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It often feels like things are slipping out of your hands. But the best place to get back control over life is to start with your very own body.

Thanks to the TikToker Andy Jiang and his video series “Tricks That Give You Power Over Your Own Body,” we now can start from little things. Like dealing with cramps on your morning jog or avoiding getting your ears painfully stuffed on a plane and so much more.

So let’s see Andy’s useful advice right below which amassed him a total of 12.1M likes and may well make our lives if not easier, then slightly more bearable. And that’s already a win.

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Image credits: learntoday

@learntoday

AKA tricks that are actually helpful and useful (Part 1) ##useful ##trick ##cool

♬ Coffee for Your Head - Vinyll
#1

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you feel like you're about to fall asleep when you definitely shouldn't be sleeping, try holding your breath for as long as you can. This increases your heart rate and blood flow, waking you up quickly.

learntoday , Marcus Aurelius Report

#2

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you feel very hot or that your body is about to overheat, pour cold water over your wrists, this helps the entire body to cool down.

learntoday , Anna Shvets Report

#3

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you ever have a really itchy mosquito bite that doesn't go away, putting deodorant on it can help it stop itching.

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Bored Panda reached out to the creator of the widely popular “Learn Today” TikTok, Andy Jiang, who’s been making storytelling and fact videos on TikTok for over a year. Andy said he got into TikTok after a friend bet him $20 that he couldn’t hit 1,000 followers on TikTok in one week.

“I ended up taking the bet and getting around 1,100 followers that first week, but it led me to continue creating different types of content on TikTok and eventually arriving at the content I make today."

#4

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you ever get that nasty static-y feeling when your arm has fallen asleep all you have to do is shake your head for a couple of seconds and the feeling will go away.

learntoday , Anete Lusina Report

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JiminKimLip7
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another good tactic is to open and close your hands. Also, same goes if it happens to your foot.

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Danieletc
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Nasty static-y"? You mean "needles and pins"! There's even a classic R&R song about it!

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Giamaica
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the fastest way to relieve a sleeping arm is to stretch it and spin it for a couple of secons as fast as you can.

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pebs
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This sounds very strange. I'll try it and I'll see.

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#5

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you ever feel your gag reflex come on when you're eating food, brushing your tongue or doing something else, literally all you have to do is grab your left thumb in your hand and the gag reflex will go away.

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#6

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you want to remember something easier, you should think about it right before you go to bed. This gives whatever you're trying to remember a better chance of getting stored in your long term memory.

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Andy Acceber
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is good advice if you don't actually want to sleep and would rather stay up an extra hour or two worrying.

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The idea for the video series featuring interesting body facts came after Andy once heard “how you can make yourself happier by just putting a pencil (cleaned of course) in your mouth because it forces your mouth into a smile and tricks your brain.”“I thought that facts like that would make a great video series, and played a little with the wording until I got the 'Tricks that Give you Power' title,” he recounted.

When asked what fact stayed with him, Andy said it’s “that your brain actually subconsciously edits out your nose, and you’re actually always looking at your nose but your brain just doesn’t let you perceive it.”

#7

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you ever find yourself doing some last minute studying, find a pack of gum and chew it. This will give you around 20 minutes where your memory, attention and cognitive skills are boosted.

learntoday , energepic.com Report

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Ragnhild Nilsen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you need to remember what you read, chew some other gum than what you normally use. Then when you need to remember (for a test or something) chew the same gum again. The taste will help you remember

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#8

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" Chewing gum when a plane is taking off or landing helps equalize the pressure in your ears.

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Monday
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Chewing, sucking or swallowing...and none are guarantees. You might still end up with an earache regardless of what you do.

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#9

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you feel tears building up and you don't want to cry, hold your eyes wide open without blinking, the feeling will go away. If you already started crying but you want to stop, look up with your eyes and keep your jaw relaxed, it will help stop the tears.

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Sleazy Weaver
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Doesn't holding your eyes wide open without blinking dry them out, causing you to produce more tears...?

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With 3.1M followers, Andy’s TikTok has been growing, but his content had to adapt too. “My content has become more storytelling-related rather than interesting facts. I like to make sure I keep connecting with my followers and audience to make sure that I’m known for my storytelling and ‘stay relevant.’”

Andy also said that he “started doing more recent interesting news stories that I have come across as well for my content to be things that are happening today, which also helps my videos perform better. At the end of the day, the app will always be competitive and my views won’t always be great, but I try to always put out high-quality content and things usually work out well for me,” the TikTok creator concluded.

