29g soy protein cocoa; 17g nonfat greek yogurt; 16g pistachio/edamame mix; leftover shrimp
salad w/chicken (?)
_
* * *
Understanding the shiver/shudder phenomenon I jokingly refer to as "petit mal seizure"
- Comparable to yawning, stretching, orgasm; in that...
- We can fake those behaviors, but
- It feels very different when it's authentic/organic, because
- Neurotransmitter buildup / release underlies the muscle tension / release.
- It's usually subject to what neuroscientists call "volitional override", which means...
- We can suppress it for convenience, like jaw clenching to stave off a sneeze in crucial traffic.
- "Pandiculation" is the scientific term for synchrony of organic deep yawn and full-body stretch.
- Involuntary-yet-suppressible tension/release phenomena are called "psychoautonomic" behaviors.
- Preferred medical nomenclature for petit mal seizure is "absence seizure".
- True absence seizures are not psychoautonomic; by definition, they're not suppressible.
- We can sense, prepare for, and decide whether to suppress impending psychoautonomic events.
- By contrast, absence seizure subjects get no sensory warning. Onset is instantaneous.
- Absence seizure subjects also don't register / remember what happens while "blanked out".
- 95% of absence seizures last 3 to 30 seconds, median around 9-10 seconds.
- My pandiculation-adjacent shudders are ~1-2 sec, w/no disruption of memory / responsivity.
- There are clinical terms for it too: psychogenic shiver, aesthetic chill, or frisson.
fun pandiculation facts:
- Believed to be almost universal in vertebrates: fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals
- Even some insects, spiders, octopi and squid, as flagged specifically during sleep/waking transition
- Cats pandiculate 40-60 times per day. It's no coincidence that they also nap a lot.
- A yawn is basically face pandiculation (including jaw, respiratory muscles, upper spine).
- Human fetal pandiculation, primarily yawning, is observable as early as 11-12th week of gestation.
- Resets muscle tone, stimulates circulation and alertness, prepares for motion/activity
- Most closely associated with resting/waking transition but also notable in long wakeful inactivity
- Safer than static, voluntary stretching e.g. strenuous yoga poses or PT muscle-release mechanisms
- Daily pandiculation is deemed medically necessary for optimal health - as important as balanced diet.
- Pandiculation mechanisms also naturally prompt Eustachian tube opening, experienced as ear popping
* * *