January 18th
HEAL YOUR MOUTH AND JAW - Part three
People usually come with all kinds of vocal imbalances. Some women have a very high and childish voice. They usually do not breathe deeply enough so their voice cannot reach the deeper registers. It is possible through breathing exercises to deepen your voice. But a lot of people are not even aware of their imbalance. Men quite often prefer a female who is slightly childish, helpless and dependent in their behaviour. That makes them feel strong and needed (for protection).
Some voices are too quiet and easily overheard. These people sometimes get attention because they speak so quietly. Of course this won't be true for a man. A man is usually supposed to have a loud voice. Some men speak far too loud and have to learn to tune in more.
Another problem arises if people speak too fast. Quite often bad speaking habits stem from early childhood traumas. One child always had to shout loudly to be heard, another one never had enough time to speak.
Everywhere we find a strong resistance to growth. Some foreigners seem to keep their accents because they sound funny or charming. Even being able to have an image of ourselves as we appear to other people and knowing the impression they get of us is something we are often afraid of.
But once an imbalance is accepted and changed, a whole new world can open for this person. They might develop more self confidence and find new friends, a different job and a new creative talent - who knows?
Quite often the throat seems to be blocked. People describe it as a feeling, as if they had swallowed an object. They sometimes have a constant cough, they seem to breathe very shallow or unevenly. Of course birth traumas quite often can be the deeper reason for this imbalance. Connective breathing and rebirthing can sometimes help to remember old traumas and it can help to practise breathing more deeply and rhythmically.
The jawbone tends to be stiff and blocked in lots of people. Some bioenergetics practitionners press the jaw quite firmly to enable people to scream, but I don't use this method. I think that the times are over where you try as a therapist to provoke clients and make them angry. Gerda Boyesen was the first one to teach me that it is much better to work with the feelings that are there or to give them patience time and space to come up. She made me believe that anything that is supressed in the psyche, however long ago, will reappear when there is an accepting and receiving space for it.
I have spent lots of time at the dentist and the hygenist to strengthen my gums and prevent my teeth from falling out. I do believe that the inner child in us will, although nummed with injections, take notice of all the unpleasant and frightening events that take place in our mouths. I often compare them to roadworks. There is a lot of anger constantly stored in and around the jaw. Lots of things we could not say or express are bottled up in that region. Thus by going through dentist and hygenist treatments we are revitalizing old feelings of anger and frustration and they sometimes come up a few hours or even up to a week after the treatment.
Gems, gem and flower essences for mouth, jaw and neck
AQUAMARINE helps to soothe sore throats
LAPIS LAZULI helps to correct speech imbalances
CHRYSOCOLLA, TURQUOISE, SODALITHE help with throat blockages
AGRIMONY is a bach flower for vocal expression and relaxation
HEATHER helps to speak less
COSMOS helps with speech coordination
Self massage of mouth, jaw and neck
This kind of massage is provocative. That means that it might bring up anger and prevent you from going to sleep within the next few hours.
Find a comfortable place to lie down and cover yourself with a blanket. Then with the fingertips massage your jaw bone from the inner side of the eye towards the ear . Follow the shape of the bone, as if you would polish it. Try to find out the consistency of the bone and the muscles and tissue attached to it. Painful areas need more attention. Watch out for the telephone answers from within the body such as a deep breath, stomach sounds,electrical currents, yawning and burping.
Then massage the area under your nose carefully. Feel the gums. Give some extra attention to the "smiley" corners of the mouth. Try to massage the place where the upper and lower jaw are connected with extra pressure. Massage the stubborn chin. It usually feels insensitive and blocked. Try to massage the jaw bones from underneath along the neck.
Very carefully massage the front of your neck where the adams apple is situated. This is a very sensitive place, but by exploring it very carefully maybe for the first time in your life you can overcome some of your basic fears. Try to relax the throat with gentle massage.
If you are more experienced you can try to make yourself slightly cough and make the mucus come out from your eyes and nose. This kind of gentle elimination can help you not to get a cold.
Massage your lips with the thumb and index finger. If they are full of fluid you might get fluidy sounds. After this massage you might be fit for the vocal expression exercises which I have described in the previous chapters.
If you are enjoying these exercises and want to practise them together with a small group of people then you could come to the next "Energy in Balance" workshop.
It starts MONDAY JANUARY 26th, 7 - 9 pm
The venue is in Vauxhall,Tube Vauxhall, the cost is 60 pounds ( conc. 30 pounds} for seven monday evenings or 10 pounds { conc. 7 pounds} for one evening. More info on 0171-735 4513. The first evening is about grounding your feet.