Why you're yawning excessively (and 8 ways to stop)
Clinically reviewed by Dr. Chris Mosunic, PhD, RD, MBA
Yawning can feel nice — but doing it all the time can be disruptive. Explore what excessive yawning is, why we do it, and get tips to help you stop.
When you’re tired or even bored, yawning can be that release that you need. But when you’re yawning all the time, it can get pretty annoying — and even concerning.
Excessive yawning can make it difficult to have conversations, get work done, or even just focus on simple tasks. And if you let yourself think about it for too long, you may start to worry that the yawns are a symptom of a bigger issue.
The good news though is that with a few lifestyle adjustments and awareness of potential triggers, you can help regain control, reduce those persistent yawns, and get back to your usual routine.
What is excessive yawning?
We all know what a yawn is, but for posterity: It’s a natural reflex where we open our mouth wide—sometimes comically wide—take a deep breath in, and then we slowly let it out. Typically we do this a couple times a day when we’re tired, and research suggests that this is pretty harmless.
But yawning can be concerning if you’re doing it more frequently than what feels normal to you. This is excessive yawning.
Excessive yawning isn’t just about feeling tired or bored. It could mean that you have a medical condition, are experiencing medication side effects, or just that you’re particularly stressed.
Why do you yawn so much? 10 possible reasons
You probably don’t spend too much time thinking about yawning — until you start doing it more often than usual. And when you can’t stop yawning, you probably can’t stop wondering what’s actually going on.
Here are 10 possibilities:
1. Fatigue or lack of sleep: When you don’t get enough rest, your body works overtime to stay alert. Yawning then can be your brain’s way of encouraging you to breathe deeper and to help improve your alertness. Sleep deprivation, irregular sleep, and insomnia can also lead you to yawn more during the day.
2. Stress: When you’re stressed, your heart rate and breathing can change and can potentially trigger excessive yawning. This could even be your body’s way of dealing with being emotionally overwhelmed.
3. Boredom or inactivity: When your mind isn’t being stimulated, your brain activity can slow down. This can make you feel drowsy and cause you to yawn more.
4. Medications and their side effects: Certain medications like the ones used to treat depression, anxiety, and allergies can cause yawning as a side effect. This is usually because of how these meds affect your brain chemistry or energy levels.
5. Neurological conditions: Conditions like multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, or Parkinson’s disease can potentially affect the areas of your brain that control yawning, causing you to yawn more.
6. Heart problems: When your heart isn't working optimally, your body and brain might have less available oxygen, so you might yawn more frequently because your body’s trying to increase its oxygen levels.
7. Dehydration: When you’re dehydrated, your energy levels can drop and can leave you feeling tired. To start alert, you may start yawning more frequently.
8. Temperature regulation: Studies show that yawning can help regulate your brain temperature. So sometimes, if you’re moving between hot and cold environments, you might yawn more because your body is trying to maintain a more stable internal temperature.
9. Sleep disorders: Sleep apnea and narcolepsy can interfere with rest, and when you’re tired, you’re more likely to yawn.
10. Other medical conditions: In rare cases, yawning excessively can be a sign of other health concerns like liver disease, thyroid issues, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, and—very rarely—brain tumors.
8 tips to stop yawning all the time
Nobody wants to yawn all the time — and luckily, you don’t have to! Here are eight simple and practical tips that can help you yawn a little bit less.
1. Prioritize quality sleep
The most common reason for excessive yawning is exhaustion, so try to focus on getting enough rest every day. You might consider sticking to a consistent sleep schedule or creating a calming bedtime routine, like reading a book or dimming the lights before bed.
Also, aim to make your bedroom as sleep-friendly as possible by keeping it dark, cool, and quiet. When your brain is rested, you’re a lot less likely to yawn. (And if you struggle with making the best sleep environment for yourself, here are six tips to get you started.)
Hot tip: If caffeine’s your bestie, it might be time to have a talk with your friend as it could interfere with your ability to fall asleep later. To help you get those Zzzs, consider curbing your caffeine after 4 pm.
2. Stay hydrated
When you’re dehydrated, it can really sap your energy, and this can make you yawn more. To help keep your hydration levels in check, try to drink water consistently throughout the day and try to add hydrating foods into your diet like fruits and veggies.
Hot tip: If sometimes it’s hard for you to tell if you’re dehydrated, look out for signs like dry mouth, fatigue, or darker urine. If you experience any of these during your day, maybe throw back a glass of water.
3. Practice deep breathing
Sometimes, we may yawn too much because we’re stressed or anxious. If we feel out of breath because of our anxious state, it could lead you to yawn more. If this is the case for you, consider doing some deep breathing.
Deep breathing not only can help reduce your stress, but it also can help you catch your breath. Win-win.
Hot tip: Inhale deeply through your nose for a count of four, hold your breath for four, and then exhale slowly through your mouth for another count of four.
💙 Listen to The Breathing Room with Prof. Megan Reitz if you’re looking for a simple breathing exercise to start out with.
4. Adjust your posture
When you sit in the same position without moving for a period of time, you may start to feel drowsy. Try to adjust your posture every so often to energize your mind and reduce your urge to yawn.
And if you do start to feel sleepy, stand up and stretch it out. This can help get your blood flowing. You can also try rolling your shoulders or doing a quick neck stretch to wake yourself up.
