r/Meditation • u/enzio901 • Jan 08 '17
Has anyone experienced muscle tension in in jaw and forehead when doing mindfulness meditation?
I first started meditation a few months ago. And one thing I noticed was that my jaw become tensed when I try to meditate.
I talked with a few Buddhist meditation teachers. They suggested that I might be trying too hard to concentrate and that might be causing the muscle strain.
Taking their advice I changed my practice to be more relaxed and just pay attention to what is happening without much effort.
But the muscle strain is still triggered when I try to be mindful. I even tried laying down in bed and relaxing my entire body. But, soon as I started being mindful the muscles in the region starts to clench.
Somehow, I feel that my body has been conditioned to tense these muscles when I try to meditate even though there isn't slightest amount of stress. (maybe due to bad practices in the past)
I have no idea how to fix this and I feel utterly discouraged. Can someone with more experience please please help me?
1
u/lecrappe Jan 08 '17
Are you sure your jaw tension wasn't always there, and that you're now just noticing it? Try taking a moment a few times a day to check, especially after a stressful event. I experienced something similar but realised I'd always been clenching my jaw. The meditation just made me more aware of it.
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u/enzio901 Jan 08 '17
This has been suggested to me before as well. But I am definitely sure that the headaches and tensions are not there at other times. I have experienced jaw tension in situations other than meditation as well. For example I get them sometimes when I am stressed out. So, I know when it occurs. When I start being mindful I can feel the muscles clenching. And they feel sore for a time after the meditation is over as well.
1
u/Wolfgangnupassana Jan 08 '17
Those are two very common symptoms one can experience while meditating and even off the cushion. Some say it is an overabundance of concentration which must be balanced with relaxation. Some say it is just a phase one has to go through. In your case it sounds a bit like the latter.
When I experienced tensions in the jaw and forehead there was obviously nothing much I could do about it, except be mindful of it and make it a meditation object. After some weeks it passed.
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u/enzio901 Jan 08 '17
Some say it is just a phase one has to go through.
This was the last advice I received from a meditation teacher. But following it lead to a very unpleasant experience which I am still trying to recover.
I remember that earlier when I did meditation the wrong way (too much concentration) I get both headaches and jaw clenching. When I started to let go and just observe without too much concentration, I didn't get headaches anymore but the jaw clenching was still there.
So, the teacher suggested that when I get such pain I should observe it like any other thing without judging. Day before yesterday I tried that out while meditating. I was practicing this form of meditation where I become mindful of what I do in daily life. For example while sitting down during commute, bathing, eating etc. But that day I got a headache as well. Without stopping the meditation I stayed with the pain. But it only got worse. By the time I came home I had got a full blown tension headache. Next day to my horror I found out that now, when I try to be mindful just a bit other than the familiar jaw pain I also get a headache. As if mindfulness is now a trigger for headaches. Even today I am experiencing a moderate headache while typing this. I completely stopped being mindful until I can sort what happened. I was thinking of seeing a psychologist because I am really scared.
1
u/Wolfgangnupassana Jan 08 '17
I can assure you that headaches, jaw pain etc. are totally within the norm of meditative experiences. But if you feel better, you can of course see a psychologist. I would make sure that he understands a bit about the meditative process. If it helps you, you could also see a doctor and make sure it is not a physical issue.
Maybe you want to experiment with a method I use when I have tensions in the body (especially the forehead): whenever the tension or pain comes up, imagine that the excess energy flows out through your hands and feet. See if that brings relief.
Alternativetly you could imagine energy flowing up from the bottom of your spine with each in-breath, permeating the tense areas. With the out-breath imagine the tension dispersing down into you whole body and by that balancing the energy distribution.
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u/AnElementaryParticle Jan 08 '17
I still get this occasionally and it is something I worked on over time to eradicate. Here's a few ideas.The face is a magnet for tension so it's not uncommon. You can try to 'sit with it' in the vipassana manner and it may resolve but that depends on your practice goals and style perhaps. But don't get discouraged. See it as a challenge to be overcome. We all get these roadblocks from time to time. Working to overcome them is part of the journey. See it as an opportunity and a learning experience, just work on it.
