Jaw, neck, and tongue

(Mobile users press “+” at upper right to see the menu.)

This lesson is wonderful for the jaw and shoulders as you make many iterations of the various patterns. Mostly, I find it’s helpful to bring attention to this chronically tense area and practice softening and letting go. The whole face, where we present ourselves to the world, starts to shift from hyper-vigilant to an easy responsiveness.

This is a tilting motion, improving opening and closing the mouth and separating the movement of the neck from the function of the jaw. The most fundamental of the jaw lessons. Also good before bed!

This continues the tilting movement, connecting it to the action of the pelvis and low back. A lovely, slow, unwinding kind of movement.

Another eye, neck, and jaw lesson varying the tilting and the looking. It releases tension in the neck, jaw, and eyes. I turn to these lessons when I’ve been driving, sitting at a computer, or focusing for too long, even sitting in a movie theater or at a dinner party where everyone just sits for three hours! It’s too long to stay in one place.

My students report that the tongue and face lessons have been unexpectedly life-changing. Who thinks about the inside of the mouth? In fact, it’s fundamental to many of our functions, including speaking, eating, balancing, breathing, and more. This lesson changes the felt-sense of the low belly, the dome of the mouth, and the tongue.

It is a novel sensation to improve our self-image of this area. Try this lesson, you might be surprised by what emerges.

(AY126)

This lesson is specifically for reducing tension in and differentiating the tongue. Think about it: We have tons of habits in our use of the tongue. The tongue itself has 27 muscles attached to it! It affects our breathing, balance, and the tonus of our entire musculoskeletal system.

Don’t listen to me, as I tell my students. Test it out in your own nervous system. Try this lesson and feel what a differentiated tongue can do, not only for your ability to speak, but also to lower your overall stress levels.

I love this lesson: the tongue starts to move the whole head in interesting ways, pushing the tongue into different areas of the mouth allows for connections and new awareness of how our system is interconnected. This lesson is another good letting go lesson for the neck!

Jaw and eye movements in many variations allow the jaw to become more and more agile and free. This first half moves the eyes left and right in relation to the jaw.

This lesson moves the eyes up and down relative to the jaw. Again, letting go and softening introduces a new resting position of the head on the top of the spine. You can feel more upright, balanced, and supported on your bones.