Grinding teeth, waking up in the morning with clenched jaws, painful teeth and liking to chew during the day: chips, gum or candy. They are all clues that you are under too much stress. Stress develops when you are frustrated or angry but don’t do enough with it. You store it within yourself. This is the cause of clenched jaws. Night is the moment to relax, to let go of everything and to renew yourself. If you experience too much tension during the day that you don’t resolve, you can’t let go of it anymore during the night and that puts strain on your jaws.

What would you like to say?

Much of the stress results from not saying what you would like to say during the day. You don’t “take enough of a bite out of it”. Maybe you’re protecting someone else and taking the punches? Maybe you’re giving in to someone else’s wishes while you really don’t want to? Is someone mean to you but you don’t say anything about it? What’s going on inside you that’s not being said but is eating away at you?

3 tips for getting rid of your tension (clenched jaws) more quickly

By doing the MIR-Method, you peel, layer for layer, your inner anger and frustration away. And I can give you 3 tips for getting rid of them more quickly. Ideal for busy people!

1. Write about it

Take a piece of paper or get behind your computer and write down what is bothering you. If you don’t know, just start with one of these sentences and see where it leads you.

“What annoys me is…”
“I hate that…”
“I get so grumpy when….”
“Sometimes I wish that…”
“If it were up to me….”

5-minute super trick

If you have little time for writing, use the “5-minute super trick”. Tell yourself that you only have to write for 5 minutes. Get a kitchen timer or stopwatch, set it for 5 minutes and write down, as quickly as possible, everything that comes to mind.

2. Move your hips, move your jaws

Your pelvis is connected to your jaws. This is a fact, known in various therapies such as the Body Talk System from Australia. Move your pelvis, and you will move your jaws. Dance a little, just one song. Pick a number that gets you moving and especially let your hips move, every which way. Three of my favorite songs for this are:
– Michael Jackson – Wanna be startin’ something. (6 minutes)
– Blues Brothers – Shake your tail feather. (3 minutes)
– Mink de Ville – Demasiado Corazon. (Olé!) (4 minutes)
If you work in an office or somewhere where you can’t dance, take your earphones (what used to be your walkman) and use the squared feet in the restroom. Guaranteed fun!

3. Chew without eating

Eating to release tension can be wonderful. It’s only a shame that you get unnecessary things inside you such as sugar, salts or food coloring. Don’t chew gum because you’ll produce too much saliva and that confuses your digestive system. If you feel like you’re going to start eating because of tension, just try “air-chewing” for a minute. Set the kitchen timer for 1 minute and move your jaws up and down, and exchange for sideways chewing motions. Don’t force anything! Note: teeth and molars shouldn’t touch each other! It’s a weird feeling the first time. Note whether you already start yawning during that first minute: the tension is being released! You can also imagine why singing is so good for reducing tension! And note whether you still want to eat afterwards!

Cooperate with the MIR-Method

Every time you do the MIR-Method, you peel away a layer of your frustration. If you work proactively with it, by moving or writing things down, you soften the next layer and it lets go more easily. For this reason, work proactively with the MIR-Method. You never need to know what exactly is bothering you, but if you pay just a little attention to it, the MIR-Method can do its work more quickly. Now you know why I am motivated to write an article that is food for thought for you!

Please let me know how it felt for you to move your jaws for that one minute! Are your clenched jaws already less locked from doing the MIR-Method? Please let me know! Write about it below; thank you!

My wish for you is that your jaws relax and that you feel free to say what you have to say!

Wishing you wonderful freedom!
Mireille Mettes

P.S. Will you help spread the MIR-Method? You would do me a big favor by forwarding this article to other people! Feel free to post it to your Facebook page or send it via e-mail, Twitter or Linked-In! Use the icons on the left-hand side or below! Thank you!

P.S. Not familiar with the MIR-Method yet? Please go to the homepage. You can watch the video there and also the instruction video. Sign up for our newsletter and 6 weeks of coaching e-mails for extra support!