Welcome to this guided meditation to explore the spiritual meaning of why you might be clenching your jaw.
We will spend some time talking to the body about it and see what secrets might be hidden inside those tight muscles.
Take a moment to prepare for your meditation.
You could be seated,
Laying down,
Or in any other position that works for you.
Acknowledge the land that you are on and your relationship with this land.
Acknowledge the space that you are in,
How it feels to be right here,
Right now,
This time of day,
This season.
If you'd like,
Take a few deep breaths.
You might also simply notice what your breath is doing.
If there's something that your breath wants,
Like a yawn or a deep breath,
Let it have that.
And when you're ready,
Begin to tune into your jaw.
Notice what it feels like.
You don't need to rush to relax your jaw.
Just notice what it wants to do naturally without your intervention.
Does it want to clench even right now?
So for now,
Let's just get curious about your jaw without needing to fix,
Change,
Or even analyze anything.
Just notice what happens if you can observe your jaw without trying to change it.
If your jaw wants to clench right now,
What does it feel like to let it?
What happens in the rest of your body when you allow your jaw to clench?
Does it feel calming or reassuring or safe?
Or is there something else that comes up?
Now,
Let's try to relax the jaw and get curious about what that feels like.
What do you notice when you allow or try to allow your jaw to relax?
Do any thoughts,
Images,
Or emotions shift?
Do you notice anything different happening in the rest of your body?
We're simply noticing for now.
The jaw can often have a relationship with anger.
Many of us hold anger in our jaws,
Our neck,
And throats,
Partly because we're trying to hold back something that we might want to say.
Notice if it feels like anger is present for you at all.
Notice if there's something that you might want to say,
If you didn't have to hold it back.
If you notice that there is a word or some sort of sound that's wanting to come out,
Experiment with allowing that,
Speaking it out loud.
What does it feel like to make that sound or say those words that might be stuck in your throat?
And if you haven't already,
Let your awareness move down to the space of your throat and neck.
The throat chakra is all about expression,
Honesty,
Authenticity,
And speaking your truth.
In some cases,
It's also about listening,
Hearing,
Learning,
And receiving.
Is there some truth that is stuck in your throat?
Some place where you're not feeling fully seen and heard?
Is there something happening that you don't want to know or hear about?
Something you've been trying to take in or avoiding taking in?
For some of us,
Jaw clenching,
Especially if it mostly happens at night,
Is related to airway issues.
The jaw clenches to try to open the throat muscles so that more air can come in at night.
If this is the case for you,
You may want to try a sleep study to rule out sleep apnea or talk to a dentist who focuses on airway issues.
But in the meantime,
Let's think about those airway issues from a spiritual perspective.
In this realm,
Difficulties with the intake of air has to do with struggling to receive prana,
Life force energy.
Let's consider a few questions and just notice if anything is resonating for you in particular.
Are you in a state of fully receiving and experiencing your life as it is?
Do you experience joy and pleasure in your day-to-day experiences?
Have you been in contact with depression or despair lately?
A resistance or refusal of life force?
Do you feel weak,
Useless,
Or helpless in some way in your life lately?
In some cases,
Jaw clenching happens in relationship with other issues in the body,
Often in terms of the neck muscles and the posture.
So take a moment to notice your neck and your posture,
Especially if you do happen to be sitting at home.
Do you have a habit of opening your chest and throat a little bit when you sit up straight?
Do you tend to close your heart and chest,
Protecting it from the world?
Is there a familiar slump or hunch that you tend to take in your body,
Perhaps especially over a desk?
If you'd like,
You could experiment with opening your chest and throat a little bit right now,
By drawing your shoulders back and slightly lifting your chin.
What do you notice about this posture?
What does it feel like to open up in this way?
What thoughts,
Feelings,
Or sensations shift when you do this?
Let's take a few more moments just to be with whatever may have come up for you in this meditation.
Is there anything else your jaw would like to tell you now?
When this feels complete for you,
Thank your body for talking to you,
And thank yourself for taking the time to listen.
Even if no clear answers came through,
The body loves to be open to you.
Listen to to be attended to.
Your meditation is complete.
Thank you for listening.
