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Deeper Rest in Long Winter Nights | Yoga Highlands
Written By: Ashby Underwood - Yoga Highlands | Issue: 2021/12 – December | Photograph By: Susan Renfro
If you’re feeling the stress of Covid, are you taking it out on your teeth?
Ashby Underwood-Garner and Chad Garner
Are you a teeth-clencher? My dentist told me that during the pandemic he’s seen many patients with cracked teeth.
The stressors of the day build up and people tend to clench and grind their teeth at night to release stress and this is sometimes called TMJ dysfunction.
What does your jaw reveal about your overall health?
A beautiful face is a relaxed face. Ease in our expression says we are carefree. But what makes us frown, when it takes twice as many muscles as smiling, and as such, twice as much energy?
Grinding teeth and jaw pain are not just for the dentist. A good bodywork and yoga therapist can address the muscles involved – the long-held knots in the head, neck and shoulders.
The TMJ (Temporal Mandibular Joint) is the most active joint in the body and the most powerful. Issues of the jaw can also involve communication, nourishment, choice, and indecision. When there is chronic imbalance, this can be the source of headaches, speech impediments, and
limited expression.
It’s no wonder that since March 2020, much of humanity has been on a scale from “inconvenienced to nervous wreck.” Communities and families are strained because of inconsistent Covid protocol measures and beliefs around the proper actions that will make the world normal again.
At night, our bodies resolve stress while sleeping, tossing and turning, clenching and releasing. We can sometimes wake up more fatigued than rested.
The human nervous system needs consistency as we are creatures of habit. People like to know what is happening next. It’s nearly impossible for a person to make an easy decision right now.
“Where to go, who to be with, whether to go visit family, and will I need a mask,“ are all questions that can have a different answer in different conditions.
Weighing all of the options to chart a course daily is causing some of us to grind our teeth. Wars, plagues, and pandemics have challenged humans from the earliest days but community, love, and connection have always brought people through.
Our New Structural Yoga Series begins Monday, January 10th with Chad Garner, Advanced Rolf Practitioner. Contact Yoga Highlands Studio to register or schedule a Private Movement Session to address your needs – (828) 526-8880.
by Ashby Underwood-Garner
Yoga Therapist, Rolf Practitioner
Owner of Yoga Highlands
