Gratitude for jaw tension: 12 minutes

About this practice

When jaw tension shows up in the office, this 12-minute gratitude session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 12 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 your desk

• Feet flat, back supported, screen away from your eyeline
• You can do this with your eyes open if the office makes closing them awkward
• Unclench the jaw and drop the shoulders first, before anything else

Nobody needs to know you are doing it. Keep it invisible if that makes it possible.

How gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Notice whether you're leaning forward. Most people are, slightly, all day.
2. 0:12Let it be unimpressive. Small good things are the most reliable ones.
3. 0:25This is not a performance. Nobody is listening to how well you're doing it.
4. 0:39Settle into the fact that for the next few minutes, nothing is required of you.
5. 0:53Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
6. 1:06Notice if your breathing is faster than you expected. Don't correct it. Just note it.
7. 1:20Notice the space between your shoulder blades.
8. 1:30Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
9. 1:41Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
10. 1:53Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
11. 2:06Let the exhale carry a little of the clenched teeth at night with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
12. 2:25There is no correct amount of the tight jaw that speaks for your stress to be feeling right now. Whatever is here is the honest amount.
13. 2:44Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
14. 2:58You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
15. 3:10We are not forcing positivity. We are just noticing what went right, however small.
16. 3:24I'll leave a gap here. Use it however you like.
17. 3:36Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
18. 3:49If nothing comes, notice that something did not go wrong. That also counts.
19. 4:02Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
20. 4:13If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
21. 4:25Pick one ordinary thing from today — a warm drink, a dry walk, a message — and let it count.
22. 4:42Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
23. 4:53If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
24. 5:06There is no need to feel grateful. Just look, and see what is actually there.
25. 5:20A few seconds of nothing now. That's on purpose.
26. 5:31If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
27. 5:44Let your thumbs rest wherever they landed.
28. 5:54Feel the last part of the exhale, where it turns into nothing.
29. 6:07Take the next breath slowly.
30. 6:16Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
31. 6:29Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
32. 6:42No rush to move on.
33. 6:51Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
34. 7:02Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
35. 7:18Stay here a little longer.
36. 7:27Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
37. 7:40Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
38. 7:51Remain here for a few more breaths.
39. 8:01Feel your hips. Wide, heavy, and doing nothing.
40. 8:12You have been carrying the grinding that follows worry for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
41. 8:32I'll be quiet for a moment. Stay with the breath.
42. 8:44Give the clenched teeth at night a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
43. 9:02Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
44. 9:16Picture the tight jaw that speaks for your stress as a weather front passing over. You are not the weather. You are the sky it moves through.
45. 9:36You do not have to like the grinding that follows worry to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
46. 9:53Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
47. 10:06If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
48. 10:21Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
49. 10:32A few quiet breaths. That's all this is.
50. 10:43Stay with it for two breaths. Gratitude deepens by staying, not by listing.
51. 10:56A few seconds more.
52. 11:05When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.
53. 11:18Roll your neck once, slowly, in whichever direction feels good.

Questions people ask

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