There is a lot of things we do every day and a lot of those actually become a part of our daily life but we don’t even consider to think about the reason behind it. Some of the most common being:
- Saying ‘Bless You’ when you see or notice someone sneezing,
- Stretching limbs while yawning,
- Involuntarily covering the mouth with your hand
Let’s just focus on the first one in this blog.
There can be a whole lot of reason behind sneezing. Primarily it could be because of some kind of nasal or throat allergies. It’s a reflexive action to expel dust particles and other irritants from your airway.
Repetitive sneezing could happen also because of a full stomach. Besides, the common cold and flu are pretty obvious reasons.
So Why people give blessings when you sneeze?
Sadly, there is no specific scientific reason behind saying ‘Bless You’ when someone sneezes but there have been quite a good number of floating explanations.
- Some people have a habit of saying this whenever someone sneezes because they consider this to be a weakest of time when an evil spirit could enter someone’s body. So they bless people to avoid that.
- There is also a line of thought that believes sneezing happens because of some attack or illness and people bless to offer protective energy.
- Sneezing is also considered as a symptom of a common cold or illness so people say God Bless You as a form of blessing to cure that illness.
- Some believe that when someone sneezes, the heartbeat stops for a second and blood flow to the brain stops.
- Pope Gregory thought that saying “God Bless You” every time someone sneezes would help him/her avoid the illness. He derived the belief after the man before him died by the plague in 590s.
Moreover, according to Business Insider, “Bless you” isn’t the only common response to the body’s reflexive behaviour, of course. Another frequently used response in America is the German word “Gesundheit,” which means “good health to you.”
