When you wake up in the morning, do you choose to do that curled-fist stretch you always yawn through ― or is it kind of involuntary?

If you don’t feel in control of the satisfying movement, you might be experiencing something called pandiculation (yes, really). 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “a stretching and stiffening especially of the trunk and extremities (as when fatigued and drowsy or after waking from sleep).” 

And the toe-straightening process may have a few biological purposes, a 2011 article published in The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies suggests. 

Why do we stretch when we wake up?

Pandiculation ― and yes, yawning counts as a special category of pandiculation ― may “reset the central nervous system to the waking state after a period of sleep and prepare the animal to respond to environmental stimuli,” the paper (referring to other research published in 2006) said. 

But the authors of that later research think it might also help to regulate our (and other animals’) movement system by keeping our muscles and tissues balanced and working properly, allowing for smooth and coordinated movement.

It does this “by regularly restoring and resetting” something called the myofascial system. 

The myofascial system is made up of the muscles in our body and their surrounding tissue. 

So, aside from helping us to “switch on” in the morning, pandiculation might help us move throughout the day, the paper says.

Of course, that’s just a theory ― like yawning, we haven’t yet been able to say for sure what its purpose is.

Is pandiculation bad for me?

No ― in fact some health experts recommend adding voluntary stretches to your morning and evening routines too. 

Healthcare provider Bupa UK writes that “regular stretching can help to increase flexibility and reduce back pain,” partly because it helps to increase blood flow.

Some voluntary stretches can even be completed in bed (that’s a workout I can get behind).