Granted, me yawning during Yoga isn’t strange or uncommon in itself. I simply hadn’t attached too much thought or importance to the fact. This yawn however, hit me differently. Whilst I felt my own performance during the practice was suboptimal, I didn’t feel like I was particularly sleepy or sluggish in the moment.
Was this a sign that my body was priming me to take it easy? Was there a correlation between the yawn and my perceived suboptimal performance levels? I realized I knew very little about yawning conceptually, and decided to do some research.
There isn’t common, definitive scientific consensus as to why human beings yawn. There are, however, theories abound. I will attempt to contextualize common theories against a Yoga practice, and hopefully you will be less in the dark than I was the next time you yawn during a Yoga session.
A common school of thought that you are probably familiar with is that yawning wakes your body and mind up. This can be done by increasing oxygen to the brain. There are, however, studies that show that the rate of yawning in high oxygen environments are not significantly lesser. In addition to oxygen, yawning can also increase blood flow to the brain. How can this apply in Yoga? The following two scenarios come to mind.
I believe that a yawn can actually be your body’s way to attempt to ‘heighten’ itself in preparation for a peak pose. Peak poses can typically require higher levels of physical exertion as well as concentration; your body might be trying to allocate more blood and oxygen to your brain accordingly.
It is not uncommon for certain Yoga sessions (Yin Yoga for example) to induce natural relaxation, peace and stillness. Even for non Yin Yoga, it is likely that your final resting pose will be Savasana. Your heart rate average will likely decrease during these periods of tranquility, and yawning might be your body’s way of preparing itself for operating in not-as-zen environments after the fact.
Another common train of thought surrounding yawning is that it is a natural mechanism to regulate the temperature of your brain through increased air intake. Given this argument, I have two theories on how Yoga specifically might contribute to this context.
In exercise, it is natural that our internal body temperatures increase due to the increased activity levels experienced. It is also a natural instinct for us to rely on our mouths to breathe in heavy exertion contexts. In Yoga however, there is a focus to rely on your nose, as opposed to your mouth, for breathing as much as possible.
Yoga is a practice that can be largely described as controlled exertion. Whilst the ultimate aim of nasal based breathing is to allow you to be more centered in your breath and have higher activation of your diaphragm, leading to deeper breathing entirely, it is not uncommon to lose discipline of the process, leading to shallower breaths and overall reduction in air intake.
A yawn might therefore be an equalizer to ‘catch up’ on the air intake your body needs, in relation to the exertion it might be experiencing.
Disclaimer, this theory of mine is completely academic at this moment. I do not have any stats to validate whether adopting Ujjayi breathing actually contributes to a higher propensity to yawn.
Ujjayi breath is a great way to warm up your body internally. Combine that with the physical nature of your practice and you can see why temperature regulation might be required from time to time.
If you regularly practice with Ujjayi breathing and want to validate or debunk this theory of mine, please do get in touch! I am extremely interested in understanding your experience on this front.
Have you ever been to a foot reflexology session? It is rare that you will get both feet and legs massaged at the same time. A masseuse typically works on one leg before moving on to the next. Do you feel an obvious imbalance when one leg has been fully worked and the other ignored?
I believe this principle applies (in a much more subtle manner) when it comes to yawning in Yoga. Whilst a Yoga session can work and stretch many different and often overlooked areas of your body, a yawn offers a stretch to very targeted and otherwise hard to access muscles / organs.
A yawn usually a larger than usual intake of breath, leading to a stretch of your lung tissue, diaphragm muscle and your trachea muscle. A deep breath also leads to your ribcage expanding upwards, activating your intercostal (rib) muscles. Lastly and most obviously, a yawn can stretch your jaw muscles. Do remember to not keep your jaw clenched even if you are attempting to hold challenging and difficult poses!