Yin Yoga and teeth grinding

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e_r
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 2:46 am

Yin Yoga and teeth grinding

Post by e_r »

I'm a long time nocturnal teeth grinder. I've been practicing yin yoga for a few months now, with very good results. However, while I'm very relaxed after practice (usually done just before bed), I typically grind a few hours after falling asleep (and sequentially through the night). Any suggestions in terms of specific poses or otherwise?

Thanks
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Grinding

Post by Bernie »

Your question is not one that I have ever been asked before, and I am not sure how best to advise you: from your earlier email, you seem to have done a lot of work on this and researched it yourself. You do imply that the grinding and bracing is related to tension, so there may be a few other ways you can try to relax before going to sleep. You are already doing lots of good stuff with a quiet yin practice before bed, but I do wonder if the standing meditation is as relaxing for you as a seated meditation might be.

One suggestion could be to try some alternate nostril breathing practice during or just before your meditation. This is also called Nadi Shodana (you can find an explanation of how to do it in YinSights here). One key benefit of Nadi Shodana is that it balances our yin and yang energies and can be helpful in falling asleep at night. The other suggestion I would make is to practice mindful awareness often during the day: remind yourself many times as you can during the day to "relax my shoulders, soften my jaw…." You can choose some cues to help you remember to do this: every time you hear a phone ring, see a traffic light, every time you stand up or sit down, remind yourself to "relax my shoulders, soften my jaw." Within 3 weeks of doing this many times a day, it should become a habit - one that may carry over into your sleeping consciousness.

Perhaps there are other students or teachers reading this that can offer suggestions too.
Let us know how it goes.
Cheers
Bernie
e_r
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 12, 2011 2:46 am

Post by e_r »

What makes this situation particularly frustrating is that I've done most of the things you mention. I broke myself of the clenching habit during the day and I have done quite a bit of work to drop/relax my shoulders, to 'straighten' my head and to loosen my neck. Moreover, while I've been a grinder for over 20 years, I can count on my hands the number of times over that period that I had difficultly falling asleep. Typically, I'm asleep within a few minutes after my head hits the pillow. (And off to grinding a few hours after that. )

I've also recently started calcium, magnesium and pantothenic acid supplementation. I'll continue this for a while but, while I initially felt some release in my jaw, I doubt that this is the underlying cause.

I've also come to realize that there's a distinction between being relaxed physically and having a relaxed jaw. Moreover, there's a distinction between a relaxed jaw and a loose one. For example, an acupuncture session will relax me (body, including jaw) but I'll still grind. It'll relax my jaw but it won't loosen my jaw. This is because it won't addresses the connection tissue issues in my jaw and neck region.

I've recently begun to focus on 3 exercises primarily. It took me a very long time to find/refine these.

The 1st is standing with my arms folded and extended in front of my body. I hold this posture for up to 30 minutes. It stretches/loosens the jaw and neck (particularly the scalenes).

The 2nd is laying flat on my stomach with my head to one side and focusing on stretching my jaw. I do both sides, 30 minutes each. This stretches/loosens the jaw and the side of the neck. This also 'stimulates' the vagus nerve and results in DEEP relaxation. I follow this up with just laying on my back and raising my head and holding it for up to 2 minutes at a time. This provides an incredible stretch for the neck.

Now, I've had acupuncture and rolfing sessions and I've also done quite a bit of trigger point massage on myself. Neither comes anywhere close to loosening the jaw and neck region like the above exercises; especially the 2nd one(s).

Of course, this is still a work in progress. While I bruxed significantly less the past 3 nights, I did have a heavier session last night. What happens is I seem to 'adjust' to the fixes and go right back to it. In particular, if I sleep on my side(s), even for a very short period of time, I'm guaranteed to grind; and grind heavily.

I've been researching this for close to a year now and, quite honestly, I've yet to find a comprehensive understanding of the problem let alone anyone who has 'cured' it.

But I'm getting close.

I appreciate your comments and will try to incorporate some of your suggestions. Also, I've been looking for a good yin yoga teacher in New York without success.
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

clenching

Post by Bernie »

You obviously know a lot more about this condition than I ever will, so I am afraid that I can't offer you much more help, but let me make one suggestion/observation: Since you have been working on this for a long time, with no success, and since even when you find that you can relax and get a few days respite from the condition, it comes back - maybe being stressed is not the problem at all? Maybe you don't need to relax - maybe your clenching is a symptom of something else entirely?

Sometimes, on an unconscious level, our body is trying to heal us in a way that seems really stupid or unwelcomed to our conscious mind. We try to stop whatever it is that the body is doing, but, not knowing what the body is really trying to do, we don't really get to the root issue.

Now, I am totally speculating and may be way off base here, but perhaps your clenching has nothing to do with your ability to relax, maybe there is a deeper message your body is trying to send you.

Thomas Moore has several wonderful books (his first/best one being Care of the Soul) in which he argues that the way to solve a problem is to go with the symptom and not try to cure the symptom. What positive benefit is your body gaining by grinding? Give your body some credit: it is trying to help you become whole and healthy, in its own way. It may not be choosing the best or most skillful way to do it, but it is trying to get you to change something. What could that be?

Since you have tried so many other physical approaches to solve this problem, and since you obviously have the dedication and intelligence to keep working towards a solution, why not grab a copy of Care of the Soul and see if you can apply this technique of going with the symptom to find out if there is a more skillful way your body can get you what you need, without the grinding.

Just a thought.
Cheers!
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