Hot tip: Try to sit in a position that’ll give you good posture throughout the day. For example, consider sitting with your feet planted fully on the ground. Sitting like this can help to keep you more alert.
💙 Listen to Posture Pause with Jay Shetty to help get you back in proper form.
5. Stimulate your mind
A lot of times when we’re bored, a yawn quickly follows. But having an active mind can make you way less likely to yawn.
If you’re in a place where you’re starting to feel like you’re watching paint dry, switch up your tasks to something more stimulating like playing some upbeat music or doing a crossword puzzle.
Hot tip: Take short breaks throughout the day — even if you think you’re too busy for one. These can recharge your focus and make you more alert later on in the day.
6. Check your meds
If you’ve recently started a new medication and noticed that all of a sudden you’re yawning all the time, maybe consider talking to your doctor. Yawning can be a side effect, and your doctor might be able to change up your dosage or recommend a different drug.
Hot tip: Sometimes we think that something like yawning isn’t worthy of bringing up to our doctor, but if it’s affecting your day, then you should. If asking for help isn’t your strong suit, here are seven tips that can get you there.
7. Explore mindfulness or meditation
Being calm can reduce your need to yawn. Mindfulness and meditation are two powerful tools for this, and can also help to boost overall wellbeing.
Even if you only practice mindfulness a few minutes a day, you can start to feel more centered and less prone to stress-related yawning. You might want to start with guided meditations or by visualizations. (Here are eight visualization exercises to get you started.)
Hot tip: Body scans—when you focus on certain parts of your body and then slowly release any tension—can also help.
💙 Listen to Body Scan with Jeff Warren to help get more centered.
8. Use cold water or fresh air
If you start to feel sleepy, try splashing your face with cold water to wake yourself up or stepping outside for a few minutes to get some fresh air. Small, energizing habits like these can help you feel more awake throughout your day.
Hot tip: Another way to help keep you alert is to have a cool drink on hand, which can also be a pick-me-up.
When to see a doctor about excessive yawning
Most of the time, yawning is a normal and harmless reflex, but there are situations when excessive yawning could mean something’s wrong.
If you’re noticing how much you yawn—and it feels like way more than normal—it could be worth talking to a doctor. And as a general rule of thumb, it’s always better to seek advice if something doesn’t feel right.
Consider talking to your doctor if:
Your yawning is starting to disrupt your daily activities or if it feels uncontrollable.
You’re experiencing other symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, or fatigue.
Your yawning is accompanied by neurological changes, like confusion or muscle weakness.
Excessive yawning FAQs
Is excessive yawning a symptom of anything?
While yawning is usually just a normal response to feeling tired or bored, excessive yawning could be a sign of something else. If you’re frequently and uncontrollable yawning, this could mean you have an imbalance in your body or that you have an underlying health concern.
Typically yawning a lot doesn’t mean anything serious. But to be on the safe side, consider reaching out to your doctor if your frequent yawning continues.
Here are three possible symptoms of excessive yawning:
An underlying sleep disorder: A disorder like sleep apnea can disrupt your rest, leaving you feeling fatigued during the day and cause you to yawn more.
An underlying neurological condition: Conditions like Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, or multiple sclerosis could affect your brain’s function, leading to increased yawning.
An underlying heart problem: Symptoms like chest pain or shortness of breath could mean you’re not getting enough oxygen, which is causing you to yawn excessively.
Is frequent yawning caused by dehydration?
When you’re dehydrated, you can start to feel tired and unfocused. This can make you yawn a lot because your body’s trying to stay alert.
Also, dehydration can impact your circulation and oxygen delivery, and you might yawn more often because your body’s trying to maintain some balance.
Throughout your day, try to drink water regularly, and monitor yourself for symptoms of dehydration, including exhaustion, dry mouth, or darker-colored urine.
Can you cure excessive yawning?
Reducing or “curing” excessive yawning may require you to get to the root cause.
If you’re yawning because of lifestyle factors like sleep deprivation or stress, then you can make changes to improve the frequency of your yawns. You can try to improve your sleep habits by creating a consistent bedtime routine and avoiding screens right before bed. You can also aim to keep hydrated and practice stress-management techniques like mindfulness.
But if your excessive yawning is caused by an underlying condition like a sleep disorder, a heart problem, or a neurological issue, the frequency of your yawning really depends on the treatment plan your doctor recommends.
Does excessive yawning mean you don’t have enough oxygen?
A lot of us have been told that the reason we yawn is because we’re not getting enough oxygen. But actually research suggests that this isn’t entirely accurate.
Yawning might have more to do with regulating our brain temperature than it does with our need for more oxygen. Some studies have shown that while yawning does indeed involve a deep inhalation, that doesn’t necessarily change the amount of oxygen in the blood we receive post-yawn.
With all of that said though, there are certain situations like feeling out of breath due to anxiety or a respiratory condition, that could indirectly lead you to yawn more.
Can allergies cause frequent yawning?
When allergies cause you to get nasally congested, your airflow can become restricted. As a result, you could yawn more in an attempt to breathe more easily.
Antihistamines, decongestants, or other medications can help reduce your allergies and help you yawn less. If your frequent yawning continues even after taking medication, consider talking to a doctor to rule out other causes.
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