10-minute body scan meditation for jaw tension, at lunch

About this practice

A 10-minute body scan session for jaw tension, at lunch. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: jaw tension

The jaw is a stress-holding site for many people, often without awareness until it aches. Grinding at night and clenching by day are the same response.

It tends to show up as:

• Clenched teeth, especially in the evening
• Aching or clicking jaw joints
• A dull headache at the temples

Repeatedly checking and softening the jaw through a session teaches you to catch the clench during the day.

Doing this at lunch

• Do it before eating rather than after, so you are not working against digestion
• Leaving the desk matters more than the session length
• Take the headphones off afterwards so the break registers

A break that happens at the same desk is only half a break.

How body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your next exhale be a sigh, if a sigh is what's waiting there.
2. 0:14If a region feels numb, that is a finding too. Note it and move on.
3. 0:28We'll start broad and narrow down. Nothing sudden is coming.
4. 0:40For the next few minutes, the only job is to notice what's already happening.
5. 0:54Let your shoulders stay still while your ribs move.
6. 1:05Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
7. 1:16Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
8. 1:27Feel the skin around your eyes. Let the muscles behind them go loose.
9. 1:40Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
10. 1:52Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
11. 2:03Notice where the clenched teeth at night lives in your body. Chest, throat, stomach. Rest your attention there without trying to change it.
12. 2:21When the tight jaw that speaks for your stress arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
13. 2:41Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
14. 2:52Start at the crown of the head and move down slowly. Do not skip to the parts that hurt.
15. 3:08Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
16. 3:20Notice the moment you realise you've drifted. That moment is the whole skill.
17. 3:33Move at the speed of your attention, not the speed of a checklist. There is no schedule to keep.
18. 3:49I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
19. 4:01Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
20. 4:13Visit each area with plain curiosity, not with a verdict. Sensation is information, not a problem.
21. 4:28I'll step back. You stay here.
22. 4:38Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
23. 4:52If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
24. 5:06Keep following the air.
25. 5:15Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
26. 5:26Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
27. 5:38Let your body keep settling.
28. 5:47Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
29. 5:59Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
30. 6:14Let the pause stretch out.
31. 6:23Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
32. 6:34Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
33. 6:46I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
34. 6:58Think of the grinding that follows worry as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
35. 7:16If you catch yourself fighting the clenched teeth at night, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
36. 7:34Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
37. 7:45You have been carrying the tight jaw that speaks for your stress for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
38. 8:07Notice any urge to check something. You can wait two more minutes.
39. 8:20If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
40. 8:33A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
41. 8:44We will travel down through the body, one region at a time, and leave each one softer than we found it.
42. 9:01Nothing changes for a moment.
43. 9:10When you're ready, look around properly.
44. 9:20Give your hands a stretch before you go back to using them.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.