Somatic exercises
are synergistic action patterns . . . . .
movement patterns
composed of numerous simpler movement elements
that combine together
into larger, more complex, integrated movement patterns
that make sense . . . . .
movement patterns . . . . . as integrations of smaller movement elements
. . . . . elements that naturally coordinate together
that wake up and organize your brain in a certain way
. . . . . that allows stretching
to move beyond stretching
with no experience of stretching
as you come out of the grip of musclebound back muscles
and elongate into a more relaxed state.
You learn to control the tight places first
by tightening into tension
that is already tense,
then by slowly relaxing into relaxation
that is release . . . . .
Tension and release,
control in both directions,
getting tighter and letting looser,
deeper into relaxation than before, deeper.
You get a grip and then let go.
You assert control and then rest
and that is control.
By repeatedly practicing each movement pattern
you awaken it,
put it together,
develop it,
and end with deeper,
more balanced equilibrium.
You get a feeling for what
"well-organized" and "well put-together"
feel like.
You gain freedom of movement so natural
that you will soon start
to take it for granted.
Naturally well-coordinated, well-balanced and easy-moving,
such are the lasting improvements of this approach
. . . which begin immediately
... and become more and more ...
the more you do it.
You develop good unity of movement and balance
without danger of cramp or spasm
. . . you get free of the grip
more reliably, more durably, more completely
than by being manipulated
or "worked-on" by somebody else.
Because you are controlling it from within
rather than being done to
you can own it,
keep it and refresh it.
The 'proof' of the 'pudding' is in the 'eating'.
more on somatic exercises
see somatic exercises (Get Started for Free)
buy somatic exercise instruction
back pain somatic exercises (free)
Racism is a Racist Term
To begin, there exists only one human race whose members genetically adapted to life in different locations of the planet, whose skin colors are fairly uniform, according to the latitude, planetwide, from which they come (light-skinned from more polar latitudes and dark-skinned from more equatorial latitudes, according to the intensity of sunlight).
So, right away, to describe those with different skin colors or ethnicities as belonging to different races is racist.
Let's take, for example, the labels, "Black" and "White".
On the face of it, these labels are absurd. "Black" (formerly Negro, which in Spanish, also means "black") people are not black. They're brown. And "White" (also "Caucasian", as in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia) people are not white. They're beige or tan or something similar. Sometimes, they're indistinguishable from each other!
So, these very labels are not only inaccurate, they exaggerate the differences among people of different skin colors (i.e., places of origin on the planet) -- exactly the underpinnings of racism.
The correct labeling would be "Brown" and "Beige". Rather closer and more like each other, aren't they? A bit less "racist"?
People of Color
Once, again, racism expressed in language, this time in a term considered "politically correct" -- "people of color".
What? Are Caucasian people transparent?
I had no idea! I'll have to check, next time I look in the mirror.
As far as I can tell, Caucasian people are, as I said, beige. We've been left out of the category, "People of Color"! Sounds like unfair discrimination, to me. I have color! I want to be included!
In this case as in so many others, "political correctness" is incorrect, even politically incorrect.
Why not be accurate, at least, and use the term, "people of dark color"? That is what's meant, isn't it?
Discrimination
And now, that favorite word coupled with the word, "racial".
Let's be rigorous about our use of words. "Discrimination" means "the process of telling or noticing a difference between two things." It doesn't necessarily mean that one is better (although it may), just that the two are in some way different. (Sometimes, a value judgment is warranted. A criminal is someone who fails to discriminate between "right" and "wrong" behavior.)
Discrimination is not, by definition, bad. Unfair discrimination is bad. Unintelligent discrimination is bad. Inaccurate discrimination is bad. Sloppy discrimination is bad. No discrimination at all is bad (or at least haphazard and possibly dangerous).
Those who use the word, "discrimination", are usually discriminating against bad, unintelligent, or inaccurate discrimination. Unfortunately, their use of language is not so discriminating. Actually, it's sloppy use of a term for something that we need on a moment to moment basis to make healthy choices: discrimination. To make any kind of discrimination seem wrong is a blunting of intelligence.
Ethic Cleansing
Need I say more?
It seems that the answer to that question is, "yes".
Officially sanctioned by the news media, this term blatantly implies that some ethnicities are "unclean".
Really.
How about this, more accurate term, demonstrating the more careful use of language that we should expect of our news commentators: ethnic purging -- accurate and descriptive, without bias.
That's closer the mark, isn't it?
Racial Profiling
Here we go, again.
ethnic profiling
If we recognize that differences exist among individuals of a given ethnicity, then we are obliged discriminate fairly between and among people who share an ethnicity.
There's no denying that, statistically, some ethnicities have more than their share of social problems. To deny that such is the case, again, is to blunt our own intelligence. However, to fail to discriminate fairly between individuals of a given ethnicity is laziness and sloppiness -- a weakness of intelligence. The world needs more wise discrimination.
