Have you ever watched a sleeping dog or cat wake up? What’s the first thing they do? They look like they stretch before even trying to get up. But that’s not really stretching – that’s pandiculating. Just about all mammals (including humans) pandiculate. And note that the animals repeat this motion many times during the day!
Webster’s Medical Dictionary defines pandiculation as “a stretching and stiffening especially of the trunk and extremities (as when fatigued and drowsy or after waking from sleep.” Pandiculating often includes a yawn.
Pandiculating could be better than stretching!
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