Hello everyone! Tutu Moura here with the Y bringing you tools to feel well in your body,
mind and spirit. So many of us can hold quite a lot of tension in our neck
and our jaw and so today, we're gonna be using just our hands to kind of release some of that
pent-up tension here so that you can feel a little bit better through the rest of your day.
Now the first thing that we're going to do with our thumbs,
I'm just going to put my hair up here and if you've got some hair, you might want to
just put your hair up so you've got some more access to the back of your skull.
Okay so I want you to feel right behind your ears and you're going to kind of feel where your neck
meets the base of your skull and you can kind of feel how it starts
right behind the jaw, right behind the ear and it travels up
right to the base of your neck. So really just feel along that ridge
there so you kind of have a guide for where your hands are going to go a little bit later
and then I also want you to feel down the length of your jaw,
feeling underneath your jaw into your neck here, feeling down your neck
and exploring with your fingertips. What we're
looking for here is if there are any spaces that feel particularly tender so
exploring down,
exploring down
and then again letting your fingers travel along that base of the skull and exploring
if there's any space that feels particularly tender.
Okay if there is, if there isn't that's okay. I want you to first find right behind the
ear. We're going to locate that space again where your neck meets the base of your skull
and I want you to find some comfortable pressure. So we really don't want to squeeze in, right? We
want to give it some pressure but only pressure that feels tolerable and comfortable and we're
going to find that pressure and then we're going to start to just massage in small circles here,
nice and slow and if you want to do one side and then the other that's okay. Feel what feels good
for you and always listen to whether you're kind of creating tension by doing this which means
maybe scale back on that pressure a little bit or if you're able to keep this space feeling relaxed.
And so finding that space just moving in those small circles and really feeling for any spaces
that feel tender, feels tight you can close your eyes and slow your breath as you're doing this.
Now let's travel towards the base of the skull and the at the
back of the skull here so we're traveling from the back of the ear and it towards the
back of the head here so find another spot and again if you want to take it one arm at a time
so that one arm gets to rest, you can also lie down so that your arms feel more supported.
I'm standing up so you can kind of see a little bit better but but take
what works for you. So keep your arms in mind as you're doing this but let's take that to
that next spot. Find that pressure that feels good and let's just move in those slow circles,
breathing
and then let's move a notch again towards that back of the neck here and find those
circles here again with the pressure that uniquely feels good to this space.
So always always find the pressure that feels safe, that feels supportive and
comfortable because everybody is going to be a little bit different and as well, your body is
going to feel different every day, so always meeting yourself where you are in this moment
and then let's take that a notch up. Your thumbs will feel like they're meeting
towards the base of your skull at the back of your neck and again just finding that gentle circling
and then pausing. Give your arms a rest and just feel how that feels through your
through your neck through the back of your skull and we're going to take this towards the front
here so we're going to start again right behind the ear and I want you to find that space right
behind the jaw here you might notice that it feels just a little tender but let's find those circles
again just meeting each space where it's at in terms of what pressure feels supportive.
Now after we circle in this space, we're gonna just draw those fingers down towards the throat
and then let's move to the next space right where the neck meets the jawline here
let's find those little circles if circles don't feel good or feel doable,
you can just let your fingers slide back and forth against your jaw
and then again we'll draw those fingers down
and let's take that to the next spot finding your circles finding that
sliding motion really feeling into what feels supportive for you so listening to your body
and sliding those fingers down and then moving on in.
You can change your fingers find this place that feels like it's supportive and allows you to
functionally carry out this massage
and then again sliding those fingers down moving again towards that center space.
So I'm starting to use my thumbs here but just exploring also exploring that jawline
can feel so tense depending on how much you grip so you can slide those fingers across the jawline
and again we want to slide down and let's take that all the way back out to the starting point,
sliding those fingers down and down and down. Last one and down
and taking a second just feeling how that feels through the neck through the jaw,
noticing the space that feels like you've created through this through this area of your body
breathing into that
and I invite you to return to this whenever you need it. It could be a nice break to your day,
it could be a nice thing to do at the end of the day when you're kind of unwinding,
but take this in a way that feels supportive for you
and I'll see you back here next time on the Y's Recharge With Us From Home series. Take care!