So, Then What?
We need to rehabilitate the word, "discrimination" -- and we need to use the term, "ethnocentrism" or "ethnism" in place of racism. At least it's accurate.
Observe those who use the term, racist. See if they, actually, are themselves racist, painting entire groups of others with a broad brush -- lacking intelligent discrimination.
Don't come back with, "It's popular parlance," or "everyone knows what it means". Use language responsibly. Discriminate soundly and wisely. Exercise your intelligence and expect others to do the same.
So, right away, to describe those with different skin colors or ethnicities as belonging to different races is racist.
Let's take, for example, the labels, "Black" and "White".
On the face of it, these labels are absurd. "Black" (formerly Negro, which in Spanish, also means "black") people are not black. They're brown. And "White" (also "Caucasian", as in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia) people are not white. They're beige or tan or something similar. Sometimes, they're indistinguishable from each other!
So, these very labels are not only inaccurate, they exaggerate the differences among people of different skin colors (i.e., places of origin on the planet) -- exactly the underpinnings of racism.
The correct labeling would be "Brown" and "Beige". Rather closer and more like each other, aren't they? A bit less "racist"?
People of Color
Once, again, racism expressed in language, this time in a term considered "politically correct" -- "people of color".
What? Are Caucasian people transparent?
I had no idea! I'll have to check, next time I look in the mirror.
As far as I can tell, Caucasian people are, as I said, beige. We've been left out of the category, "People of Color"! Sounds like unfair discrimination, to me. I have color! I want to be included!
In this case as in so many others, "political correctness" is incorrect, even politically incorrect.
Why not be accurate, at least, and use the term, "people of dark color"? That is what's meant, isn't it?
Discrimination
And now, that favorite word coupled with the word, "racial".
Let's be rigorous about our use of words. "Discrimination" means "the process of telling or noticing a difference between two things." It doesn't necessarily mean that one is better (although it may), just that the two are in some way different. (Sometimes, a value judgment is warranted. A criminal is someone who fails to discriminate between "right" and "wrong" behavior.)
Discrimination is not, by definition, bad. Unfair discrimination is bad. Unintelligent discrimination is bad. Inaccurate discrimination is bad. Sloppy discrimination is bad. No discrimination at all is bad (or at least haphazard and possibly dangerous).
Those who use the word, "discrimination", are usually discriminating against bad, unintelligent, or inaccurate discrimination. Unfortunately, their use of language is not so discriminating. Actually, it's sloppy use of a term for something that we need on a moment to moment basis to make healthy choices: discrimination. To make any kind of discrimination seem wrong is a blunting of intelligence.
Ethic Cleansing
Need I say more?
It seems that the answer to that question is, "yes".
Officially sanctioned by the news media, this term blatantly implies that some ethnicities are "unclean".
Really.
How about this, more accurate term, demonstrating the more careful use of language that we should expect of our news commentators: ethnic purging -- accurate and descriptive, without bias.
That's closer the mark, isn't it?
Racial Profiling
Here we go, again.
ethnic profiling
If we recognize that differences exist among individuals of a given ethnicity, then we are obliged discriminate fairly between and among people who share an ethnicity.
There's no denying that, statistically, some ethnicities have more than their share of social problems. To deny that such is the case, again, is to blunt our own intelligence. However, to fail to discriminate fairly between individuals of a given ethnicity is laziness and sloppiness -- a weakness of intelligence. The world needs more wise discrimination.
So, Then What?
We need to rehabilitate the word, "discrimination" -- and we need to use the term, "ethnocentrism" or "ethnism" in place of racism. At least it's accurate.
Observe those who use the term, racist. See if they, actually, are themselves racist, painting entire groups of others with a broad brush -- lacking intelligent discrimination.
Don't come back with, "It's popular parlance," or "everyone knows what it means". Use language responsibly. Discriminate soundly and wisely. Exercise your intelligence and expect others to do the same.
Women's Cosmetics and Sexual Harassment (pronounced "har-ass-ment", not "harris-ment")
Just a quickie:
Ever wonder why "rouge" (french for red) is also called "blush"?
It's because women's cosmetics duplicate the facial coloration of sexual arousal -- cheeks, lips ... blush.
Eye make-up is designed to draw attention to the eyes -- the 'window' of engagement of mutual attention.
Women who wear make-up at work, then, are drawing attention to their sexuality in the workplace.
Casts another perspective on sexual harassment, doesn't it?
One solution?
Obvious. No make-up in the workplace.
Wearing make-up? No right to claim sexual harassment.
Ever wonder why "rouge" (french for red) is also called "blush"?
It's because women's cosmetics duplicate the facial coloration of sexual arousal -- cheeks, lips ... blush.
Eye make-up is designed to draw attention to the eyes -- the 'window' of engagement of mutual attention.
Women who wear make-up at work, then, are drawing attention to their sexuality in the workplace.
