These wonderful pictures are from a recent Head, Neck & Jaw class I did in Toronto, sponsored by Body Evolutions.
Demonstrating how we get to the root of the tongue to ease the tension on the hyoid bone.
It’s hard to see inside the mouth to tell exactly what the instructor in doing. That’s why we don’t put this work on video – too hard to teach without hands on help. In this case Erica, Leslie, Vinh, and Bryon were on hand to provide the necessary hands-on tutoring so necessary to good, sensitive, and effective intra-oral work.
You can see how seriously they are all taking it – it’s not trivial to reach into someone mouth. Technically, you are still on the outside surface of the body (as opposed to a hypodermic or acupuncture needle, that penetrates the skin), but you are on the inside of the outside for sure.
Most people get a little stiff and rigid when trying something new and going for the floor of the mouth (which reflects to the floor of the pelvis) is definitely on the list as a bit stressful – a lot of our tutoring is aimed at softening the practitioner and getting them to take a wide, peripheral vision feel when entering the mouth – over-focus leads to over-tension.
The placement of the hyoid bone is crucial to speech, swallowing, and a lot of emotional holding rests here. Yet it is an often ignored area.
Here you can see how focused the client is as well.
The distance between the hyoid and the chin is a function of the holding under the tongue in the whole hyoid complex. Resetting this position can release a whole lot of Deep Front Line tension – all the way down to the pelvic floor and arches.
OK, not everyone was enthusiastic. 🙂
Shawn, a personal trainer in his daily work life, experiments with intra-oral work – entirely new to him. Amazing how some movement folks take to this manual therapy work like a duck to water, while for others it’s not so easy a transition to make. Shawn is in it.
Tom, his own head jacked back so the cervicals are pushing his throat forward, showing how to measure the distance between the front of the hyoid bone and the back of the chin – the source of many speech and swallowing problems.
