My dentist reported that I clench my teeth while I sleep. So, not only am I a (reformed) butt clencher, I’m a jaw clencher.

I’ve been waking up with headaches and neck tension for a while now. I bet it’s my pillow!  Maybe I need a new bed as well, one of those $5,000 memory foam adjustable beds that massages you while you sleep. And a nice cashmere scarf would probably help so my neck doesn’t cramp up. I should take more magnesium or valerian root while I’m at it. Not so fast! I can’t buy my way out of this one, or pop a pill to make everything better. I have to do the work. I know I’m not alone here. Everyone wants to know what chair or bed will cure their back pain.  Or, what the quick fix is to make their pain go away.

While lying in bed I noticed that my head tilted back, my chin lifted and ….my jaw clamped down!  But when I drop my chin down, my jaw relaxes!  Chin up=clenched TMJ. Chin down=relaxed TMJ. Try it.  But how do I maintain the chin drop while I sleep if those shortened suboccipital muscles are pulling my head out of alignment?  Answer: change your habits along with doing corrective exercises.  My chin lifts because that’s the position I hold it in most of the day. Your muscles remember the positions their held in most frequently and adapt to those positions. Your habits become your posture.

Below is the chin up, disc crunching, jaw clenching position.

My “stuffed animal” is a pelvis.

Below, I’m sleeping with my chin neutral.

To restore balance, it’s important to remove the habits that created the problem in the first place.

My plan:

  1. Pay attention to where my chin is during the day…drop my chin and keep the back of the neck long when appropriate.
  2. Alignment Snacks A Real Pain in the NeckEverybody Needs a Little Shoulder Bolster and Within Reach. 

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It’s good to remember, what is going on below the neck is also important when it comes to aligning the neck and head. Try this, sit in posterior tilt (tuck the tailbone) and see what happens to your head.  Do you kind of look like a vulture?

Tip: Post a picture of a vulture on your desk for alignment motivation.

If you are having difficulty sitting with a neutral pelvis I recommend starting with the Healthy Pelvis DVD or download.

There are many benefits to having balanced neck muscles:

  1. increase blood flow to the brain
  2. decrease neck tension and headaches
  3. avoid disc compression of the cervical vertebrae
  4. reduce the risk of stroke
  5. decrease the risk of choking. Side note: I’ll never forget my very first date at age 16. I choked on my hamburger at a fancy restaurant called the Sizzler. There’s nothing more embarrassing than choking during a first date in a fancy restaurant, especially when your date is the bass player in a Heavy Metal band called Steel Vengeance.  I fault my earnest forward head position for the choking.
You are probably wondering if there was a second date.  Apparently, he looked past the Sizzler debacle and we went out for another 9 months, 17 days and 6 hours.
I often get the question, “how to transition to sleeping without a pillow?” For starters, it’s a tough question to answer because It depends on where you’re starting. For me, I started to use a folded towel for a pillow while sleeping on my back and gradually lowered the height of the towel over time until I no longer needed the support. Sleeping without a pillow while supine makes the most sense to me. Pillows reinforce the jutted head forward position I was trying to avoid because I already spent too much time there. I’ve found that being on a firm surface also helps when transitioning to pillowless back sleeping. When I slept on a soft mattress, the bed felt a little like a hammock and reinforced my vulture habits. Sleeping on a firm surface gives the body a little spinal traction throughout the night. But boy oh boy, was it uncomfortable when I first switched to a firmer surface! But now, I can sleep on just about anything without the discomfort.

Sleeping supine with a pillow on TOP of my head is now my preferred position.

I still use a pillow for side sleeping, that’s what works best for me. I’m not convinced that our primal ancestors didn’t use something to support their head while side sleeping, or dig a hole in the ground to make space for their shoulders, but honestly, who knows. I do know that we are part of the environment and utilize it where necessary, just as an animal may dig a hole to sleep in, or a bird who builds a comfortable nest, a beaver who uses sticks to build a dam. But, I do think that Katy Bowman has some excellent points in her article, Your Pillow is an Orthotic, especially when it comes to giving your children pillows.

Disclosure: I’m an Alignment Snack affiliate. When you shop through the links or banner ads on this blog I make a small commission and you help support my blogging efforts. Thank you!

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