Casts another perspective on sexual harassment, doesn't it?
One solution?
Obvious. No make-up in the workplace.
Wearing make-up? No right to claim sexual harassment.
TMJ Syndrome-TMD-Nocturnal Bruxism Treatments
Common Methods of Treatment
This brief piece outlines both conventional and alternative TMJ treatment approaches.
mouth guards / appliances / splints
neuromuscular dentistry
reshaping tooth surfaces
- mouth massage
Mouth Guards / Appliances / Splints
The principle and hope of these kinds of devices is that by separating the teeth, they are prevented from grinding each other. However, from the very name, "mouth guard," we infer that this kind of device doesn't solve the problem, but only hopes to prevent tooth damage as the problem -- tight jaw muscles -- continues. It's obvious -- what the mouth is being guarded from is ... the mouth! "Appliance" and "splint" are other names for "mouth guard"Neuromuscular Dentistry
Neuromuscular dentistry takes a more sophisticated technological approach to the use of dental appliances. By measuring electrical activity of the muscles of biting and chewing, practitioners of this approach identify patterns of movement, of position, and of dental stress and then prepare an appliance to retrain the nervous system's control of those muscles. The desired outcome common comes in a few months; cost ranges from $5,000 to $25,000.Re-shaping Teeth
Dentists have found that by changing the fit of upper and lower teeth, they can alter neuromuscular control of the muscles of biting and chewing and thereby alleviate TMJ Syndrome. This approach posits that the cause of excessive jaw tension is poor fit between upper and lower teeth. Its method is to reshape tooth surfaces by a polishing process to improve the fit. This method does get results. By changing the fit between teeth (by removing contours that prevent uniform contact among teeth), the process changes ones experience of biting and chewing. This change introduces such a new experience of biting and chewing that habitual patterns of muscular control are interrupted, allowing new movement patterns to form. However, it's an indirect approach involving ongoing dental surgery in a series of steps to a good fit. While its effects are beneficial, it misses the role of dental trauma in the formation of dental stress.Mouth Muscle Massage
While the approach sounds relevant, given what I have said above, the limitation of this approach is that jaw muscle muscle tension is maintained by the brain -- it's conditioning -- not by the muscles, themselves. So, the results of mouth massage tend to be short-lived.
A New TMJ Therapeutic Approach
Understanding that we are dealing with conditioned postural reflexes that govern muscular tension, one way to cure TMJ Syndrome/TMD naturally would be to retrain those conditioned postural reflexes -- in effect, to eliminate residual trauma reflex and to ease dental stress. The video on this page demonstrates exactly that process -- called Hanna Somatic Education®. The video shows changes in real-time -- painless, fast, inexpensive, and lasting -- produced by dispelling automatic, reflexive contraction patterns and re-awakening control of free movement.
The various symptoms of TMD/TMJ Syndrome -- headaches, earaches, bruxism, poor bite, tinnitis, postural changes, limited ability to open or close the jaws -- resolve into normal function.
SEE VIDEO on TMD/TMJ SELF-RELIEF:
SEE A TMD/TMJ SYNDROME SELF-TREATMENT PROGRAM
Common Causes of TMJ Syndrome/Bruxism
TMD/TMJ Syndrome is a collection of diverse symptoms caused by reflexive actions of the muscles of biting and chewing. It comes from brain-muscle conditioning acquired by trauma or stress.
As with all conditioning problems, it can be changed with proper training. An accelerated training process, clinical somatic education), dramatically reduces the time needed for conventional dentistry to correct TMD by means of a technique nicknamed, "The Whole-body Yawn".
Dentists commonly regard TMD as being of different types: joint arthritis at the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ), muscular soreness (myalgia), articular disc displacement, misfit of the upper and lower jaws, or of traumatic origin.
However, all of these conditions reduce down to the same cause: tight muscles of biting and chewing, and therefore the same kind of treatment can resolve them all (except for "disc displacement without reduction", which is a surgical situation).
Let's see how.
Degenerative Arthritis
Degenerative arthritis of the TMJ does not just "happen by itself", nor does it result from outside influences, like an infection.
It results from excessive compression forces upon the TMJ, imposed by chronically tight muscles of biting and chewing. The joint breaks down under pressure.
Treatment must therefore retrain those muscles to a normal, low tension state, to be effective.
Muscular Soreness (Pain)
Chronically tight muscles develop muscle fatigue -- the common "burn" that people go for in athletic training.
That "burn" disappears nearly instantly, once muscles relax. For a lasting reduction of muscle tension and burn, a training process is needed. Faster and slower training processes exist.
Articular Disc Displacement
The articular disc of the TMJ is a pad that rides between the lower jaw (mandible) and the underside of the cheek bone (zygomatic bone), which goes from below the eyes, in front, to just before the ears on both sides. The TMJ, itself, is located just in front of the ears, and although the TMJ is the "home" position for the lower jaw, the TMJ is a very free joint. The cheek bone acts as a kind of rail along which the lower jaw rides forward and back during jaw movements, out of and back into the temporo-mandibular joint. The articular disc pads the contact between the lower and upper contact surfaces, connected to the lower jaw by a ligament with some elasticity.
