complete physical relaxation.

[Patty]

HI!

I don't know that I can help. I have trouble relaxing my jaw, too.  but I can do it if I try. Then it tenses up again.

I just keep relaxing everything else, progressively more, and when I start to fall asleep my jaw naturally goes slack. DO you let yourself get that close to sleep? It is hard to hold your self there, but worth the effort. I usually fall asleep and jerk back to awareness, and sometimes it easier then to get tranced.

You might find that allowing some variation in your routine will help ---- Maybe try a different approach? Monroe's?  Peterson's? your own instincts?



Patty

[Tom]

My jaw was a problem for me. No matter what position I put it in, it only became more tense. Even holding my jaw in place with one hand did not help. A teacher of the alexander technique told me that I was right: any position I placed my jaw in would only cause more tension. My teacher told me to stop trying. She told me to give up completely with trying to set my jaw in place. She said that for relaxation, more "doing" will only make things worse and that what is needed is "un-doing".

[jilola]

Here's a trick that works for me.
Close your lips and stick your tongue gently to the palate. Now suck a little on your teeth to reduce the pressure in your mouth. This causes your mouth to stay shut, your tongue to stay put, reduces saliva excretion and you are able to relax your jaw muscles.

2cents

jouni

[James S]

Jouni has the right idea. Pressing the tongue against the palate is the correct method for stopping the jaw from tensing up and your teeth from clenching.  Before you do this, open your jaw as wide as you can, hold it for a couple of seconds then close it. Do this about five times. It'll make you yawn, but it removes the  tension in the jaw muscles before going on to Jouni's instructions. Your jaw muscles might ache a little after doing it, but this is a good thing as it will make you less likely to tighten them. This is actually a known & proven relaxation technique.

If anyone is interested in effective easy relaxation techniques, get hold of one of the "calm" series of books by Paul Wilson. He waffles a lot, and a lot of it is aimed at stress management, but this guy is highly experienced & skilled in advanced forms of yoga & meditation. He has translated his skills into easy to follow practical everyday exercises that anyone can do. I found a lot of his techniques very effective.

Happy relaxing,

James S
(Fate amenable to change)

[fredhedd]

thanks everyone, i'm going to give the suggestions a shot later tonight.

[fredhedd]

i've read astral dynamics. i've carefully progressed through the different stages and have been stuck at the deep physical relaxation part. i can relax my entire body except for my lower jaw. the more i try and relax it, the more tense it gets. it's like it won't find a comfortable spot to stay. it has been over two months now and i have had plenty of time to relax and try for better results every day. i have kept the attitude that it willl eventually work itself out as not to get too aggrivated about it, but it's not getting any better. i can attain some pretty good levels of trance and have even felt very mild vibrations for a second or two throughout my lower body. i haven't tried to project yet because it's stricly stated that your entire body needs to be relaxed. i have been in the trance state for more than an hour at a time w/ no change. any help would be appreciated.
fredhedd