Welcome.
My name is Alyssa Snow,
And we are here today to release tension from the shoulders,
The neck,
And the jaw.
Such common places of tension in all of our bodies.
So,
Allow yourself to settle into a seat,
If you're at your desk,
Perfect.
If you're at home,
In a chair,
Or even on your meditation cushion.
Just allow your spine to be spacious and your space to be quiet.
Giving yourself just a little bit to create ease in your body.
And so,
As we begin,
Root down into the seat,
Lift up into the spine,
Lift your belly,
Lift your heart,
Lift the roof of the mouth and the crown of the head.
So,
You're growing long and upwards in the spine.
If you can,
Send the heads of your arms back in space and the shoulder blades down the back as much as you can.
And from that place,
Just simply begin to become aware of your breath.
If it's comfortable,
Close your eyes or look down at the ground,
Allowing your gaze to be inward.
And notice how the breath feels.
Notice how the inhale feels in your body.
And notice how the exhale feels.
And for a few rounds of breath,
Give your breath all of your attention.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the nose or through the mouth,
Whichever feels better for you.
Noticing how the breath feels when you breathe it.
And notice how the body feels.
As you sit here and as you breathe and as you start to shine the light of your awareness inward in the body,
Become aware of tension.
Become aware of tension in particular in the shoulders.
Feel where that is and what that feels like.
Become aware of tension in the neck.
Feel where that is and what that feels like.
And also in the jaw.
Feel where that is and what that feels like.
Not trying to change anything.
We're simply seeking to create space and with movement and breath,
Let the tension unravel in its own time.
And so we'll begin.
As you have your hands resting downward,
Let's take big circles with the shoulders.
And so as you inhale,
Send them forward and up.
And as you exhale,
Send them back and down.
So the breath starts to synchronize with the circle.
The inhale sends them forward and up.
And the exhale back and down.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale.
Inhale forward and up.
Big,
Big,
Big circles.
Exhale back and down.
Inhale forward and up.
Kind of slow.
Exhale back and down.
We've got two more.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale back and down.
One more like a massage.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale back and down.
Let's go the other way now.
Inhale,
Send them back in space and up.
And then exhale forward and down.
Notice the change in sensation there.
Inhale back and up.
Exhale forward and down.
Nice big circles here.
Inhale back and up.
Exhale forward and down.
We've got two more.
Inhale back and up.
Exhale forward and down.
And again.
Inhale back and up.
Exhale forward and down.
Beautiful.
Let's take the right shoulder only.
Backward circles.
Inhale up and back.
And exhale.
Inhale up.
And exhale back.
Good.
Just take one at a time.
Giving it a lot of attention.
Right shoulder only.
Five circles.
As you inhale,
Sending the shoulder forward and up.
And as you exhale,
Back and down.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale back and down.
We've got one more.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale back and down.
Keep that shoulder down as best you can.
Let's get to the left shoulder.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale back.
Inhale forward and up.
Exhale.
Two more big circles.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One more time.
Five big circles.
Both shoulders.
Inhale up.
Exhale.
Big,
Big,
Big circles.
Inhale as the shoulders come up.
Exhale as they make their way down.
And exhale down.
Feel the shoulder blades descend.
Shoulders away from those ears.
Crown lifted.
Very simply.
Inhale.
Turn your head to the left.
And exhale.
Turn your head to the right.
Inhale.
Turn your head to the left.
Exhale.
Turn your head to the right.
Again.
Inhale.
Left.
Exhale.
Right.
Nice,
Sweet pace.
Inhale.
Left.
Exhale.
Right.
Inhale.
Left.
Exhale.
Right.
Five more.
Each direction.
Really sweet.
Inhale.
Left.
Exhale.
Right.
Two more.
Each way.
Inhale.
Left.
Exhale.
Right.
One more.
Each way.
Inhale.
Left.
Inhaling.
Coming back to center.
Let's make big clockwise circles with the nose.
And as you do that,
You're inhaling again.
The chin comes up.
Here's your inhale.
And as you exhale,
The chin comes back down.
Big clockwise circles here.
Inhale as the chin comes up.
Exhaling down.
So these are big circles for you.
Allowing the neck to move in such a way that you're not experiencing pain.
There's just a massaging out of any tension.
So just move in a way that feels good.
Inhale as you lift your chin.
And exhale down.
Do about 10 circles total or halfway there.
Inhale.
And exhale.
We've got five more or so,
Depending upon where you are.