#10

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you feel an uncontrollable itch inside your throat, try scratching the back of one of your ears, this helps the itch to go away.

learntoday , Alena Shekhovtcova Report

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Amy Dodds
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm there trying to scratch the back of my throat with the back of my tongue going 'GUG GUGUHUHGUG'

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#11

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you ever find yourself in a dreaded situation where you just really need to use the bathroom but do not have access to one, scratch the back of your calf really hard. This stalls your brain and gives you more time to find a bathroom.

learntoday , Kindel Media Report

#12

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you get that feeling where your nose itches and you really want to sneeze but it doesn't come out, try looking into very bright light. Studies show that this can help the sneeze come out.

learntoday , Mikael Blomkvist Report

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Amy Dodds
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or if you wanna be mean, if someone tells you they need to sneeze, say to them 'no you don't. You're not going to sneeze. Keep it in' etc and they won't be able to do it. They will be stuck with that unfulfilling feeling of having not sneezed.

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#13

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you're ever doing a project and need some creativity, raise your eyebrows. Believe it or not, it's been scientifically proven that this makes you more creative.

learntoday , Polina Kovaleva Report

#14

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you can't fall asleep, blink with your eyes really fast for a minute. This helps you tire your eyes out and lets you fall asleep easier.

learntoday , Armin Rimoldi Report

#15

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" When you're cutting onions, move your tongue to the roof of your mouth, this prevents you from crying.

learntoday , Promodhya Abeysekara Report

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third molar
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only onion induced crying. If you are thinking about your life while you are cutting onions try to tips mentioned earlier to stop crying

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#16

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you find it hard to swallow big pills, a really easy technique you can use is just lean your head forward. This causes the pill to move to the back of your throat and makes it easier to swallow.

learntoday , nhs Report

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Allan Breum
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Considering how many people have difficulty swallowing pills, I am SO glad that I can just chuck them into the back of my mouth and just swallow them without water.

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#17

If you want to temporarily improve your vision and see further, hold your hand into a fist and look through it like a telescope. This allows a narrow beam of light to enter the eye, which reduces the size of the circle of confusion on the retina and increases the depth of field, letting you see further.

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N G
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup - when I'm not wearing my glasses, I can do this to watch short bursts of TV (enough to be able to identify that actor whose voice I *definitely* recognise, but can't place their name until I see them... Oh, *that* one!)

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#18

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you're having trouble thinking or remembering during a test, readjust your body position. This helps to change the way you're thinking and helps to see the question from a new perspective.

learntoday , Monstera Report

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Ozacoter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you can first read the entire test. Then answer first the questions that you are sure about. Leave the unsure questions for the end and if you get stuck just move to the next one and come back later.

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#19

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you have a stuffed nose, hold your breath for as long as you can before you finally have to breathe. This actually activates your survival mechanisms and your nose will consequently unclog.

learntoday , Polina Tankilevitch Report

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third molar
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only for a few seconds and after u relax the lethargy mechanism kicks in and blocks nose again

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#20

If you want to experience night vision: sit in a dark room and get your eyes accustomed to the darkness. Then close one of your eyes and turn on very bright light. After you turn the lights off again, the eye you closed will have night vision.

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Sleazy Weaver
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've heard this is why lots & lots of pirates wore eyepatches. It meant they would always have an eye adjusted to the dark when they went below deck. Of course, I'm sure some of them were actually missing eyes seeing as it was such a dangerous lifestyle!

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#21

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you have acne or poor skin, at the end of every shower you should change the water to cold for around a minute. This can help seal your pores and stop dirt and bacteria from getting into your skin.

learntoday , Armin Rimoldi Report

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Aunt Messy
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not true. Acne is a systemic problem, and "closing" your pores this way only lasts as long as the cold water is actually touching your body.

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#22

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" When taking a photo, you should always push your tongue to the roof of your mouth when you smile. This makes your smile look more natural and helps chisel your chin overall making you look more photogenic.

learntoday , Andrea Piacquadio Report

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Sid
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How can a smile look natural if it is done unnaturally, I mean who smiles with their tongue pointing towards the palate.

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#23

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you get a cramp while you're running, all you have to do is breathe out when your left foot hits the ground and breathe in as your right foot hits the ground. This will take the pressure off and make the pain go away.

learntoday , Mikhail Nilov Report

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Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I assume, he means leg cramps? Because with that "trick", you will get stitch, if you're lucky. Hyperventilation or worse, if you're unlucky. If he means stitch, you need to exhale longer than inhale (think during 5 steps vs. 2 steps). That should help. If you start to feel dizzy, stop immediately and just walk for a bit and breathe normally.

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#24

25 Useful Tips On How To Control And Take Advantage Of Your Own Body, Shared By "Learn Today" If you're ever feeling sad, put a pencil between your teeth. This moves your mouth into the shape of a smile, which tricks your brain into feeling happier.

learntoday , JESHOOTS.COM Report

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Unwelcomed Guest
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am running to the patent office with a horse bit designed for humans. I mean horses always seem happy despite our fat arses sitting on their backs and I figure it must be because the bit forces them to smile

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#25

If you're experiencing anxiety, blowing air on your thumb can help reduce your stress.

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