When jaw muscles are chronically tight, the articular disc gets squeezed between the two surfaces, upper and lower, and may get dragged out of place by jaw movements (displacement) -- a very painful condition.
If the displaced position of the disc is within the rebound capacity of the attaching ligament, the disc can return to its home position ("disc displacement with reduction"), once excessive compression forces ease. If the ligament gets stretched past its rebound capacity, the disc stays out of place ("disc displacement without reduction").
Misfit of the Upper and Lower Jaws
This condition is not, in itself, a cause of TMD. However, when combined with excessive tension in the muscles of biting and chewing, the sensation of this condition gets magnified, as the sensation of "misfit"; grinding motions (bruxism) are actually a seeking for the comfort of a fit in a rest position, which is unavailable due to upper and lower jaw misfit.
While something radical like surgery may seem to be a necessary option, actually what is sufficient is to bring the jaw muscles to rest. To do so increases the tolerance (i.e., comfort) of the mismatched situation to the point where it is not disturbing.
Trauma
The underlying condition for the others, trauma (a blow to the lower jaw or dental work) triggers the muscles of biting to tighten ("trauma reflex").
Gum chewing is not a cause, in itself, of TMD.
I say more about trauma, below.
Conditioning Influences
The jaw muscles, like all the the muscles of the body, are subject to control by conditioned postural reflexes, which affect chewing and biting movements. The reason people don't go around slack-jawed and drooling, for example, is that a conditioned postural reflex causes the muscles of biting and chewing always to remain slightly tensed, keeping their jaws closed. People's jaw muscles are always more or less tense, even when they are asleep -- but the norm is very mildly tense -- just enough to keep the mouth closed and lips together.
The degree of tension people hold is a matter of conditioning.
For brevity, I'll discuss only conditions that lead to TMJ/bruxism and not the normal development of muscle tone in the muscles of biting and chewing.
These influences fall into two categories:
Emotional Stress
Ever heard the expressions, "Bite your tongue"? "Grit Your Teeth"? "Bite the Bullet"? "Hold your tongue"? "Bite the Big One"? They all have something in common, don't they? What is that? To someone who regularly represses emotion or the urge to say something, these expressions have literal meaning.
Such repression, over time, manifests as tension held in the muscles of speech -- in the jaws, mouth, neck, face, and back -- the same as the muscles of biting and chewing.
Physical Trauma
Although people experience trauma to the jaws through falls, blows, and motor vehicle accidents, the most common form of physical trauma (other than dental disease) is dentistry, itself, and it's unavoidable. Dental surgery is traumatic. The relevant term is "iatrogenic" -- which means "caused as a side-effect of treatment". Every dental procedure (and every surgical procedure) should be followed by a process for dispeling the reflexive guarding triggered by the procedure. (See the video.)
No doubt, this assertion will cause much distress among dentists, and I regret that, but how can we escape that conclusion?
Consider the experience of dentistry, both during and after dental surgery (fillings, root canal work, implants, cosmetic dentistry, crown installation, injections of anaesthetic, even routine cleanings and examinations). Consider the response we have to that pain or even the expectation of pain: we cringe.
We may think such cringing to be momentary, but consider the intensity of dental surgery; it leaves intense memory impressions on the nervous system evident as patterns of tension. (Who's relaxed going to the dentist? -- or coming out of the dentist's office?) The physical after-effects show up as tension in the jaws and neck, and often in the spinal musculature, as well -- and as a host of other symptoms.
Let's go back to our fond memories of dentistry.
If you've observed your physical reactions in the dentist's surgery station, you may have noticed that during probing of a tooth for decay (with that sharp, hooked probe they use), you tighten not just your jaw (can you feel it?) and your neck muscles, but also the muscles of breathing, your hands, and even your legs. It's an effort to remain lying down in the surgery station when, bodily, you want to get up and get away from those instruments and the dentist or hygienist wielding them.
With procedures such as fillings, root canal surgery, implants and crown installations, the muscular responses are more specific and more intense. For teeth near the back of the jaws, we tense the muscles nearer the back of our neck; for teeth near the front of the jaws, we tense the muscles closer the front of the throat, floor of the mouth and tongue.
This reflexive response has a name: Trauma Reflex.
Trauma Reflex is the universal, involuntary response to pain and to expectation of pain.
It gets triggered in relation to the location of the pain and to our position at the time of pain. Muscular tensions form as an action of withdrawing, avoiding, or escaping the source of pain.
In dentistry, with the head commonly turned to one side, in addition to the simple trauma reflex associated with pain, we have the involvement of our sense of position, and not just the muscles of the jaws are involved, but also those of the neck, shoulders, spine.
