Sometimes,
When we wake up in the morning,
Our jaws may be in pain because we might have been clenching our teeth all night long.
This usually isn't conscious,
But something has been brewing unconsciously or subconsciously in our mind,
And we have been expressing it by clenching our teeth.
This is a meditation that you can do in the morning if you wake up clenching your teeth or when you go to sleep.
The idea is to become aware of the thoughts that come into our minds and let them go before we sleep so that we can sleep with a blank slate.
You can optionally pair this with daily journaling to get your thoughts out,
Organize them,
And most importantly,
To consciously let things go.
This is a meditation practice of concentrating and becoming aware of the feelings in our jaws.
In this meditation,
We are going to breathe into the upper and the lower jaw,
And we will spend a minute just observing these portions of our jaws.
Become aware of your jaws.
Our jaws and teeth are the first and foremost source of nutrition.
We eat and drink to nourish our bodies.
Some of the food is soft,
While some of it is hard.
And sometimes when we bite,
We don't bite softly.
We bite in anger or we bite in hunger.
We often don't bite mindfully.
Be grateful for your teeth and jaws.
Keep breathing into the jaws.
Sometimes we grit our teeth in anger,
Which is a very normal reaction.
Often animals express their anger by gritting their teeth.
This expression of anger has been built into our genetics,
But that doesn't mean we have to choose anger.
As soon as we become aware of it,
We can take a deep breath and let it go.
Anger is only a feeling,
Much like happiness and sadness.
A feeling is fleeting.
One second it is there,
And the other second it is gone.
Don't let the anger anchor itself.
Choose to let it go and choose to rewire our neural pathways when the immediate reaction is anger.
Breathe into the upper jaw.
Think about the pressures that our teeth go through when we eat.
As you become aware of the upper jaw,
You may feel it pulsate.
If this happens,
Just become aware,
Acknowledge and let it go.
Try to go with the flow.
Don't try to control or fight it.
Just let it go.
Become aware of your lower jaw.
Breathe into it.
Our lower jaw often clenches and we feel the pain in our neck and our head.
We don't have to put our teeth under so much pressure.
Our teeth are a part of us and we should treat them with as much love and affection as we treat the rest of our body.
If you feel any pressure building up in your jaws,
Just breathe into it.
Visualize your breath relaxing your jaw and let it go as you breathe out.
Take one more breath.
Release any pressures in your upper or lower jaw and let it go.
Release your awareness.
The next time you brush your teeth,
Don't go angry on them.
Brush your teeth like you love them because they are yours and they will stay with you for the rest of your life.
They bring nutrition to your body,
Ease in digestion and help you express emotions of happiness and love.
Even the smallest part of us deserves as much affection and love as the biggest parts.
So I'm bringing this to your meditation journey and I hope tomorrow you will smile a little brighter because you loved your teeth today.
