It’s been shown that yawning increases alertness, reduces stress and enhances personal, community and planetary health. We yawn to cool the brain; we act to cool the Earth. The personal is planetary. What is our “exhausted” planet telling us?  This project recognizes that the green chic of climate change has sabotaged the radical actions necessary to confront it, and desensitized us to our own bodily participation in it.
Yawning is mysterious and without definitive explanation. It’s a herd instinct, and serves to synchronize mood behavior among gregarious animals. Adelie Penguins employ yawning in courtship. All agree, yawning feels good - when we allow ourselves to yawn unrestricted, to break through the social embarrassment. It is an essential human activity that crosses cultural borders, and can be liberating, re-energizing and therapeutic.