The tingling on your skin, the hair on your arms and legs standing straight up, the confusing rush of emotion, these aren’t all coincidental reactions; they are all responses your brain generates. Welcome to the intersection of music and the psyche.

Yawning. The messenger of sleep deprivation. You can’t run from it. Yawning is something we’ve all done, whether it’s mid-conversation, in class, or even after seeing your friend do it; it’s a natural phenomenon. Yawning is such a tiny, instinctive act that we all do every day, but it rarely prompts anyone to pause and question it. Why in the world do we yawn? Is it our body telling us that it’s tired? Is it just a silly way our brain mimics others’ yawning? Why do we yawn automatically when seeing somebody else yawn?