All of these conditions combine into an experience that goes into memory with such intensity that it modifies or entirely displaces our sense of normal movement and position. We forget free movement and instead become habituated or adapted to the memory of the trauma (whether of dental work or of some other trauma involving teeth or jaws). Our neuro-muscular system acts as if the trauma is still happening, even though, to our conscious minds, it is long past, and the way it acts as if the trauma is still happening is by tightening the muscles that close the jaws.
Since accidents and surgeries address teeth at one side of the jaws or the other, the tensions occur on one side of the jaws or the other. Thus, the symptoms of such tension -- jaw pain, bite deviations, and earaches -- tend to be one-sided or to exist on one side more than on the other.
The proof of the role of trauma reflex? -- the permanent changes of bite and tension of the muscles of biting that have behind them a history of dental trauma -- and the changes you see in the video that occur as this man is relieved of those conditioned postural reflexes.
AN OFFERING: See how"The Whole-body Yawn" reconditions the muscles of biting and chewing to normal levels -- ending all symptoms of TMJ Syndrome / TMD. CLICK HERE
VIDEO:
Start TMD/TMJ Self-Relief Program for Free.
YouTube
RELATED ARTICLE: Symptoms of TMJ Syndrome
DIRECTORY OF ARTICLES: click here.
As with all conditioning problems, it can be changed with proper training. An accelerated training process, clinical somatic education), dramatically reduces the time needed for conventional dentistry to correct TMD by means of a technique nicknamed, "The Whole-body Yawn".
Dentists commonly regard TMD as being of different types: joint arthritis at the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ), muscular soreness (myalgia), articular disc displacement, misfit of the upper and lower jaws, or of traumatic origin.
However, all of these conditions reduce down to the same cause: tight muscles of biting and chewing, and therefore the same kind of treatment can resolve them all (except for "disc displacement without reduction", which is a surgical situation).
Let's see how.
Degenerative Arthritis
Degenerative arthritis of the TMJ does not just "happen by itself", nor does it result from outside influences, like an infection.
It results from excessive compression forces upon the TMJ, imposed by chronically tight muscles of biting and chewing. The joint breaks down under pressure.
Treatment must therefore retrain those muscles to a normal, low tension state, to be effective.
Muscular Soreness (Pain)
Chronically tight muscles develop muscle fatigue -- the common "burn" that people go for in athletic training.
That "burn" disappears nearly instantly, once muscles relax. For a lasting reduction of muscle tension and burn, a training process is needed. Faster and slower training processes exist.
Articular Disc Displacement
The articular disc of the TMJ is a pad that rides between the lower jaw (mandible) and the underside of the cheek bone (zygomatic bone), which goes from below the eyes, in front, to just before the ears on both sides. The TMJ, itself, is located just in front of the ears, and although the TMJ is the "home" position for the lower jaw, the TMJ is a very free joint. The cheek bone acts as a kind of rail along which the lower jaw rides forward and back during jaw movements, out of and back into the temporo-mandibular joint. The articular disc pads the contact between the lower and upper contact surfaces, connected to the lower jaw by a ligament with some elasticity.
When jaw muscles are chronically tight, the articular disc gets squeezed between the two surfaces, upper and lower, and may get dragged out of place by jaw movements (displacement) -- a very painful condition.
If the displaced position of the disc is within the rebound capacity of the attaching ligament, the disc can return to its home position ("disc displacement with reduction"), once excessive compression forces ease. If the ligament gets stretched past its rebound capacity, the disc stays out of place ("disc displacement without reduction").
Misfit of the Upper and Lower Jaws
This condition is not, in itself, a cause of TMD. However, when combined with excessive tension in the muscles of biting and chewing, the sensation of this condition gets magnified, as the sensation of "misfit"; grinding motions (bruxism) are actually a seeking for the comfort of a fit in a rest position, which is unavailable due to upper and lower jaw misfit.
While something radical like surgery may seem to be a necessary option, actually what is sufficient is to bring the jaw muscles to rest. To do so increases the tolerance (i.e., comfort) of the mismatched situation to the point where it is not disturbing.
Trauma
The underlying condition for the others, trauma (a blow to the lower jaw or dental work) triggers the muscles of biting to tighten ("trauma reflex").
Gum chewing is not a cause, in itself, of TMD.
I say more about trauma, below.
Conditioning Influences
The jaw muscles, like all the the muscles of the body, are subject to control by conditioned postural reflexes, which affect chewing and biting movements. The reason people don't go around slack-jawed and drooling, for example, is that a conditioned postural reflex causes the muscles of biting and chewing always to remain slightly tensed, keeping their jaws closed. People's jaw muscles are always more or less tense, even when they are asleep -- but the norm is very mildly tense -- just enough to keep the mouth closed and lips together.
The degree of tension people hold is a matter of conditioning.
