The primary function of a yawn is to provide
a short preview of the sleeping state to induce
prolonged sleep. In order to do so, the
body mimics the sleeping state in one motion.
Examining the physiology of the yawn will reveal
the bodies motives; the reduction of senses to
provide a similar state of that during sleep. By
providing an experience similar to the state the
body is urging the consciousness to enter into,
the body and mind can communicate effectively.
Seeing is reduced by closing the eyes, hearing
is empirically reduced (possibly from the
connection of the Eustachian tube to the back of
the throat and inhale of oxygen), the jaw
contraction and deep inhale of oxygen thwarts
the sense of smell and taste with the exhale,
while the sense of touch is reduced from the
attentiveness to the yawn. For a brief moment,
the body enters into a state almost identical to
sleep (Similar to offering samples of food at a
grocery store to encourage the direction of a
future movement to buy the whole product and
experience the state again but this time
satisfyingly).
To those who present some of the senses
described above during the yawn do not relate or
have not been experienced within their yawning
experience, e.g., hearing reduction, can take
into account the spectrum of yawns. My
hypotheses states a light sleeper will not
experience a yawn with all senses reduced but
only a select few, whereas a person who
considers themselves a deep sleeper will
experience the extreme end in sense reduction.
The yawn suits the type of experience provided
by the sleeper. Or a single person can
experience the spectrum of yawns, along with the
frequency, from the amount of sleep
deprived.
To those who argue external senses can
influence the sleeping state, e.g., dreaming of
dancing to the tune of the alarm clock ringtone,
can take into account the process of senses
moving from the external world to the internal.
It is not a light switch which is either outside
or inside, but rather a gradual process from
state to state, similar to a dimmer switch. So
although external senses can be observed during
sleep, the body and mind empirically reduce
attention toward external senses
significantly.
To juxtapose the findings of Andrew Gallup,
which recognized the mechanisms controlling the
expression of yawning are involved in
thermoregulatory physiology which promotes brain
cooling, with the theory yawning is an act of
entering into a brief state of sleep to
encourage the consciousness to enter into a
prolonged similar state of sleep, the two
correlate perfectly. While sleeping it is known
the body lowers its temperature, so in attempts
to portray the sleeping state accurately, the
body would include in its motion to alert the
mind a decreased body temperature along with the
reduction of senses.
Since my theory outlines the body-mind
communication through yawning (mostly body to
mind), to juxtapose empirical evidence of
yawning from boredom, it could be the reverse..
the mind is tricking the body. From not being
keenly aware of the surroundings and from
introversion, signals to the body of a false
preparation of sleep is being transmitted. Thus,
the bodies acknowledgment of the received
message from the mind is sent through yawning,
almost to say, "hey I got your message you want
to sleep, I'm on page with you and I'll start
preparing for sleep as well."
Ideas from the implication of the theory
(not meant to be criticized)
**These suggestions should be taken only as
mere suggestions of further research and of the
lateral mind exploring**
1) From using the rudimentary principle of
this theory, the body-mind connection can
communicate by providing a glimpse of a state to
encourage future actions involving the state.
Which this principle can be applied to other
bodily functions, for example the process of
sexual arousal. Earlier mentioned this can be
described as a marketing strategy to influence
the consumer to buy a product (Similar to
offering samples of food at a grocery store to
encourage the direction of a future movement to
buy the whole product and experience the state
again but this time satisfyingly). By
identifying this symbolism, one can identify
other marketing strategies and then apply it
toward the body-mind connection with other
bodily processes and see what is found. For
example, the stomach growling could be an act of
previewing a state which in this case is
digesting without food and making apparent the
growling of the stomach&emdash;marketing
strategy with advertising the effects of the
absence of a product. (Since a proposed theory
which states empathy causes contagious yawning
proven by the lack of contagious autistic
yawners, could being surrounded by a bunch of
hungry people make you hungry or mimic stomach
growls?)
2) Similar to my first suggestion but on a
grander scale, the body-mind connection in a
social situation. Certain emotional states can
be provoked upon recognizing a face which once
produced a particular experience, to either
avoid or encourage behavior toward the
individual. The next step is to identify the
body-mind connection occurrence throughout
Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
3) Yawning is a mimic of the moment of
waking up from sleep (in efforts to incorporate
the jaw contraction in a new light). Upon
waking, evaluation of sleep occurs, which by
producing a similar process of waking up, the
consciousness would then evaluate the necessity
of sleep upon returning from a yawn.
4) Certain disorders have been linked to
excessive yawning. Perhaps the healing cannot be
achieved through the conscious mind because the
disorder has caged in the consciousness to a
patterned neural pathway, which can only be
escaped from entering into sleep.
5)Yawning could potentially be an attempt to
reap the benefits of sleep by not encouraging
entering into sleep. If a person is in a
heightened or excited state, by yawning and
consciously acknowledging the sleep state could
reassure rest in the future, even though it is
not needed at the moment. Or if a person is
breathing shallowly, by yawning it allows a
conscious redirection of a breathing pattern by
acknowledging the process of breathing during
sleep.
Any
comments/ideas/criticisms are much
appreciated!
