Healing Emotions and Teeth Grinding with Yoga
One of the most common subconscious expressions of worry or anger is teeth grinding, the grinding or pressing together of the teeth, especially during sleep.
Use Yoga to Heal Emotions and Teeth Grinding
By Stefanie Arend
In our busy world, where physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion are common complaints, yoga has never been more popular or more varied. In a society where many of us are overworked and overwhelmed by the daily stresses of our hyperactive environment – emails that haunt us even after working hours. We have performance pressure in the office and at school, tightly scheduled days for ourselves and our children – more people than ever before look to the ancient practice of yoga for health, happiness, and release of tension. But in many cases, mainstream yoga—ashtanga, power, Iyengar, etc.—may not be the best remedy for what ails us.
We all experience challenging emotions such as sadness, anger, uncertainty, and anxiety. From a holistic perspective, emotions are neither positive nor negative, even if we are inclined to evaluate them this way. They cannot be permanently suppressed or held under, and they persist until they are accepted. However, especially in Western culture, we tend to categorize these feelings as “bad” and quickly learn to repress them. Our troubles may, therefore, arise at a deep level but manifest physically at our body’s surface. One of the most common subconscious expressions of worry or anger is teeth grinding, the grinding or pressing together of the teeth, especially during sleep.
Teeth grinding has a wide range of consequences, from disrupted sleep to tooth and jaw damage. Although the symptoms of teeth grinding can be addressed quickly with a mouth guard, for example, to discover the root causes of our ailments, we must listen carefully to what our body is telling us.
By bringing the body, mind, and spirit into harmony, Yin Yoga activates our capacity for self-healing. It helps us find the serenity for self-reflection that we need to look inwards and interpret the body’s various signals. Yin Yoga’s long, deep stretches, which are held for minutes without any muscular tension, and focus on observing our gentle breathing, create a calm that allows buried memories and emotions to emerge.
If we relax and align our bodies and minds, then we can identify what is causing us stress, accept it, process it, and ultimately let it go.
If you see yourself confronted with emotions that you would rather suppress, then please try this little meditation in addition to the Yin Yoga poses below: Sit up straight or lie down. Recall an unpleasant feeling—anger, annoyance, anxiety, sadness, or whatever comes to mind. Name this feeling and welcome it. Meet your emotions and feel them openly without rejecting them. Also, ask yourself why they are there and what they want to show you. Watch how your emotions change the more you watch them mindfully. Perhaps they become less intense and seem a little less threatening. If you accept your feelings, you can also let go of them more easily via the process of accepting them.
Dangling (Uttanasana)
This exercise stretches the whole rear side of the body and gently presses the stomach organs
together at the same time, which has a massaging effect and supports digestion. It works on all the long fascia chains on the rear side of the body, and the hanging also releases the neck nicely.
Stand upright, open the legs to hip-width, relax the back, and bend your upper body downwards to the thighs. Do not tighten up, but simply let yourself sink down gently. If the stretch is too strong on the backs of your thighs, you can bend the knees slightly. Let your arms either hang down long or cross them loosely. Keep your head and neck completely relaxed in the position.
Remain in the position for three to five minutes. Then bend the legs and roll your upper body up slowly. Come into a neutral position and relax into Supine Position.
Lying Butterfly (Supta Baddha Konasana)
This exercise opens your pelvic area, has a positive effect on the organs of the lower abdomen, and stretches the insides of the legs. It also expands your chest area, which can help you with deep breathing.
Lie back on the mat; place a yoga block under your head, and a second one at shoulder height under your thoracic spine. Alternatively, you can use a soft cushion under your head. Bring the soles of your feet together, and let your knees sink outwards slowly. Should the stretch be too intense on the insides of the legs or the groin, you can place more blocks or cushions under your knees. Stretch the arms out long next to your head, and place them on the floor so that you can feel a stretch in the chest and shoulder area. If your fingertips go numb doing this or you do not have the range of motion to do this, change the position of the arms so that the hands are more at your side or on your stomach. Stay in the position for three to five minutes. Take the arms back next to your body, close your legs, and push yourself up with an activated pelvic floor. Place the props to one side and relax into Supine Position.
Twisted Roots (Jathara Parivartanasana)
Lie on your back, pull your knees up to your chest, and let your bent legs sink onto the floor to the left. You can place your arms to the side at shoulder height, or stretch them out on the floor above you. Look towards your right hand if you want to include a rotation in the cervical spine. Give all your weight to the floor and breathe into your stomach to intensify the massaging effect on your stomach organs.
Stay in the selected position for three to five minutes. Then come back to the center, grip your knees and press them briefly to your chest, rock to and fro a few times, and then change sides.
Protective Meditation
Concentrate on a color that gives you strength. Now imagine a column of light appearing in front
Of you in this color. Take a step forward in your mind and place yourself into the light. You are completely protected in this column of light. It connects you with the energy of the earth on the one hand, and with the energy of the sky on the other hand. You can help the effect further and use the following affirmation if it feels right to you: “May only light and loving energies come through to me, and may all negative energies remain outside, starting now.” Then give thanks to the universe for this energetic protection.
Also, this meditation is one of my favorites. I often use it before going to bed to bring my energies into harmony. Enjoy the practice!
Excerpted from Be Healthy with Yin Yoga: The Gentle Way to Free Your Body of Everyday Ailments and Emotional Stresses by Stefanie Arend (She Writes Press, August 2019). For more information, visit: https://www.yinyoga.de/en
Photo credit: Forster & Martin Fotografie, Munich
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About the Author
Stefanie Arend is a renowned Yin Yoga instructor, holistic health coach, nutritionist, and energy worker. As the first German author to focus exclusively on Yin Yoga, she is the author of six books, including the classic bestseller, Yin Yoga: The Gentle Path to the Inner Center (2011) and Surya Namaskar: The Sun Salutation (2014), both of which were named Best Yoga Book of the Year in German-speaking countries. Be Healthy with Yin Yoga is her first English language book. For more information about Stefanie or to watch her videos, website and YouTube channel.