For brevity, I'll discuss only conditions that lead to TMJ/bruxism and not the normal development of muscle tone in the muscles of biting and chewing.
These influences fall into two categories:
- Emotional Stress
- Physical Trauma
Emotional Stress
Ever heard the expressions, "Bite your tongue"? "Grit Your Teeth"? "Bite the Bullet"? "Hold your tongue"? "Bite the Big One"? They all have something in common, don't they? What is that? To someone who regularly represses emotion or the urge to say something, these expressions have literal meaning.
Such repression, over time, manifests as tension held in the muscles of speech -- in the jaws, mouth, neck, face, and back -- the same as the muscles of biting and chewing.
Physical Trauma
Although people experience trauma to the jaws through falls, blows, and motor vehicle accidents, the most common form of physical trauma (other than dental disease) is dentistry, itself, and it's unavoidable. Dental surgery is traumatic. The relevant term is "iatrogenic" -- which means "caused as a side-effect of treatment". Every dental procedure (and every surgical procedure) should be followed by a process for dispeling the reflexive guarding triggered by the procedure. (See the video.)
No doubt, this assertion will cause much distress among dentists, and I regret that, but how can we escape that conclusion?
Consider the experience of dentistry, both during and after dental surgery (fillings, root canal work, implants, cosmetic dentistry, crown installation, injections of anaesthetic, even routine cleanings and examinations). Consider the response we have to that pain or even the expectation of pain: we cringe.
We may think such cringing to be momentary, but consider the intensity of dental surgery; it leaves intense memory impressions on the nervous system evident as patterns of tension. (Who's relaxed going to the dentist? -- or coming out of the dentist's office?) The physical after-effects show up as tension in the jaws and neck, and often in the spinal musculature, as well -- and as a host of other symptoms.
Let's go back to our fond memories of dentistry.
If you've observed your physical reactions in the dentist's surgery station, you may have noticed that during probing of a tooth for decay (with that sharp, hooked probe they use), you tighten not just your jaw (can you feel it?) and your neck muscles, but also the muscles of breathing, your hands, and even your legs. It's an effort to remain lying down in the surgery station when, bodily, you want to get up and get away from those instruments and the dentist or hygienist wielding them.
With procedures such as fillings, root canal surgery, implants and crown installations, the muscular responses are more specific and more intense. For teeth near the back of the jaws, we tense the muscles nearer the back of our neck; for teeth near the front of the jaws, we tense the muscles closer the front of the throat, floor of the mouth and tongue.
This reflexive response has a name: Trauma Reflex.
Trauma Reflex is the universal, involuntary response to pain and to expectation of pain.
It gets triggered in relation to the location of the pain and to our position at the time of pain. Muscular tensions form as an action of withdrawing, avoiding, or escaping the source of pain.
In dentistry, with the head commonly turned to one side, in addition to the simple trauma reflex associated with pain, we have the involvement of our sense of position, and not just the muscles of the jaws are involved, but also those of the neck, shoulders, spine.
All of these conditions combine into an experience that goes into memory with such intensity that it modifies or entirely displaces our sense of normal movement and position. We forget free movement and instead become habituated or adapted to the memory of the trauma (whether of dental work or of some other trauma involving teeth or jaws). Our neuro-muscular system acts as if the trauma is still happening, even though, to our conscious minds, it is long past, and the way it acts as if the trauma is still happening is by tightening the muscles that close the jaws.
Since accidents and surgeries address teeth at one side of the jaws or the other, the tensions occur on one side of the jaws or the other. Thus, the symptoms of such tension -- jaw pain, bite deviations, and earaches -- tend to be one-sided or to exist on one side more than on the other.
The proof of the role of trauma reflex? -- the permanent changes of bite and tension of the muscles of biting that have behind them a history of dental trauma -- and the changes you see in the video that occur as this man is relieved of those conditioned postural reflexes.
AN OFFERING: See how"The Whole-body Yawn" reconditions the muscles of biting and chewing to normal levels -- ending all symptoms of TMJ Syndrome / TMD. CLICK HERE
VIDEO:
Start TMD/TMJ Self-Relief Program for Free.
YouTube
RELATED ARTICLE: Symptoms of TMJ Syndrome
DIRECTORY OF ARTICLES: click here.
TMJ Syndrome TMD/Bruxism Symptoms
- earache
- tinnitus / tinnitis
- jaw joint pain on one side
- orofacial pain
- bite deviations
- inability to open the jaws fully
- bruxism / teeth grinding
- headaches
- neck pain
- spine pain
- postural changes
To discuss each of these symptoms, we will have to discuss a little bit of anatomy.
This simplified explanation obviously does not discuss the various muscles of jaw movement individually -- but you'll get a basic, clear understanding.
