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Short Stuff: Incomplete Yawns · Stuff You Should Know

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh and there's
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Chuck and this is short stuff featuring Jerry. There you go, Chuck,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: how many times did you yawn reading this? I think
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: like six or seven? Oh really, yeah, that's it in
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a minute. Well, I mean it took me a few
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: minutes to read it. Yeah, I mean like a bunch
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: of yawned quite a bit more than six or seven. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: So um, and the reason why is because everyone knows
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: yawning is contagious. And if you want to know more
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: about yawns, um, you can go listen to our episode
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: on that. I don't remember when we released it, but
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: we definitely have a yawning episode. Yeah, and not only contagious,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: but uh suggestive or suggestible mm hmm. Right. But the
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: thing is yawning. It's such a non thing for most
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: people that you just kind of take it for granted
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: until Chuck, until you have the horrible experience of not
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: being able to complete a yawn. I feel like this
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: has happened to me here and there, but not so
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: much that has been a problem, but it's happened where
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: you do notice it and you go, oh, that's not
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: satisfying at all, right. And as a matter of fact,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: they have a name for that um. Yawning researchers use
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and hadonia, which is a larger neurological term for basically
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: an inability to feel happiness or pleasure UM. And they
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: say that the an hardonia is the frustration because of
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: an incomplete or inharmonious development of a yawn, possibly due
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: to unconscious inhibition of the letting go that underlies a
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: complete yawn. And that's where yawn becomes incomplete. It's the
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: very last hitch, that very last part, which is also
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: the part that's super duper satisfying. And because it's just
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: such a there's such a process, that's that you just
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: know everybody knows that's a full yawn. If you won't
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: complete a yawn, it's really hard to just be like, oh, well,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: didn't complete that yawn. What else is there to do today? Yeah.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: It almost has the same effect of the sneeze that
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: never happens, is you sort of feel like, all right,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you owe me one, right, who are cosmos? Right? But
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: you don't set it to the side and like say
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: I'll get you later, Like at least for me, I
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: can't do anything but just spend however long it takes
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to to complete the yawn. Oh see, I think I've
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: usually just let it go. Um. It can become a
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: problem though, and it's not like a lot of times.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: It isn't just a one off like when it happens
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: to me, and that it can happen, you know, every
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: few minutes, Like I guess whether you're trying to or not,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: and we'll get to have ways you maybe can try
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: town on purpose to satisfy that completion. But uh, you know,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of things that could be going on.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: The most sort of innocent of all could just be
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: that you're stressed out or you know, you're a little
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: more anxious than usual. Because in order to yawn, you
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: have to you know, you you have to be able
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: to relax to complete that second part. Those muscles in
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: your face need to be able to have that uptick
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: where they stretch out and then sort of that relaxation
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: point where you finished the yawn. Yeah, because if you
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: stop and think about that last bit of the yawn
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: really does pull on a bunch of different muscles, and
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: if they're not loose because of anxiety or stress or whatever,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: it can it can really dampen your ability to yawn. Um.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: More troubling LYE Chuck, is it could indicate a sign
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: of dysfunction in your nervous system. I know, and that's
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: not great. Um, it could be. And here's the thing is,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: they don't like as much as they know about yawns,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: they don't fully understand how every single part of it
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: works within like biologically speaking, in your body. Because we
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: know that cortisol has something to do with it, um,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: but they just don't know exactly how it affects it.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: But they do show that like when you on you
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: have a temporary elevation of cortisol levels. So it could
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: be the central nervous system. It could be linked to uh,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: cortisol not doing what is supposed to be doing, or
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: maybe a lack of it. Yeah. I think some people
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: are saying, like, cortisol is a stress hormone that innervates
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: the central nervous system. So maybe, yeah, maybe it's just
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: not quite doing it quite enough so that your muscles
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: can be activated to stretch the way they need to.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Should we take a break, Yeah, let's take a break,
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: all right. We'll be right back beyond. Very quietly once,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: by the way in the first part and we'll be
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: right back. So Chuck, if you find yourself in this
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: desperate effort along the very edge of sanity, UM, there
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: are some things you can do to help complete that yawn,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: because again, the universe owes you, um, and you need
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: to get with yours right, that's right. I never really
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: thought of putting that way, but I love it. Uh.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: You need to get what's coming your way. And one
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: of the ways that you can do it is, um, well,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: one is to just open your mouth really wide. Sometimes
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: that can help trigger yawn. Yeah, just the very the
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: very act of doing that like almost primes your mind
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: to do a yawn. Your your mind's like, okay, fine,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: we'll just go ahead and yawn and UM. This actually
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: there's it's a multi step process. Like you if you don't,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: um start yawning, basically right after you open your mouth,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: you're supposed to just hold your mouth open until you do,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: and that will start the yawn and that yawn will
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: get started. And it doesn't mean it's going to get complete,
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: but you don't give up, you um, you just kind
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: of keep holding on even mid yawn, like mouth wide open.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: You've already drawn in, you know, a pretty significant breath,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: but you haven't reached the end until finally your your
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: central nervous system is like, alright, find we'll we'll give
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: it that last little kick and then you can completely yawn.
