This month’s blog post is a continuation of February’s blog about The Jaw. If you have not read and tried out the exercises in Part 1, I suggest you read the blog and try the exercises before reading The Jaw, Part 2.


In Part 2, we start to explore how to release the jaw while sounding.


I see and feel the body to be an instrument; the pelvic floor is the bottom of the instrument or the ocean floor. The belly is the Mama Ocean, where the seas of creation ebb and flow. The inhale inspires the body to open and create space like a large channel. The exhale releases the creative expression from the Mama Ocean. I allow it to flow like a river or a fountain through the channel until it meets the jaw’s gateway. The sound is then released as a gift to the outside world. There is a little more to it, but this is a good example for now.


The jaw is a ball and socket hinge; the bottom jaw hooks into the top jaw. Place your fingers in your ears and open and close your mouth widely; you will be able to feel this hinge. When someone asks you to open your mouth, you should consciously think of the jaw opening from the hinge, not from the chin.


Now try to open and close your mouth from the hinge, not the chin.


What do you feel?


Now, bite down on your back teeth and place your hands where you feel the bulging muscles near your top jaw bone. Release the bite, keeping your fingers where you felt the bulge; this should be your Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ). Open the jaw as wide as you can on a MAH sound.


Now, what do you feel?


If you feel the muscle open out to the side, you have found the place. Imagine a curtain opening from the centre in the back of your mouth when you say the Mah. When the sound finishes, the curtain closes. If you don’t feel the muscle opening, it means you need to open your mouth wider. If your jaw is clicking as you open, do this exercise very slowly over the click. Allow the jaw to open as symmetrically as it can, and feel for any muscle tension. If you can feel one side pulling more, allow the pulling to relax and give more movement to the other side. If it’s a painful click, stop before it.


The recorded exercise below will go into a singing jaw exercise that will work with this area so you can release your jaw naturally.


The recording is a simple two-note singing exercise using Mah, keeping your fingers placed on the TMJ (so you know you are opening). The exercise will release your jaw naturally if you allow it to open. I recommend doing it in front of a mirror so you can correct yourself. Each MAH needs to open as wide as it can without tension.


Don’t look for the perfect sound. Welcome, all the sounds!

In Love and Song,
The Sound Weaver

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