Speaking Tip Of The Day: Just Relax! ~Jaw Tension Release

Right before a speech, most people try to tell themselves, “Just relax!” However, when your heart is racing, muscles are tight, and you can barely breathe, no amount of positive affirmations will convince you or your body! While it is impossible to completely eliminate the stress involved in giving a speech, it is possible to reduce the stress to a level that is survivable.

JAW TENSION RELEASE:

One of the major places we hold tension is in our face and particularly our jaw.

Here is a tension release exercise for your jaw:

• First, find the little bump of bone at the outside heel of your hands. If you were to draw a line from the tip of your little finger to your wrist, this tiny round bone is right where the hand flexes at the wrists.
• Take that bony part of both of your hands and place it at the base of your earlobes. This is the far end of the maseter muscle.
• Draw the heel of your hands forward slowly along your maseter muscle from your earlobe forward along the lower jaw line.
• With both hands, start again at your earlobes and this time draw the heel of your hand along the upper jaw line.
• Do this a few times being sure to apply moderate pressure with that tiny bony part of your hands. Most people carry a  large amount of tension in this area of their face.
• After you massage those areas, you may want to move your jaw around a little bit.  It should feel great to release that tension. Just donít overdo it with extreme pressure!  Even a mild to moderate massage will do you plenty of good.