When I talk to clients and students about where they hold their tension, many talk about the jaw. That it feels tight, or uncomfortable.

How much space do you have in your jaw?

If you have jaw tension, you’ll often feel it in the area in front of the ears. It’s where the ‘fork’ of the jaw joint connects with the skull. Perhaps you can’t open your mouth very far or it’s uncomfortable to do so. It’s an excess of power used in a way that actually isn’t necessary or helpful.

It can lead to teeth grinding (bruxism), stiff neck, headaches, and general jaw pain.

When we’re stressed or anxious we often add tension into our musculoskeletal system. From a Central Nervous System point of view, it’s preparation for action. Tension to propel us into movement either towards or away from the threat. It’s unconscious. In a healthy system when the threat has gone we would shake ourselves out, like a deer, and release the tension. In our modern world, this last step often doesn’t happen.

Observation of others can help us sense ourselves

Look at the people around you in the next few days. Can you see who’s holding their jaws tight? Notice your own jaw- how tight does it feel in the cheek bones? 

What about your own jaw? Other symptoms of an over active jaw are clicking or popping sounds when you open and close your mouth.

When we don’t know what we’re doing we can’t change it. You need to be able to measure what you’re doing in some way to recognise if change is happening.

Finding more ease and space in the jaw is one of the many things that the Feldenkrais Method is excellent at helping with.

If you feel any of the symptoms above, you might find it useful to come along to a lesson this week, or book a 1-to-1 session.

I’ll also be looking at the role of the jaw in creating  anxiety, in my upcoming 10 week course on Reducing Anxiety for Musicians, starting on the 5th of June. We still have space for a few more people to join us. If that’s of interest to you, do get in touch.  If it’s not of interest to you, but you know someone who might appreciate some support in reducing their anxiety, send them my way!

Improve your own mental and physical health

If you’d be interested to work with me, either individually, or in a group setting, please get in touch. We’ll start with a free discovery consultation, online or by phone.

Contact me for a free short discovery consultation. 

Contact me by email, or by phone (07939277189). If I can’t pick up, leave me a message with some times to reach you.

Upcoming Workshops/Courses

Apologies if this isn’t of interest to you, but I wanted to let you know about the upcoming workshops/courses I’m running in May and June!

I’m excited to be re-running the first part of my Reducing Anxiety Course, starting on the 5th June. It’s a ten week course, and this will be Part 1: Calming the Nervous System. There are only 15 places available, so if that’s of interest, or you’d like to know more, please click here for more details/to sign up.