Somatic Connections

Relieving jaw tension by working on the eyes. Photo (c) Namee Baijal

I have been clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth since I was a kid. My mother once told me i would grind my teeth so loudly, that the noise would wake her up. A chipped tooth and relentless migraines in the last decade have sent me searching for ways to reduce jaw tension. I have found Feldenkrais and Yoga Nidra to be the most effective non-invasive methods. Perhaps, if I could take up these practices on a regular basis, I might even be free of jaw tension. But my days are often such a whirl that it is hard to find time to undertake self care practices that require upward of ten minutes.

Yesterday I made an exciting discovery. My eyes were really tired after a long day of staring at the computer so I thought I would try to relax them using a yoga nidra inspired approach. I placed my attention gently on various points around my eye socket allowed a feeling of ease to come into them. To my surprise, I felt the tension flow out not just from my eyes, but also from my jaw and the back of my neck right where the neck meets the skull. I am sure there is a large section of the population that already knows about this somatic connection between the eyes and the jaw. But for me it was a delightful discovery and an unexpected gift.