Is the popular song by Shakira now playing in your head? Go ahead, take a moment to move your hips and dance freely, and allow your body a chance to intuitively move and release!
Enjoy this unplanned dance moment, you are welcome!
How many of you have experienced jaw pain? Teeth grinding?
For the more chronic jaw pain, you've probably heard the doctors say TMJ, short for temporomandibular joint?
Writing this blog symbolizes a full circle for me as my journey with mind, and body awareness (and horses) stemmed from severe jaw and neck pain and a diagnosis of TMJ. I was prescribed pain medicine to manage the pain with a side of muscle relaxers.
Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t take Tylenol for a headache so it was unlikely I was going to follow the doctor's order.
Seeking an alternative to prescription drugs, I scheduled routine appointments with my chiropractor. After a few sessions with little relief, he started to explore beyond where my body was physically presenting the pain (my jaw) and discovered that my legs and hips were extremely tight. He suspected that this tightness was causing the TMJ.
I was not a believer. There was no way my hips and thighs were causing the severe pain in my jaw! And the pain was becoming debilitating.
As it turns out, the last 10-20 years have produced significant scientific research to prove the connection between the hips (pelvis) and jaw. Looking at the physiological body design, the jaw is at the top of your spine and the pelvis is at the bottom. If one is misaligned, the other will likely be too.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it’s believed that the unifying thoroughfare for the jaw and hips is the Gallbladder Channel. If you want to read more, this is a great article: Bodyworker’s Pearl: The Jaw and Hip Connection | Massage Professionals Update (integrativehealthcare.org)
Here is the fascinating part.
Both the jaw and hips are known to be avenues of expression, both physically and verbally.
Think about what happens to your jaw when you are holding back from expressing yourself. Or when you are feeling anger, fear, and negative emotions that cause you to clench and grind your teeth, or build stress in the jaw.
Similarly, think about what happens to your body when you are in a stressful situation, can you feel your abdomen and pelvic muscles tense up?
Here is another fascinating fact, your hips are your emotional junk drawer storing what could be a lifetime of suppressed emotions. Hips are a place where we store our deepest vulnerabilities. Think of them as a filing system for all our unpleasant memories, the storage system for everything we have suppressed.
We hold tension and stress in many parts of the body but we can release the emotions in those parts. The hips are different in that the tension gets trapped, and they become the “junk drawer”.
That’s because the hips store stress, trauma, and emotions that go unresolved.
The hips are a key part of the body's response system. When high levels of stress are experienced, the brain and body can activate the fight, flight, or freeze response. Naturally, the hips are activated becoming tense in preparation to fight off the proposed threat.
When the body is in this prolonged state and does not release, the tension remains in the hips, causing them to be tight and restricted which creates an imbalance in the nervous system impacting the body’s mobility. The tighter the hips, the less mobility for the rest of the body.
It wasn’t until I consistently committed to a 20-minute-per-day yoga practice that I became a believer in the jaw/hip connection. I wish I had listened to my chiropractor!
The more I focused on releasing the trapped emotions in my hips, the less tense my jaw was. More importantly, focusing my yoga practice on hip release and extension allowed my body to process the emotions that were not serving me.
The first step is always awareness. Then you can begin to explore the body and the incredible way it can heal and communicate.
To prepare the body for emotional release, we need to regulate the nervous system so that the body feels safe and moves from a fight or flight response to a rest and digest state. I included some resources below to support this process.
If you notice any pain in your jaw or hips, try a few of the suggested activities below to fully explore the emotions behind the physical presentation of the body.
There are many ways to release suppressed emotions that don’t require years of talk therapy or prescription drugs.
Here is what has worked for me:
Yoga
Play around with any pose that opens the hips by creating space for the hip joint to release tension. Be aware that you may find some surprise suppressed memories and emotions that surface. Feel all the way through and allow your body to release in whatever way it needs. You will want to use your breath slowly and intentionally in each of your poses.
Free Meditation and Yoga App-Insight Timer - #1 Free Meditation App for Sleep, Relax & More
Meditation and Yoga App-Gaia - Conscious Media, Streaming Yoga Videos & More | Gaia
Nervous System Regulation
Somatic Practices: Dance, meditation, yoga, rage rooms, breath work
Alternate Nostril Breathing: This video Alternate Nostril Breathing walks you through how to do the practice. You do not need to be sitting on a yoga mat. You can do this practice anywhere you are. Establish a routine practice. Doing it every hour on the hour is suggested.
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