Why I Love When Clients Yawn in My Face

The Nervous System Reset You Didn’t Know You Needed

Inside Nat's Notebook - Real Reflections for Real Change

Yawning Is Voodoo Magic!

A Love Letter to the Jaw-Breaking, Tear-Inducing Yawn You Keep Trying to Stifle  

Let’s be honest… yawning in someone’s face feels socially illegal right?  

It’s up there with sneezing on public transport or taking the last slice of cake without offering.  🤦‍♀️

We’re trained from childhood to cover it up, hide it, suppress it.  

But what if I told you that stifling a yawn is like slamming the brakes on your own nervous system reset?  

And what if I told you that I love it when my clients yawn in my face?  

Actually… the bigger, the better.  

Let me explain.  

How It Started: Trying to "Fix" Myself (Again) 

My body had started to feel a little better.  

I wasn’t fully there yet, but I could string together a week to ten days out of bed and in my mind, that meant one thing:  

Time to get back to fixing what was broken.  

So, I did what every high-achiever-turned-burnout-case does:  

Therapy? Tried it. Left more wired than when I walked in.  

Self-help books? Read them. No real change.  

Doctor? Gave me a waitlist, a pamphlet, pills if I wanted them, and a “hang in there” nod.  

So, I took matters into my own hands.  

I returned to my breath.  

I discovered bed yoga. (Check out the post about Bed Yoga Here)

And I noticed something wild.  

Every time I moved, stretched or breathed deeply… I couldn’t stop yawning.  

And not just little polite yawns.  

I’m talking jaw-breaking, lip-tearing, head-snapping yawns.  

Tear-inducing, gut-deep, full-body releases.  

And every time, I felt incredible afterwards.  

Some yawns left me refreshed, clear and awake.  

Others made me softer, sleepier and snuggly.  

It was like my body was choosing exactly what it needed.  

And I remember thinking: What is this voodoo magic?!  

What Was Actually Happening?  

It turns out that yawning is one of the most underrated nervous system tools.  

❌  It’s not boredom.  

❌  It’s not disengagement.  

❌  It’s a deep, biological shift happening inside you.  

Yawning Is a Built-In Nervous System Reset  

Yawning activates the vagus nerve, the control switch that shifts us out of stress mode (fight-or-flight) and into ease (rest-and-digest).  

Every time I yawned, my body was releasing tension and transitioning into relaxation.  

In other words, every yawn was my nervous system saying: “Thank goodness. Let’s turn down the stress dial.”  

Yawning Helps You Unload Emotional & Physical Stress  

Stress and exhaustion don’t just disappear they get stored.  

- Muscles tighten.  

- Breathing gets shallow.  

- The brain stays in high alert mode (even when there’s nothing to fight)  

Yawning is a discharge mechanism. It is a way for the body to release tension, whether it’s from a bad day or years of accumulated stress.  

Meaning: My yawns weren’t random. They were my body emptying the stress bin, one deep exhale at a time.  

Yawning Balances Oxygen & Brain Function  

We’ve been told yawning happens when we’re tired.  

But the real reason?  

It’s about balancing oxygen and CO₂ levels in the brain.  

When we’re stressed, rushing or overthinking, we over-breathe or breathe too shallowly messing up that delicate balance.  

Yawning resets this, bringing better focus, clarity and calm.  

What this means:  Some yawns left me recharged and alert, while others made me sleepy because my body was picking the setting it needed most. Magic like that.  

Yawning Is Contagious (For a Reason!)  

Yawns spread like wildfire.  Have you ever had the moment when you catch someone out of the corner of your eye yawning and you just can’t help it, you start yawning too.  Why does this happen?  

Because yawning is a social and nervous system bonding tool.  

When one person yawns, it unconsciously signals safety to others, helping groups sync up and co-regulate.  

🧡  I  LOVE this, it is my favourite part. You see I get to watch this play out all the time.  I adore watching as it happens in my Weekly Nervous System Reset Sessions.  

Everyone logs in online, miles apart but sharing the same practice.  

Then it happens.  

One person yawns.  

And BOOM.  

It spreads across my screen like dominoes.  

That’s not just a cute moment. That’s nervous system magic happening in real-time.  

Nothing brings me more joy than seeing a client yawn so hard their eyes water, then look at me, giggle and light up with that post-yawn magic sparkle. 

At first, they look embarrassed, like they need to apologise.  There is that social training right!  

But in my space?  

Yawning is a standing ovation.  👏👏👏

It’s not rudeness.  

It’s real, embodied state change happening before my eyes.  

Your body knows what it’s doing.  

And when you let it? The real magic happens.  

#RebelMoment 

Don’t Stifle It!! Next time you feel a yawn coming:  

🚫 Don’t swallow it.  

🚫 Don’t hide it.  

🚫 Don’t be embarrassed by it.  

Give it space.  

Let it move through you.  Your nervous system will thank you.  

And trust me, it feels soooo good.  

Curious about how this works?  

Or want to take part in Yawn Dominoes?  

Come breathe, move and yawn with us. We’d love to welcome you.  

🧡  Let’s yawn our way to clarity, ease and real embodied rest.  

🔗 Jump into a Weekly Nervous System Reset (aka Yawn Dominoes) Here: Yawn Reset) 

The real rebellion? Choosing to pause, reset, and listen.

✨ You’ve got this. ✨

Burnout isn’t failure, it’s a signal. Let it guide you to Reset, Realign + Rise.

Life feels lighter when your nervous system is your ally.

Stay Blessed

LoveLove

Nat x

🧡 Your Burnout Bestie 🧡

PS: If you yawned while reading this, you’re already on the right track! 😉  

Ready to Break Free from the Cycle of Overdoing + Find Your Flow?

💡 Weekly Reset:  Breath + movement resets designed to fit your real life. Shift stress, clear your mind and reset your nervous system in minutes.  Join Me Here 

🍂 Seasonal Reset: A deep exhale for your nervous system. These seasonal workshops are designed to sync with nature’s rhythm, helping you reset before you hit the wall. Let’s Reset

🌀 1:1 Mentorship: Feeling stuck in survival mode? Let’s map out a way forward that actually works for you. Personalised nervous system support to help you thrive, not just survive. Learn More

💡 Not sure where to start? Take the 2-Minute Quiz to Decode Your Stress Signals + get simple, science-backed steps to reset. Take the Quiz

📩 Prefer a weekly nudge? Nat’s Natterings is your love note to your nervous system, a reminder to step off the hamster wheel and start living from a place of calm inner power. Get on the List

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About Nat

Nat Creasy, aka Your Burnout Bestie, doesn’t sugarcoat the hustle, she calls it out for what it is: an exhausting lie that’s making us all sick.

As a Nervous System Mentor, Nat teaches people how to break free from overthinking, exhaustion and survival mode, helping them operate from a place of power, flow and clarity.

She gets it. After burning out so hard it left her bedridden for 18 months, Nat learned the hard way that pushing through isn’t the answer. 

The real win? Learning how to work with your nervous system, not against it.

Now, she teaches people how to Reset, Realign + Rise trading burnout for ease, exhaustion for clarity and hustle for a life that actually feels good.

Tired of running on empty? It’s time to reclaim your energy.

👉 www.littlesoulshack.com