Jaw tension: 7-minute softening meditation, in the middle of the night

About this practice

A 7-minute softening session for jaw tension, in the middle of the night. No app, no account — press start. A guided session of about 7 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 3am

• Do not check the time and do not turn on a light
• Stay lying down if you can — sitting up makes it harder to return to sleep
• Do not try to solve anything that arrives at this hour

Problems at 3am feel enormous because of chemistry, not because they are actually bigger. Defer them.

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. 0:00Let your belly be soft. Not sucked in. Just soft.
2. 0:12Let the exhale do the work. On each one, allow a little more give.
3. 0:26Everything that happens in the next few minutes is allowed to happen.
4. 0:39Let your body be exactly as tired as it is.
5. 0:51Breathe in for four, out for six, if you'd like something to count.
6. 1:04Notice the small pause before your body decides to breathe in again.
7. 1:17Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
8. 1:29Notice where your body is still holding something. Leave it alone.
9. 1:41Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
10. 1:53Picture 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.
11. 2:13the grinding that follows worry may quiet down, or it may not. Either is fine. We are practising staying, not performing calm.
12. 2:31Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
13. 2:42Stay with it.
14. 2:50Let your ribs widen on the in-breath instead of your shoulders lifting.
15. 3:03If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
16. 3:15Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
17. 3:27With every out-breath, soften one place. Shoulders first, then jaw, then the space behind the eyes.
18. 3:42If your body wants to move, let it move, then come back.
19. 3:55Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
20. 4:08I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
21. 4:21Let 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.
22. 4:40When 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.
23. 5:00Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
24. 5:13If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
25. 5:27Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
26. 5:39Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
27. 5:50If a place will not soften, leave it alone and go somewhere that will. It often follows.
28. 6:05Let the last of the stillness stay with you for a few more seconds.
29. 6:19Stand up when you're ready. The list hasn't grown while you were here.
30. 6:32Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

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