Body tension, including jaw tension, can arise from emotions, stuck trauma, and the subtle, spiritual body. This post explores the emotional and spiritual cause of jaw tension and how to find gentle, holistic release.
What is Jaw Tension?
Jaw tension is an uncomfortable feeling in your jaw muscles. You feel tightness or even pain that doesn’t seem to go away and may not have a known cause.
If your jaw pain isn’t resolved, it could lead to TMD (Temporomandibular disorders), which is essentially pain or discomfort in the major muscles and joints of your jaw.
Research from the National Institute Of Dental and Craniofacial Research lists these common signs you may have a TMD:
- Pain in the chewing muscles and/or jaw, face, or neck
- Jaw stiffness or painful clicking and locking
- Ringing in the ears, hearing loss, or dizziness
Unfortunately, there isn’t much research into the primary cause of TMDs, and treatments don’t always work on all individuals. I welcome you to reach out to your medical team for the most accurate diagnosis and care plan.
Causes of Jaw Tension
I welcome you to join me as I explore different reasons for jaw tension and how one (or more) causes may play a role in your discomfort.
Spiritual Cause of Jaw Tension
While jaw tension isn’t fully understood in modern day science, spiritual practices have a long history of identifying and soothing jaw tension. The answer lies in the ancient subtle body system known as your chakras, and a clear sign of imbalance is if you experience jaw tension.
Your Throat Chakra’s Role in Jaw Tension
Your jaw is part of your throat chakra region. You have over a hundred chakras in your body, but yoga focuses on your main seven chakras. Each govern a different part of your energetic body and when in balance, you achieve enlightenment, longevity, and inner peace. Imbalances cause symptoms (like jaw tension) which may create further imbalances in other chakras. I invite you to learn more about how to balance your chakras after sexual trauma in this blog post.
An imbalanced throat chakra is the main spiritual cause for jaw tension. Your throat chakra is responsible for communication, speech, and expression.
Common signs of throat chakra imbalance include:
- Sore throat
- TMJ disorders
- Grinding teeth
- Talking too much or holding back speaking your beliefs
- Gossiping
Signs of Throat Chakra Balance include:
- Good listener
- Creative
- Effective communicator
Emotional Causes
Your emotions are powerful and influence your body overtime. The National Library of Medicine discovered these emotions contribute to TMJ disorders:
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Frustration
- Anger
Other Causes
Another reason you may have built up tension in your body is because of unprocessed trauma. If you’re a trauma survivor or have high loads of stress in your life, your emotions may become “stuck” in your body if not fully processed or released.
This happens when you’re reminded of a past event, and your body prepares you as if the trauma is occurring in the present. You may hunch your shoulders, tighten your hips muscles, and even clench your jaw. You may be aware this is happening, but for most people this happens subtly and not always in our own awareness. When you release this stored trauma, the tension and emotions can release with it.
How to Find Relief From Jaw Tension
I invite you to first speak with your medical team to rule out any possible physical conditions before exploring other supportive practices.
Balance Your Chakras
The simplest way to find relief from jaw tension associated with a throat chakra imbalance is to rediscover balance. I welcome you to explore the options below.
Meditation With Mantra
A mantra is a chant you do alongside your meditation. The vibrations that are created while saying mantras produce a certain effect in your body. Your throat chakras mantra is: Ham (Pronounced hahm). You may repeat this as many times as you like during your practice.
Breathwork
Pranayama, also known as breathwork, are specific breathing practices that move your life force (prana) to create desired effects. A supportive pranayama for jaw tension is Lion’s Breath (simha pranayama). Not only does it increase confidence, but it stretches your jaw muscles more than any other breath work. You may feel a little silly doing this exercise, but it offers a soothing stretch.
Lion’s Breath Steps:
- Begin in a comfortable posture of your choice.
- If seated, I invite you to find a long, natural spine.
- When you feel settled in, you may have the eyes open or closed as you focus on your third eye center (in between and slightly above your eyebrows). There is an option to send your gaze to that area on the exhale.
- In your time, begin an inhale through your nose.
- Before your exhale, I welcome you to open your mouth and stick out your tongue (like in the doctor’s office). Allow your tongue to stretch toward your chin.
- When you are ready to exhale, you may do so with as much force as you feel comfortable. There is an option to make a ha sound as you exhale.
- I invite you to breathe normally for a few moments before repeating steps 4 through 6.
- When you are near the end of your practice, you have the option to breathe in a way that suits you for a few moments and to notice the effects.
Yoga Poses
Yoga poses influence your body’s energy and subtle body. If you’ve ever heard of a power stance (like standing confidently to increase confidence), this is essentially what yoga does, but each posture has a different effect. Here are a few supportive poses to explore for balancing your throat chakra:
- Child’s pose
- Cat/cow
- Cobra
- Bridge pose
- Downward facing dog
- Any pose that exposes your throat (like camel pose)
When you do these poses, I welcome you to only go as far as feels comfortable for your neck. Even a small amount of movement is enough to find balance.
According to the National Library of Medicine, yoga also effectively manages stress and anxiety, so you’ll also promote jaw tension release associated with high stress levels.
Three Additional Methods For Jaw Tension Release
These methods are not associated with chakra balancing but still provide gentle release.
Gentle Massage
I welcome you to gently massage your jaw during your yoga practices for extra release. You can explore online methods for massage, but I’ve found that following my tension on my own still provides relief.
You may also choose to massage your jaw when you’re in the shower or putting on your daily facial moisturizer. It’s a simple way to have less friction between your fingers and face and give yourself a moment of self-care.
Release Hip Tension
This may sound strange, but your hips and jaw have a special connection and influence on each other. This study discovered that reducing jaw tension also reduced hip tension in patients with complex regional pain syndrome.
I invite you to explore these blog posts to release your hips and psoas (major muscles responsible for hip tension.)
Related Post: 4 Yoga Poses to Gently Release Hip Tension After Trauma
Related Post: 7 Yoga Poses For Deep Psoas Trauma Release
Release Trapped Trauma & Emotions
Trauma and stress may become stored in your body if not processed or released. An effective, research backed method for gentle trauma release is through trauma-informed yoga. To learn more about this practice, how it supports the mind and body connection, and how it’s supportive for sexual trauma survivors, I welcome you to explore this blog post. I also encourage you to include any additional holistic healing or therapy modalities for your best care plan.
This practice soothes your nervous system, strengthens embodiment, and gives you full control and choice in your practice. Together, these allow your body to soften and bring into a neutral state where emotions can process through you without overwhelming you.
Overview
Jaw tension is an uncomfortable, frustrating effect of stress, unprocessed trauma, and chakra imbalances. I welcome you to take all the time you need as you explore methods of release.
If you’d like to explore softening stress and discovering embodiment, I welcome you to join me in my free trauma-informed yoga library, the Cozy Corner. This library caters to the unique lived experiences of sexual trauma survivors, focusing on releasing tension. If you’d like to learn more, I welcome you to explore below.
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