Earache
The jaw joints -- the TMJs or temporo-mandibular joints -- exist just in front of the ears. The excessive compression caused by chronically tight jaw muscles causes pain in just that location, which triggers muscular contractions in the muscles surrounding the ears. The net result -- muscle and joint pain.Tinnitus / Tinnitis
Tinnitus is "ringing in the ears." Compression of the TMJs induces or increases tinnitus. One explanation is that the muscles of the middle ears, which attach to and tune the resonant frequency of the three sound-transmitting bones of the middle ears (hammer, anvil and stapes), reflexively tighten with jaw tension. You may have noticed that, while you yawn, your hearing fades. That indicates the reflexive connection.Jaw Joint Pain on One Side
As I said, earlier, most dental trauma occurs on one side. The trauma reflex triggers muscular contractions -- and pain -- on that side.Orofacial PainThe trauma reflex triggers muscular contractions -- and pain -- in the muscles of the face.
Bite Deviations
Uneven muscular contractions alter jaw movement and bite.Inability to Open the Jaws Fully
Since those muscles are constantly held reflexively in contraction, they limit how far the jaws can open.Bruxism / Teeth Grinding
Jaw clenching and grinding are the behaviors of tight jaw muscles. Nocturnal bruxism may be associated with speech and emotion during dreaming. Just as rapid eye movement (REM) during dreaming is a recognized phenomenon, the muscles of speech also move during dream-speech. Combined with hightened jaw tension, such movements could account for nocturnal bruxism. This is a point of reasoning, not of empirical studies -- but it does make sense.Headaches
One set of muscles of biting -- the temporalis muscles -- connect from the sides of the jaws to the sides of the head, near and behind the temples. When tight, these muscles compress the bones of the head, producing headache at the sides of the head. Other muscles, the suboccipital muscles that connect the rear of the head to the neck, reflexively tighten with mouth-opening movements and may become conditioned to a heightened state of tension that goes with the heightened effort needed to open jaws held tight by muscles of biting. Tension headaches at the forehead and in the eyes result from such tension.See On Headaches
Neck Pain
The jaws have connections both above and below. The muscles below go to the neck. When tight muscles above the jaws displace movement from center, the muscles below tighten reflexively, pulling the head, which weighs about twelve pounds, off-center, causing muscle fatigue and pain in the neck.Spine Pain
When the weight of the head gets displaced off-center, the muscles of the spine tighten as part of the counter-balancing act. Fatigue and pain result.Postural Changes
Patterns of reflexive tension thus to all the way from the jaws down the spine and throughout the trunk, changing posture and movement.See video on TMD/TMJ Syndrome Self-Relief.
See exercises based upon The Whole-body Yawn that Relieve TMD/TMJ Syndrome -- CLICK HERE
next article: Causes of TMJ Syndrome
directory of TMJ articles: Treatment for TMJ Syndrome
The Uplifting Feeling of an Erect Spine
Ida Rolf wrote that the characteristic of a well-integrated body is a sense of lift.
What does that mean?
This post contrasts the effort to be erect with no-effort to be erect and in so doing, debunks misconceptions about good posture.
The Myth of Spinal Curves
Yes, the spine has four natural curves. However, the significance of those curves isn't that the spine has them, but that the spine can have them. The curves change with movement and general tension level. What makes the curves change is muscle tension in the spinal muscles, which pull on the vertebrae and change their positions, and in the legs, which pull on the pelvis and change spinal curvature at the connection of spine-to-pelvis, above.
Here's the thing: Your spine consists of vertebrae that are not square, but trapezoidal (except for one: L4, which is "square" -- meaning that the upper and lower surfaces are parallel). "Trapezoidal" means that the upper and lower surfaces have different slopes. It is the meeting of the upper and lower sloped surfaces of neighboring vertebrae that gives the spine its curves -- but those slopes are separated by discs that have a certain elasticity, so the curves change with movement. So, the myth is that the spine has a certain amount of curve or that their is a "normal" amount of curve. Curve, in a healthy person, changes from moment to moment; only in an unhealthy person are the curves fixated.
Now, even though the spine has curves, the spine can feel straight. That happens when the upper and lower surfaces of neighboring vertebrae meet squarely, and that happens when the spinal muscular tensions are balanced to arrange them that way and to make that arrangement the "home" position to which a person naturally returns in movement.
The feeling is of being effortlessly supported, balanced, and uplifted -- poised. In the literature of Tibetan Yoga, the description is of the spine "feeling like a stack of coins" -- a description that applies to sitting or standing positions, but not to action. So, the description has that limitation and in any case, these words can't mean much of anything to you unless you've experienced the feeling, so we have to leave it at that.
Now, here's an oddity of human beings: In order to feel strong or supported, people adopt efforts or various kinds. We tend to think we have to.
What happens, then, is that spinal muscles contract, pull on vertebrae, shorten the spine by compressing discs, and change the alignment away from effortless support or equilibrium.
In that way, people substitute "strength" for balance.
So, whereas a person whose back muscles are balanced feels supported and balanced from within, the person whose back muscles are tight feels "strong" -- at the expense of that sense of support, balance or effortless lift. They also feel tired, sore, and stiff.