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: So it takes patience and it also takes concentration to
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: not concentrate and help it along just to let it happen.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: You're just making your body let it happen. Yeah, I
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: mean it sounds. Uh, it's ways you're said than done
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: than say like try and relax, but you should try
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: and relax. Um. One thing that you can also do,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: because we said they're contagious and it's not. You don't
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: have to be in the room with someone. You can
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: maybe listen to this episode and here's say the word
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: yawn a bunch. You can go on. I'm sure there
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: are YouTube videos of people just yawning one after the other,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: uh and different ways. And if you watch that stuff
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: and listen to that kind of thing, or read the
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: word yawn over and over, that can work. Yeah. Even
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: if you're like listening to this music of yawn Hommer,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: it might get you going. It's that contagious. Wait who
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: he did acts a left from Bevere top so and
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: I think he also did some Miami vice work too.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: So there's one thing that a lot of people will
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: tell you to do that is actually counterproductive. You should
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: not do it because deep yawning is you know, part
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: of it is taking a very deep breath. Some people say,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: take a bunch of deep breaths, like basically like you're
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: pulling on a lawnmower engine cord, but doing it through breathing,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: And that actually is probably not going to work, especially
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: if the reason why you can't yawns you're stressed out
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: or anxious, because you're probably going to hyperventilate yourself by
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: taking those deep breaths, And what that tells your body
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: is that, yes, and need I'm anxious because hyperventilating is
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: a part of anxiety. And now you're saying I'm super
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: duper anxious, and it will probably have the opposite effect.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: It will make it even harder for you to complete
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: a yawn. Yeah, not good, don't wanna don't a deep breath? Um,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: you know, we'll finish up. I guess with a couple
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: of other uh. And I think we probably talked about
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: this and yawning, but it's worth talking about again. A
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: couple of other maladies with yawning, and am I to
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: understand that disappearance of yawning means that you just don't
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: yawn anymore at all. The way that I took it
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: is that you do yawn, but you you you no
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: longer pay attention to it. It's not rewarding, it's not satisfying.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: You don't even realize you're doing it. Um, And that
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: it indicates like, uh, you're missing like that hit of
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: dopamine that makes yawning pleasant. And it's actually an indicator
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: of Parkinson's in some some cases. Interesting, Okay, I thought
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: that maybe it went away altogether. Yeah, you'd think so
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: with the name, but they just kind of came up
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: a clunky name. Uh. The other is excessive yawning, which
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: I know we talked about because there have been some
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: really sort of you know, it might sound kind of
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: funny that you can't stop yawning, but it's not funny
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: at all. Um, if you stop laughing, everybody, Yeah, you
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: have something that is overtaken your body. Uh. It can
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: be very disruptive, even if it's something as simple as
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: a yawn, And there have been all kinds of stories
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: about people that yawned for, you know, days and days
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: and weeks at a time. I can't remember what the
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: record was with that one lady, but it's uh, you know,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: it's not a good thing. No, no doing anything too often.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: It's not a good thing. They say moderation is the
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: key to life. Right, So yeah, I could think of
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: a couple of things. Well, since Chuck just said something hilarious,
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: I think that this one's over, don't you. Okay, Short
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: stuff is out, everybody. Stuff you Should Know is a
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
• 9:58
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• 10:01
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