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How to get the most out of your yawn – with Gwyneth Paltrow

Think you've been yawning properly? Think again

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Think you've been yawning properly your whole life? Think again. You could be getting much more out of it, says Gwyneth Paltrow.

The latest post on Paltrow's lifestyle blog, Goop, explains the best way to yawn (and you thought it was an automatic reflex).

First she taught us how to boil an egg, then she explained her break up from Chris Martin , coining the phrase that enthralled the internet: ‘conscious uncoupling’. Now, she’s teaching us how to yawn.

According to Goop, yawning is ‘a very important mechanism for releasing stress’. This advice comes from Paltrow’s dinner partner and yogi Michael Lear. Paltrow explains how at her last dinner with the yoga master he encouraged his guests to yawn publicly: “Really give into it, as it’s the body’s primary way to release and stretch the jaw and neck muscles after a long day of work and conversation.”

Here is Goop’s six-step guide to the ultimate yawn:

1.Gently tilt your head back to a comfortable position and allow your mouth to hang open widely while you gently extend into it.
2.Contract the back of the throat as if to perform Ujjayi breathing—a whispery breath—which is typically done through your nose with your mouth closed. Breathe deeply through your mouth so you feel the air hit the back of your throat.
3.Inhale and exhale completely while allowing your shoulders to relax as you exhale.
4.When the yawn comes, reach and extend into it, riding the yawn to stretch the jaw muscles.
5.Repeat 8-10 times until tearing starts. As your jaw muscles stretch and relax, and the yawn expands, the lacrimal glands around the eye are squeezed and tearing is induced.

OR

6.When the yawn comes, bring together only the lips. Keep the teeth slightly separated.

Feeling sleepy…?

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