People are endlessly trying to conform to various ideas and standards, and in so doing, they are adding stress to themselves, to their back muscles, and sacrificing balance, effortless support, and lift.
People are also endlessly experiencing stress, anxiety, guilt or shame (variations of cowering), all of which trigger the muscles of the front to tighten and the spine to bow forward. In order to counter that condition of cowering, people must tighten their backs, and counter cowering with "indomitable will" or "self-righteousness".
That condition (co-contraction of front and back), shortens the spine, literally compresses discs, and robs people of their sense of support, of equilibrium, of lift; their spine is not fully erect. We're left with pressure and stress, the experiences of "indomitable will" and "self-righteousness", which we may take as inevitable, right, or necessary.
It's clear that back pain is as much psychological as it is physical. Both aspects must be addressed for a fully erect spine -- for a person to stand at full stature, which is to say, feeling supported, balanced, and uplifted. It is also clear that departures from "good alignment" or good posture are as much a matter of misguided effort evident as muscular tensions as of objectively observable misalignments and their clinical consequences.
Although the psychological aspect I've noted above must be addressed on its own terms, the residual effects of stress and back tension can be dispeled. For more information on that topic, please see
http://somatics.com/back_pain.htm
http://somatics.com/chronic_back_pain.htm
which have audio and video links.
What does that mean?
This post contrasts the effort to be erect with no-effort to be erect and in so doing, debunks misconceptions about good posture.
The Myth of Spinal Curves
Yes, the spine has four natural curves. However, the significance of those curves isn't that the spine has them, but that the spine can have them. The curves change with movement and general tension level. What makes the curves change is muscle tension in the spinal muscles, which pull on the vertebrae and change their positions, and in the legs, which pull on the pelvis and change spinal curvature at the connection of spine-to-pelvis, above.
Here's the thing: Your spine consists of vertebrae that are not square, but trapezoidal (except for one: L4, which is "square" -- meaning that the upper and lower surfaces are parallel). "Trapezoidal" means that the upper and lower surfaces have different slopes. It is the meeting of the upper and lower sloped surfaces of neighboring vertebrae that gives the spine its curves -- but those slopes are separated by discs that have a certain elasticity, so the curves change with movement. So, the myth is that the spine has a certain amount of curve or that their is a "normal" amount of curve. Curve, in a healthy person, changes from moment to moment; only in an unhealthy person are the curves fixated.
Now, even though the spine has curves, the spine can feel straight. That happens when the upper and lower surfaces of neighboring vertebrae meet squarely, and that happens when the spinal muscular tensions are balanced to arrange them that way and to make that arrangement the "home" position to which a person naturally returns in movement.
The feeling is of being effortlessly supported, balanced, and uplifted -- poised. In the literature of Tibetan Yoga, the description is of the spine "feeling like a stack of coins" -- a description that applies to sitting or standing positions, but not to action. So, the description has that limitation and in any case, these words can't mean much of anything to you unless you've experienced the feeling, so we have to leave it at that.
Now, here's an oddity of human beings: In order to feel strong or supported, people adopt efforts or various kinds. We tend to think we have to.
What happens, then, is that spinal muscles contract, pull on vertebrae, shorten the spine by compressing discs, and change the alignment away from effortless support or equilibrium.
In that way, people substitute "strength" for balance.
So, whereas a person whose back muscles are balanced feels supported and balanced from within, the person whose back muscles are tight feels "strong" -- at the expense of that sense of support, balance or effortless lift. They also feel tired, sore, and stiff.
People are endlessly trying to conform to various ideas and standards, and in so doing, they are adding stress to themselves, to their back muscles, and sacrificing balance, effortless support, and lift.
People are also endlessly experiencing stress, anxiety, guilt or shame (variations of cowering), all of which trigger the muscles of the front to tighten and the spine to bow forward. In order to counter that condition of cowering, people must tighten their backs, and counter cowering with "indomitable will" or "self-righteousness".
That condition (co-contraction of front and back), shortens the spine, literally compresses discs, and robs people of their sense of support, of equilibrium, of lift; their spine is not fully erect. We're left with pressure and stress, the experiences of "indomitable will" and "self-righteousness", which we may take as inevitable, right, or necessary.
It's clear that back pain is as much psychological as it is physical. Both aspects must be addressed for a fully erect spine -- for a person to stand at full stature, which is to say, feeling supported, balanced, and uplifted. It is also clear that departures from "good alignment" or good posture are as much a matter of misguided effort evident as muscular tensions as of objectively observable misalignments and their clinical consequences.
Although the psychological aspect I've noted above must be addressed on its own terms, the residual effects of stress and back tension can be dispeled. For more information on that topic, please see
http://somatics.com/back_pain.htm
http://somatics.com/chronic_back_pain.htm
which have audio and video links.
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