Letting go for jaw tension: 15 minutes, before an exam

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for jaw tension. A letting go session you can do before an exam. 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 before an exam

• Do it outside the hall, before you go in
• Do not revise during it — that raises the noise
• Aim to arrive early and steady rather than late and reading

Last-minute revision mostly raises arousal without adding recall. Arriving settled is worth more.

How letting go works

Letting go is about loosening grip rather than dropping things. It works on the effort attached to a problem — the holding, rehearsing and bracing — which is separable from the problem itself.

• Pick one thing you are gripping and loosen a single finger
• Release the effort with the exhale, not the issue
• Set down temporarily; you can pick it up again after

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're lying down, let the mattress hold all of you. You can stop holding yourself up.
2. 0:15You have been carrying this competently for a while. A few minutes off will not undo that.
3. 0:30There's no correct speed. Slower isn't better. Steadier is the only aim.
4. 0:43This is not a performance. Nobody is listening to how well you're doing it.
5. 0:57Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
6. 1:12Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
7. 1:25Feel your ankles. Let them be loose.
8. 1:35Notice your fingers, one by one, starting with the little finger.
9. 1:47Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
10. 1:58Let your throat soften. There's nothing to swallow right now.
11. 2:10Notice your wrists. They bend a lot in a day.
12. 2:22You do not have to win against the grinding that follows worry. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
13. 2:40You have been carrying the clenched teeth at night for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
14. 3:00Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
15. 3:16If you catch yourself fighting the tight jaw that speaks for your stress, that is worth noticing. The fight usually costs more than the feeling.
16. 3:35If the grinding that follows worry has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
17. 3:53Notice your lower back. Let it curve however it curves.
18. 4:05Let this one be unhurried.
19. 4:14Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
20. 4:27Notice your ribs on both sides. Wide, not squeezed.
21. 4:38No rush to move on.
22. 4:47Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
23. 5:02Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
24. 5:15Take the next breath slowly.
25. 5:24Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
26. 5:37Notice your hands again. Check whether they've loosened on their own.
27. 5:49Keep following the air.
28. 5:58Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
29. 6:11Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
30. 6:23Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
31. 6:35Notice any part of you that wants this to be over.
32. 6:47Let the quiet do its work.
33. 6:57Notice how many breaths you take in a minute. Don't change the number, just check.
34. 7:11Pause here. Count three breaths if you need an anchor.
35. 7:23Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
36. 7:35Notice your breathing getting quieter on its own, without you deciding anything.
37. 7:48Stay with it.
38. 7:56Notice the difference between a thought and the space around it.
39. 8:08Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
40. 8:20We are not solving anything in the next few minutes. We are setting it down, temporarily.
41. 8:35Notice anything you're holding onto from earlier today.
42. 8:46Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
43. 8:56Ask yourself what you could stop holding for the next sixty seconds. That one is a good start.
44. 9:12Notice if you've been frowning at your own thoughts.
45. 9:23Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
46. 9:34With each exhale, let a little of the effort go. Not the problem — just the effort.
47. 9:49If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
48. 10:01I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
49. 10:14Pick one thing you are gripping — a plan, a worry, a grudge — and loosen a single finger.
50. 10:30If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
51. 10:41Follow three breaths and let the fourth one go unobserved.
52. 10:53A short silence. Let it be empty.
53. 11:03You do not have to solve the clenched teeth at night in these few minutes. Your only job is to keep breathing while it is here.
54. 11:22Imagine softening the edges of the tight jaw that speaks for your stress. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
55. 11:41Notice where you feel the breath most clearly. Nose, chest, or belly — pick one and stay there.
56. 11:57If the grinding that follows worry shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
57. 12:17Feel the weight of the clenched teeth at night somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
58. 12:34Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
59. 12:45If you're replaying a conversation, let it play. It'll finish on its own.
60. 12:58If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
61. 13:13If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
62. 13:28I'll step back. You stay here.
63. 13:38Setting something down is not the same as giving up. You can pick it up again after.
64. 13:53Just the breath, still.
65. 14:02Start to notice the edges of your body again, and the surface you're on.
66. 14:16If you drifted off, that was rest, and rest counts.

Questions people ask

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