Unclench Your Jaw: But First Ask Why it’s Clenched

Are there conditions that inspired this kind of tension?

Is there something inspiring your body to protection and holding on?

What does your clenched jaw have to tell you about that?

When we move to change something in our body so quickly, we lose an opportunity to understand the embodied wisdom behind that tension pattern.

Tension is not good or bad, it’s necessary to life in animal bodies – it’s what creates posture and movement.

Somatics asks us to slow down, to pay attention to rich information in the here and now, before we act to change anything. Curiosity here can be a rich entry point to the kinds of self and community awareness necessary for transformation.

How often do you check in with your body (posture, muscle tension, emotional cues, nervous system state, thought patterns)? How often do you check in with your body and observe what’s there without interrupting and adjusting what you find?