Ever notice how a baby will giggle just because you did? Or how a friend’s yawning makes you yawn, even if you’re not tired? This happens in my own family all the time. My son and I will be curled up in his bedroom, FaceTiming my parents who are a thousand miles away. The moment one of us yawns, it sets off a chain reaction—within seconds, everyone is yawning: two different rooms in two different states, perfectly in sync.
Neuroscience helps explain part of this with the mirror system—areas of the brain that activate both when you do something and when you watch someone else do it. First discovered in monkeys in the 1990s and later studied in humans, these mirror-like responses show that our nervous systems are wired to resonate.
Studies using brain imaging have found that observing someone else’s movement or emotion sparks overlapping pathways in us. That’s why watching a calm breath can make you breathe deeper, and why a room can feel lighter when one person softens. I’ve noticed this in coaching too: simply softening my own shoulders or slowing my breath can sometimes have a bigger effect on a client than anything I say. Our energetic fields and nervous systems are in conversation long before words come into play. A small shift in your own breath, tone, or posture can ease tension or invite openness in someone else.
Even beyond coaching, it’s humbling to realize that in moments when we feel isolated or separate, our bodies are quietly wired to reach out, to feel, to mirror one another. Connection is built into us at the very core of our biology. You don’t need a particular belief system to notice the wonder in this. For many of us, the way biology mirrors connection feels like a quiet hint of something larger—a greater intelligence moving through form. You could call it Life, Consciousness, or simply the wisdom of the Universe showing up in our cells.
Mirror neurons aren’t proof of every spiritual idea, but they’re a beautiful reminder that we’re not as separate as we sometimes feel. When you sense another’s joy or pain, it’s not just empathy—it’s your biology echoing connection, and maybe... just maybe... something greater whispering, “Remember who you REALLY are…”