There are many more voluntary human functions and movements than there are involuntary, but some functions, like coughing and blinking, are voluntary and involuntary.
Try using the descriptions below to identify the involuntary behavior of humans and many animals.
The act mimics the look of a lion’s roar with the sucking in and exhaling of air.
This function typically includes watery eyes, whether the eyes are opened or closed.
If you haven’t figured out the involuntary behavior, this next clue will synch the correct answer.
Many believe this action to be contagious.
The described human and animal behavior is y-a-w-n-i-n-g.
Some people yawn just thinking or reading about yawning. I start yawning, looking at a picture of someone yawning.
Yawning is contagious.
Many refer to its contagiousness as ‘catching a yawn.’ Do people catch your yawn, or do you catch the yawn of others?
Why is yawning contagious?
There are more than a few studies and theories about this phenomenon. One prevailing theory is people who catch a yawn are empathetic or receptive to others who yawn. Nonempathetic people are less likely to yawn when someone else does.
Although everyone yawns, everyone doesn’t catch a yawn.
Can people yawn without opening their mouths like a yawning or roaring lion?
A yawn wouldn’t actually be a yawn without an open mouth. One’s mouth automatically flies open.
And the polite thing to do is to cover one’s mouth. No one wants to look at someone’s tonsils.
Babies have the most adorable yawns. They don’t have to be polite.
The yawn begins with a wide-open mouth. Air rushes in when the jaw, throat, and chest muscles do their thing. When yawing, we inhale more air than when we take a breath. The jaw movement, intake, and exhaling of air can create weird sounds or noises.
Yawning is spontaneous and unconscious behavior.
People don’t plan to yawn or do it purposely. It just happens naturally and uninhibitedly.
Although we know yawning alerts the body and brain, why we yawn remains a biological phenomenon steeped in mystery. Some studies say air intake during a yawn increases the blood flow and cools the brain.
Why yawning is contagious to some and not to others also includes theories.
In addition to the theory about empathetic response, some think yawning is contagious because it’s associated with a group behavior.
When do we yawn?
People yawn when they’re drowsy, sleepy, tired, bored, or not stimulated.
When my husband requests my assistance with a DIH (do-it-himself) project, within a few minutes, I yawn. It never fails. I wait while he measures or tinkles with this or that, and the yawns continue until I exit stage left. It’s the strangest thing.
Regardless of why we yawn and its contagious, there are times we don’t want to yawn. The involuntary reflex can cause embarrassment.
Yawning during a job interview
Yawing on stage
Yawning without covering one’s mouth
Yawning out loud
Ways to avoid embarrassing yawns at inopportune times.
Drink a cold beverage
Stay engaged
Yawning is a biological function; science has much more to learn about its mysteries.
Be well.