It's all good.
Inhale.
And exhale.
Just move your head in circles.
Inhale.
And exhale.
Let it feel good.
Notice how the jaw responds as you inhale.
And exhale.
And we've got one more in this clockwise direction.
Inhale.
And exhale.
Next time your chin comes down,
Just change the direction.
So now we're going to go counterclockwise.
Inhale as the chin comes up.
Same idea.
Exhale down.
Notice change of sensation.
Inhale as it comes up.
Exhale down.
Let it feel good.
No rushing.
Inhale up.
If you want to go slower than me,
Please do so.
Move at your pace.
Just try to synchronize your breath and your motion.
Chin comes up when you inhale.
Chin comes down when you exhale.
Another five or so.
Inhaling as you come up with the chin.
Exhaling as you come down.
As big circles as you got.
Inhale.
And exhale.
And exhale.
Let's do two more.
Inhaling.
And exhaling.
Last circle like this.
Inhaling.
And exhale.
Let the chin come down towards the chest.
Inhale.
Lift the chin straight up.
We're just making a line.
Very gentle.
See if you can lift from the sternum to lift the chin.
And then exhale.
Bring the chin back down,
Creating a nice length in the back of the neck.
Very,
Very simple.
Just ten of these.
Inhale.
Lift the chin up.
Space in the front of the neck.
And then exhale.
Bring the chin down.
Space in the back of the neck.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Come back down.
Exhale.
Lift back up.
Exhale.
Come back down.
Nice,
Sweet line.
Inhale up.
Exhale down.
Five more.
Inhale up.
Exhale down.
Two more.
Inhale up.
Exhale down.
Beautiful.
And then bring your chin back to neutral.
Let your right ear fall to the right shoulder.
You can take your right hand and bring it to the side of the head on the left side.
Soften that right shoulder.
Let the right arm be a little weighty so you're creating a stretch in the left side of the neck.
You can bring that left hand to the floor.
Just notice how it feels.
You don't want to lean.
You want to sit as upright as possible so there's not any sort of side bend to your spine.
So you're lifting in the belly,
Lifting in the heart.
The only really thing that's leaning is the head and the neck.
Breathe into the left side.
Nice,
Steady breath here.
I'm going to close your eyes and just feel the stretch.
If you bring your chin down a little bit or lift the chin up a little bit,
You might find a different area that might have some volume and a little bit of tension.
So breathing into the area that has the most volume,
The most tension in the side of the neck,
And just stay here and breathe.
Just allow yourself to soften and feel what you feel.
Nice,
We'll take one more big breath here.
And then releasing the hand and the head,
Coming back to neutral.
Bringing the left ear to the left shoulder.
Same idea,
Just different side.
Lifting that left hand and resting it on the right temple,
Outer ear.
And then get heavy.
Soften that left shoulder so it's not scooched up to the ear.
Soften it away.
Shoulders down as best you can.
Right fingers touch the earth.
You'll notice right away the difference in sides.
You can play with the chin,
Lowering it,
Raising it,
Just finding that place where it feels like it needs the most love and breathe into that spot.
Taking your time here.
Steady in the breath.
There's a sense of release maybe as the shoulders both come down.
Maybe that right shoulder comes back a little bit in space and rests down.
Maybe with every exhale you find a little more space in between the shoulders and the ears.
Give yourself some time.
We're going to do this one more time each side.
Once again,
Take a nice deep breath in.
And a complete breath out.
And then come back to center.
A little palate cleanse.
Inhale,
Turn your head to the left.
Exhale,
Turn your head to the right.
Come back to center.
Inhale,
Lift your chin.
Exhale,
Lower your chin.
And come back to center.
And then once again,
Right ear to right shoulder.
Taking the left temple,
Left side of the head with your right hand and soften that right shoulder.
Give a little weight to the hand as you create a stretch in the left side of the neck.
Left hand,
Left fingers can be on the earth next to your hips.
Or they could just hang there.
Playing with the chin position to find that line of tension in the side of the neck and breathe into it.
Let your breath be really sweet,
Really slow.
As best you can,
Slowing down the breath.
There's no rush.
Take your time.
We'll take one more inhale here.
And an exhale,
Releasing the hand,
Coming back to center.
Let's let that left ear come to the left shoulder,
Bringing the left hand to the right side of the head,
Soft in the shoulders,
Both of them.
Left ear weighs heavy,
The hand a little bit heavy,
Creating a stretch in the right side of the neck,
Right fingers on the earth or reaching for it.
