Jaw tension: 15-minute softening meditation, in the late afternoon

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for jaw tension. A softening session you can do in the late afternoon. A guided session of about 15 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 after a long day

• Something physical first — shoes off, hands washed, water drunk
• Do not review the day during it
• Keep it short rather than thorough

Replaying the day in the practice just carries the day further into the evening.

How softening works

Softening is the practice of releasing held tension degree by degree rather than all at once. It targets the physical grip — shoulders, jaw, gut — that persists long after the stressor has passed.

• Soften one place per exhale rather than everything at once
• Let warmth and gravity do the work instead of muscular effort
• If a place will not soften, leave it and go somewhere that will

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright.
2. 0:13Find the tightest place and simply breathe near it. Warmth does the softening, not effort.
3. 0:27We're going to let the body lead and the mind follow for a while.
4. 0:41Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 0:54Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
6. 1:08Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
7. 1:21Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
8. 1:33Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
9. 1:45Feel your knees. They're just hinges, but they've worked hard.
10. 1:57Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
11. 2:09Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
12. 2:21Notice how the grinding that follows worry changes shape when you stop resisting it. Usually it gets smaller, not bigger.
13. 2:38You do not have to win against the clenched teeth at night. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
14. 2:56Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
15. 3:07There 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.
16. 3:26You do not have to like the grinding that follows worry to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
17. 3:43Notice your whole body as one shape, sitting or lying here.
18. 3:55Let the quiet do its work.
19. 4:05Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
20. 4:19Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
21. 4:31Let this one be unhurried.
22. 4:40Let the breath get soft, the way it goes when someone is reading beside you.
23. 4:54Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
24. 5:07Remain here for a few more breaths.
25. 5:17Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
26. 5:30Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
27. 5:42Take the next breath slowly.
28. 5:51Let the breath be slow enough that you can hear it, just barely.
29. 6:04Notice the weight of your thighs, all the way down.
30. 6:16A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
31. 6:27If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
32. 6:41Let the pause stretch out.
33. 6:50Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
34. 7:05Notice how you're sitting. Adjust if you need to. Then settle again.
35. 7:18Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
36. 7:29Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
37. 7:40Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
38. 7:53Stay with it.
39. 8:01If you're distracted by a sound, let the sound be the object for a moment.
40. 8:15Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
41. 8:26We are not forcing anything open. We are letting things unclench by a single degree.
42. 8:40Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
43. 8:53A short silence. Let it be empty.
44. 9:03Unclenching is not the same as relaxing. Just stop adding the tension back.
45. 9:16If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
46. 9:27Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
47. 9:39Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
48. 9:53Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
49. 10:07Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
50. 10:18If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
51. 10:33Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
52. 10:45Feel the slight stretch at the very bottom of the exhale.
53. 10:57I'll step back. You stay here.
54. 11:07Give the clenched teeth at night a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
55. 11:25Imagine the tight jaw that speaks for your stress as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
56. 11:44Feel the air as it passes the back of your throat. It's cooler going in.
57. 11:58There is a part of you that has handled hard moments before. That part is here now, even if it is quiet.
58. 12:16This is not the last time the clenched teeth at night will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
59. 12:35Let your breathing get quieter rather than deeper.
60. 12:46If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
61. 13:00If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
62. 13:13Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
63. 13:24Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
64. 13:36With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
65. 13:51No rush to move on.
66. 14:00Give your hands a stretch before you go back to using them.
67. 14:13If you're going straight back to work, take ten seconds at the doorway first.

Questions people ask

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