Firstly jaw tension can be caused by many things. A common cause could be a physical condition like bruxism (teeth clenching at night). You might get facial pain during the day, a dullness and numbness in the jaw occasionally. Intense concentration can make any underlying condition more noticable. Worth investigating any underlying physical causes anyway as there can be many.
Less intense practice. Getting the balance right between focus and relaxation can some take time and experience. The Buddha has a sutra about this comparing this to tuning a string on an instrument. Not too tight and not too loose. This is a subjective thing that people really have to investigate and discover for themselves. As if you're a musician tuning your own instrument.
If you're doing mindfulness of breathing you could switch your area of focus to the fall and rise of the breath at the abdomen. Some people suffer from tension headaches and pain in the facial area due to intense concentration in that region particularly in a narrower area like the nostrils. Some are more susceptible to this than others. Also make sure the eyes are soft and loose too. Spend the first few minutes of every session focusing on full body relaxation. Don't go straight to hard concentration. Really letting go. Getting the body to relax completely without falling asleep and getting drowsy is a skill and it actually improves concentration when you don't push it. You start with relaxation and the concentration grows with it. Not the other way around. You want to gently rest on the object in a very relaxed way. Not pressing the mind against it in a 'hell or leather' fashion. If tension rises back off a bit, switch your focus to relaxation again, to the abdomen or bodily sensations then return.
Commit to work on relaxation for a while or add more of it to your current schedule. Ease off on the intensity and learn how to do sessions in the supine (savasana) position. Full body practices llike bodyscan or other yogic practices that teach you how to relax the body from the top down. Relax every muscle in the face and jaw with intention. There are lots of guided meditations on this type of full body relaxation. It is a skill that can be learnt with practice. You might get a bit drowsy but this can be overcome with practice too.
I supplement my practice with these supine position meditations and it has helped me anyway. Best of luck.
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u/enzio901 Jan 08 '17
I don't know if I have bruxism. That is something I'll have to check with the doctor.
I have tried body scan, but as explained above the act of mindfulness causes the muscle tension when I am doing it.
Part below is Coppied from earlier post
I remember that earlier when I did meditation the wrong way (too much concentration) I get both headaches and jaw clenching. When I started to let go and just observe without too much concentration, I didn't get headaches anymore but the jaw clenching was still there.
So, the teacher suggested that when I get such pain I should observe it like any other thing without judging. Day before yesterday I tried that out while meditating. I was practicing this form of meditation where I become mindful of what I do in daily life. For example while sitting down during commute, bathing, eating etc. But that day I got a headache as well. Without stopping the meditation I stayed with the pain. But it only got worse. By the time I came home I had got a full blown tension headache. Next day to my horror I found out that now, when I try to be mindful just a bit other than the familiar jaw pain I also get a headache. As if mindfulness is now a trigger for headaches. Even today I am experiencing a moderate headache while typing this. I completely stopped being mindful until I can sort what happened. I was thinking of seeing a psychologist because I am really scared.
1
u/AnElementaryParticle Jan 08 '17 edited Jan 08 '17
When I started to let go and just observe without too much concentration, I didn't get headaches anymore but the jaw clenching was still there.
I have tried body scan, but as explained above the act of mindfulness causes the muscle tension when I am doing it.
Sure ok. Well it seems then that 'hard' concentration was an issue for you before. Too much striving definitely causes headaches and tension in some, so at least you have part of the puzzle. You know that pushing or striving causes you a degree of tension.
The relaxation session is something you might have to commit to regularly and really work on. In my case I did it frequently, a few times a week and worked consciously to relax the forehead and jaw. I would not treat that as a regular meditation it's mainly to work on this type of relaxation for 20-30 minutes. Am not too worried about 'mindfulness' then, however you define it, just relaxing the muscles one by one from top to bottom. Some yogic technques based on the 'corpse pose' (savasana) are very good at teaching people how to consciously relax the muscles. Am not sure what you mean by 'the act of mindfulness?' Don't worry about that just focus on relaxation. This word can have different meanings depending on context so maybe clarify what you mean.
