Your jaw is your friend

The more you can stay open in high-stakes situations, the better.

Adrenalin narrows your window on the situation, making you see fewer options and getting you to rely more on ingrained habits.

It’s difficult to monitor your own state of stress, though.

It’s a bit like drinking. Alcohol affects your judgement, but it also affects your judgement of your ability to judge. I met a woman in a bar once who slurred to me that as soon as she got in the car, no matter how many drinks she’d had, she ‘sobered up’.

Obviously untrue, but difficult to tell from the inside.

It takes a lot of practice to monitor your emotions and what psychologists call, I believe, your state of arousal. (Come on.).

You, can, however, use your body.

A down-and-dirty way of monitoring your level of emotional clenching is track your jaw.

How tight is your jaw?

Can you loosen it?

I find that my jaw serves as a pretty accurate barometer for how stressed I’m feeling.

Conversely, the more I can relax my jaw, the more conscious I become about loosening up and slowing down.

Would that work as a mindful practice?

What’s your jaw doing right now?

~ What might that be about?

~ What happens if you loosen it?

Next step:  jaw and shoulders.

Advanced practice: jaw and shoulders and facial muscles.

I loves me the comments. What are you thinking right now? Type it! In a comment! Half-baked thoughts totally welcome.

(b) Be nice.

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