wake up. It is a default action that most of the people
do and there is nothing wrong in it.

What is Yawning?

Yawning is a mostly involuntary process of opening the mouth and breathing in
deeply, filling the lungs with air. A very natural response to being tired. In fact, yawning is usually triggered by sleepiness or fatigue. Some yawns are short, and some last for several seconds before an open-mouthed exhale.

Sometimes yawning happens even if you are not tired. The reason why we yawn
after wake up is because the body wants to wake itself up. The motion helps
stretch the lungs and their tissues, and it allows the body to flex its muscles and
joints. It may also force blood toward your face and brain to increase alertness.

Why do We are Stretch Our Body?

When you sleep, your muscles lose tone and fluid tends to pool along your
back. Stretching helps to massage fluid gently back into the normal position. Also, your muscles protect themselves from over-extension by inhibiting the nerve impulses as they approach their limit.

Stretching, first thing in the morning can relieve any tension or pain from sleeping the night before. It also helps increase your blood flow and prepares your body for the day ahead. Stretching before bed relaxes your muscles and helps prevent you from waking up with more pain.

By stretching right after you wake up, you are actually helping your muscles relax. Tense muscles are what lead to poor posture. By keeping up with regular stretching, you are relaxing and lengthening your muscles which keep your back in better shape and improves your overall body posture.

Subconscious stretching is known as pandiculation, and it is a behavior seen in most mammals. It thought that yawning and stretching when you wake up could be your body's way of modifying tension in your fascia. Fascia is connective tissue that surrounds the muscles, organs, and blood vessels throughout your body.

Stretching tends to feel good because it activates your parasympathetic nervous
system and increases blood flow to your muscles. It is thought that stretching may also release endorphins that help to reduce pain and enhance your mood.

What is Pandiculation?

Pandiculation is a act of stretching oneself and yawning, especially upon waking.
However, our automatic pandicular response has far more significance than
simply prompting us to stretch and yawn.

When we slowly, consciously, and in-sync with our breath, we can begin to
restore our alpha-gamma loop function with the consistent practice of muscular
contraction and releasing, stretching and yawning.

This leads to less muscle tension and more overall ease. This is called voluntarily pandiculating. In short, Pandiculation is the act of yawning and stretching simultaneously.

Benefits of Pandiculation