Again,
Playing with the chin position to find that sort of spot.
And then once you find that spot that has the most volume,
The most tension,
Stay there and breathe into it.
We're not trying to iron out the tension.
We're just being with the tension with our breath and with our position.
Letting the tension unravel on its own with our attention and our breath.
That's it.
Taking your time to be with yourself and your attention.
Notice what comes up for you in the mind.
Notice the thoughts that move,
The emotions.
Notice if there's a sense of urgency to move on to the next thing.
Breathing deeply.
Breathing completely.
And then take another deep breath in here.
And then exhale as you release the hand,
Coming back to center.
Another big circle with the shoulders up,
Back and down.
Inhale,
Turn your head to the left.
Exhale,
Turn your head to the right.
Once again,
Notice sensation here coming back to center.
Inhale,
Lift the chin.
And exhale,
Lower the chin.
And then as you come back to your neutral position,
Just bring your attention to your tongue,
Feeling the very root of your tongue in the back of the throat.
Rest your tongue in the bottom of the jaw,
With the tip of your tongue right at the bottom back of your teeth.
And as you do that,
How relaxed can your tongue be in your mouth right now?
Feel it sort of just settle and flatten and widen,
Especially in the back,
The root of your tongue.
Feel the very back of your throat release as you relax the back of the tongue.
Keep the lips together and separate the teeth a little bit,
So the bottom jaw is just hanging and relaxed.
Gently move the bottom jaw to the left just a little bit,
And to the right.
Lips together,
Tongue relaxed,
Moving the bottom of the jaw to the left.
Keep going like this.
Noticing how that feels.
Noticing how it feels in the hinge of the jaw.
Noticing if the tongue tenses up.
Keep relaxing the tongue.
And as you do that,
Notice the sensation.
See if you can make that bottom jaw go in little circles now.
Start clockwise.
And then go the other way.
And see if you can make that circle really small,
Like a little micro-circle with the bottom jaw.
And then go the other way,
Micro-circle.
Very subtle motion.
And then relax it again.
We're going to do something.
I'll look like the weirdo here,
Not you.
We're going to stick out our tongues and stretch our tongues.
So you're going to inhale.
Exhale,
Stick your tongue out as far as it will go.
And then send it to the left.
And send it to the right.
And the center again.
And the left.
And the right.
And then back to center.
And then just take your jaw and shake it a little bit,
The bottom part of it.
Just a little relaxation.
A little loosen.
And then open and close.
Just gentle.
It doesn't have to be all the way or all the way,
Right?
Just a little range of motion.
And then close the mouth.
Teeth are apart.
Tongue rests at the bottom.
Take your two fingers here and find that place of the hinge of your jaw.
And you gently open and close the bottom jaw just a little bit.
And you're going to feel where that tender spot is.
And just rub it in circles here.
So you're opening and closing your jaw just a little bit,
Little micro-movements.
Just enough where you can feel that tender spot in the jaw hinge.
Just give it a little massage backwards.
Backward circles.
Nice deep breath.
Circles in the hinge of the jaw.
Jaw is opening and closing as you do this very,
Very,
Very gently.
Tongue is relaxed.
And then you can still the motion of the jaw and then bring the hands down the jawline to the chin.
A little massage here.
And then bring them back up.
A little circle around that hinge.
And then bring it all the way up to the temples right above the eyes.
A little rub there.
That always feels good.
Down.
Just sort of massaging the side of the face right into the hinge part.
Little circles there.
And then all the way back down to the chin.
We'll come back up.
A little circle right by the hinge.
Yeah.
And then up to the temples.
A little rub there.
So nice.
And then back down again.
A little circle here.
And then down to the chin.
I'll do one more because that feels so good.
Coming all the way back up along the side of the face and the jaw where the hinge is.
Nice little circle here.
Yeah.
And then up to the temple.
And then back down again.
Little hinge circle there.
And then back down to the chin.
And release your hands.
Coming back full circle and allowing yourself just to be here.
Close your eyes.
And as you close your eyes,
Just notice how you feel in the neck and the shoulders.
Notice the softness of the tongue and the roof of the tongue.
Notice the jaw.
Relax your face,
Your eyes,
Your brow.
Bring your hands to your heart and thank yourself for your practice,
For taking the time out to release tension.
This practice is always available to you.
I invite you to come back to it again and again.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be free from suffering.
I thank you for your practice.
Until next time.