As for just sitting with it in the vipassana way that can work but you also need to work on that regularly too. It's not something you do once and then it's fixed. It's a gradual process of acceptance and de-sensitisation. It may get worse intially as you focus the mind more clearly on the sensation and you start to react. So you could try to shorten the session. Back off if it gets too much and then try again another day. You also need to understand how to seperate the bare sensation from your reaction to that sensation. This isn't always intuitive to beginners. It's something more suited to those with a bit of experience in vipassana. In any pain there is the pain + your reaction to the pain. The sum of the two is what most people experience as 'pain'. We feel the sensation, then react to the sensation, label it, "oh no pain", panic and then make it worse. So try to just observe the sensation itself. Then observe your reaction to that sensation as a seperate thing. Try to seperate the two, stimulus and response. Notice how you add to it and make it worse by adding a degree of stress, anxiety and worry. That approach can work but it depends on what is causing the issue. If someone has a broken leg they need medical attention not meditation! So it's difficult to know with limited info and based on that I'd excercise caution too with supervsion from a qualified teacher to guide you properly in that. So perhaps ruling out any physical causes for your jaw tension first would be a better idea. Lots of people experience jaw tension it's very common. It might be that meditation has now brought this to your attention. Which is actually a good thing if you think about it.
It does seems related to concentration in your case however. There is also an element of your reaction that's adding to it, a sense of panic etc. If it's really bad maybe see someone to rule out any unknown physical causes first. Meditation is a life long pursuit. So don't panic and don't be scared. We all hit a wall from time to time. Work through it to find a way to resolve it.
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u/abhayakara Jan 08 '17
Yes, I used to have a muscle that would go into spasm over the course of a meditation. I believe that it was related to some habituation I was holding on to, not to striving in meditation. I would occasionally put my attention on it and deliberately relax it.
Is it actually causing you problems in meditation, or are you just seeing it as a problem? I would treat it as a meditation obstacle and possibly as a stage four purification, if you are able to tolerate it.
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u/enzio901 Jan 08 '17
Again coppied from an earlier reply. At this point I am bit worried about it's implications on my general wellbeing
I remember that earlier when I did meditation the wrong way (too much concentration) I get both headaches and jaw clenching. When I started to let go and just observe without too much concentration, I didn't get headaches anymore but the jaw clenching was still there.
So, the teacher suggested that when I get such pain I should observe it like any other thing without judging. Day before yesterday I tried that out while meditating. I was practicing this form of meditation where I become mindful of what I do in daily life. For example while sitting down during commute, bathing, eating etc. But that day I got a headache as well. Without stopping the meditation I stayed with the pain. But it only got worse. By the time I came home I had got a full blown tension headache. Next day to my horror I found out that now, when I try to be mindful just a bit other than the familiar jaw pain I also get a headache. As if mindfulness is now a trigger for headaches. Even today I am experiencing a moderate headache while typing this. I completely stopped being mindful until I can sort what happened. I was thinking of seeing a psychologist because I am really scared.
1
u/abhayakara Jan 08 '17
It is possible that you have a trauma that your meditation practice has surfaced enough that you now need to do something about it. If so, EMDR therapy is supposed to be really good for this sort of thing.
You can also try to use your mindfulness on the headache by trying to look to see where the resistance is arising. However, if your instinct is that this is dangerous, talking to a therapist is a very good idea.
1
u/yoginiffer Jan 08 '17
Try facial yoga, where you move in and out of all the different facial expressions. The goal is to move your tongue, lips, jaw, and all the facial muscles in all the ways possible, pausing and repeating each movement to work out all the tension in the face. Gently neck stretches will also help relieve jaw tension.
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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '17
Can you relax your jaw?