Let’s face it: it’s easy to get a little paranoid when you are worried about your health. Once that paranoia kicks into high gear, you start seeing warning signs everywhere. That cough you developed over the weekend, or that zit that suddenly popped up in a weird location? If you’re not careful, a tall glass of wine and a night of doomscrolling WebMD will have you convinced you are dying.
In reality, you’re probably fine and freaking out over nothing. But your paranoid mind was right about one thing: there’s a deeper story behind the most basic things your body does. Sneezing, yawning, hiccups, and more are all signs that your body is trying to keep you going. Don’t believe it? Keep reading to discover everything you need to know!ything you need to know!
Sneezing
For most people, sneezing is a major annoyance. It’s loud, it causes your body to convulse, and (if you’re not careful) it can create a mess with snot. From disrupting everyone around you to making a mess, sneezing always seems like more trouble than it’s worth. Why, then, does your body have to sneeze in the first place? Surprisingly enough, the answer is to keep you safe!
How does that work? As you know, sneezing may be caused by things like pollen, dust, and even viruses. Left unchecked, all of these could enter through your nose and wreak havoc on your body, absolutely ruining your health. But your body naturally defends itself by forcing you to sneeze it out before it can ever get inside. In this way, your body is shutting down minor issues before they turn into a major problem.
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Yawning
Yawning is a bodily function that has a bad reputation. If you yawn at work or school, for example, many people will think you are lazy and tuning out of what you should be doing. If you yawn while someone is talking, they may get offended because it seems like you are bored. However, yawning is a lot like sneezing. That is, there’s more to it than everybody thinks, and it’s something your body does to keep you safe.
You see, whenever you yawn, there’s always a good reason. The most common explanation is that you are tired, but yawning can also be caused when you’re stressed or even when you’re restless. In all of these cases, yawning is your body’s way of getting more oxygen to the brain, helping you chill out and get the rest and relaxation you need. Yawning, then, isn’t a sign of laziness or even a sign of boredom. It is, in fact, your body quietly de-stressing so that you can (as our British friends might say) keep calm and carry on.
Hiccups
Hiccups are by far one of the most annoying things that your body does. They always arrive seemingly out of nowhere, and it takes a good, long time for them to go away. Worse, they can be very painful. It’s the worst of both worlds: an unexpected pain that sticks around for far too long. That’s the bad news. The good news is that once you know what’s causing the hiccups, you may be able to avoid them!
Hiccups usually don’t come out of nowhere. Instead, they are often caused by getting nervous, eating too fast, or even swallowing air. Your body hiccups as a kind of emergency brake, helping your body slow down while giving your diaphragm a much-needed rest. Just as yawning helps your body relax, hiccups help give you a reset when you need it the most.
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Unexpected stretching
Stretching is one of those things that you may often do intentionally. For example, it’s good to stretch before a workout to avoid getting injured. However, many people find themselves randomly stretching throughout the day when they are sitting or even lying down. They’re not about to work out, and they don’t even realize they’re stretching until they’re halfway through. What, then, is causing this phenomenon?
Simple: your body wants you to get up and move! Stretching helps to boost your circulation and keep all your muscles awake. It even improves your focus. All of these reasons and more are why you should get up often, especially if you have a desk job. And long before smartwatches reminded us to do so, our bodies started reminding us to not sit still for too long.
Goosebumps
Goosebumps aren’t that mysterious, really. Everyone knows that they are primarily caused by two things: extreme cold or extreme fear. But knowing it is one thing, and understanding it is something else. Why, then, does your skin break out into goosebumps from time to time? Shockingly enough, it’s because your body is going into survival mode!
When you’re really cold, really scared, or both, your body develops goosebumps as a protective measure. Those goosebumps effectively add a small layer of protection to your skin, helping to keep you safer from both changes in temperature to perceived threats. In the event of an actual threat, goosebumps may also serve as an early warning sign for you to run far away from the danger around you.
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