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Yawning is the body's response to the insufficiency of oxygen for the brain. When we fall asleep, the frequency of breathing is going down gradually, that's why we need less energy while sleeping. If you feel sleepy but you don't sleep, the brain wants more oxygen. As a solution for this, the brain finds it useful that you yawn. When you yawn, the quantity of oxygen you breathe in is increasing.
Yawning is one of the non-verbal communication signal between people. That's the reason why yawning is "contagious". You probably noticed that when one begins to yawn, the people surrounding him usually yawn as well.

Hehe, a very interesting fact, Andrewz and I'm loved to yawn when I'm working lol

you love to yawn during the work? Happy you, I yawn during the work not because I like it, but because I'm really tired and my brain needs oxygen. Sometimes if one yawns this makes your neighbour yawn as well, have you noticed that?

Did you know that yawning is contagious not only for humans: every creature in the world behave the same, even snakes and fish.

Terry wrote:Did you know that yawning is contagious not only for humans: every creature in the world behave the same, even snakes and fish.

you're right Terry. Watch this snake yawning, it's funny and at the same time freaky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N6GkSeqNz0

It's not only the yawn that makes other act the same. Easy cough has almost the same effect.
Psychologist define yawn not only as the person's state of being sleepy, but also just when the person is bored.

yawning is a phenomenon which is also caused by empathy. The more a person feel sympathy for the yawning person, the easier he might be affected by that person's yawn.

contagious yawning emerges as a consequence of the mind's theory, the ability to guess or empathize with what others wish, know, or intend to do. Hearing or seeing about another person yawn might tap a primitive neurological substrate responsible for self-awareness and empathic modeling which produces a corresponding response in oneself

Haha ive heard about yawning being contagious but what is that we are communicating. is that when one person yawns and the other person also does that they are agreeing that what ever they are doing is boring?

THE TRUTH IS that we don’t completely understand why people, or animals for that matter, yawn. It’s widely assumed that yawning occurs because we are tired or bored or because we see someone else doing it, but there isn’t any hard evidence to support these beliefs.

Yawning is associated with tiredness, stress, overwork, lack of stimulation, and boredom. Also it is considered that it has infectious quality. Yawning is the body's way of controlling brain temperature, is like to cool off your brain. Another reason for yawning is the desire to stretch one's muscles. Whatever it is but is it clear that we need to do that.

A normal response to fatigue and drowsiness bring in Yawning, but then if Yawning is continuous or excessive then its not normal, it may be due to vasovagal reaction, it is mainly caused by the action of a nerve, called the vagus nerve, on the blood vessels, which in actual indicated a heart problem.

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When you near resting, your breathing rate slows down and your breaths also become shallower. You yawn because you're not breathing as heavily as you normally do and you need a good deep breath to continue at your slower, more shallow rate of breath. It's kind of like taking 1 deep breath to make up for 20 smaller ones.

ps- you do it when you see other people do it because your body craves air like it craves food. You see someone else eat a cheeseburger and get hungry. You see someone else get a good deep breath and you take one too.

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