What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
Alright, well, maybe the second thing you do, after you say some nasty stuff to your
alarm clock.
Have a cup of coffee? Watch the news? Read twitter in your bed?
Or … do you - ah yeah - give it a good stretch? That’s feels good.
You are not the only one. Along with humans, some animals—like your pet cat or dog—also
instinctively stretch after they wake up from a long sleep.
Except what those animals are doing isn’t called stretching. It’s called pandiculating.
Pandiculation is the act of stretching while yawning. It’s from the Latin word pandere,
meaning "to stretch."
You’ve likely seen plenty of cats and dogs pandiculate before.
You’ve seen this move … they arch their back, drop their belly, and lengthen their
legs in a sort of full body yawn.
Humans pandiculate too -- often first thing in the morning.
This instinctive movement is the one where you extend your legs, raise your arms, and
tilt your head up, and yawn.
So why do we pandiculate in the morning? And why do we stretch in general?
Think of it like this: Your alarm clock wakes you up,
but stretching wakes up your sleepy muscles.
Plus, it makes you feel good.
Stretching is good for your body in all kinds of ways.
Your muscles typically feel stiff and tight in the morning from lack of movement. That’s
because many people lie in the same position for much of the night.
Stretching loosens and realigns your muscles, letting your brain know,
“Hey! It’s time to wake up! Time to get things moving again!”
Stretching also gets your blood pumping.
While you sleep, your muscles relax and your blood flow decreases, slowing your heart rate
way down. In fact, your heart rate is usually at its lowest just before you wake up.
A big stretch increases your blood flow to your extremities, improving your circulation.
This combination of loose muscles and increased circulation also helps with flexibility, making
the morning a good time for you to get your yoga on.
So the reason you instinctively pandiculate in the morning is basically to reboot your
body. It realigns your muscles, it improves your circulation, and it makes you more flexible.
Stretching has also been shown to relieve stress and tension, and so has yawning—meaning
pandiculation might pack a double whammy.
So, what are you waiting for? Make like a cat and pandiculate.
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