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Yawn: It’s one of the best things you can do for your brain.

Yawning has been used for many decades in voice therapy as an effective means for reducing performance anxiety and hypertension in the throat. Several recent brain-scan studies have shown that yawning evokes a unique neural activity in the areas of the brain that are directly involved in generating social awareness and creating feelings of empathy.

One of those areas is the precuneus, a tiny structure hidden within the folds of the parietal lobe. The precuneus appears to play a central role in consciousness, self-reflection, and memory retrieval. Yawning should be integrated into exercise and stress reduction programs, cognitive and memory enhancement training, psychotherapy, and contemplative spiritual practice.

And, because the precuneus has recently been associated with the mirror-neuron system in the brain (which allows us to resonate to the feelings and behaviors of others), yawning may even help us to enhance social awareness, compassion, and effective communication with others. Yawning will relax you and bring you into a state of alertness faster than any other meditation technique.

http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1109/expert.html