It was awful.
Luckily, as a Feldenkrais practitioner I was able to cure my TMJ pain with gentle sensory-motor movements and not painful exercise, surgery or drugs.
If it feels like you’ve tried everything to get rid of TMJ pain, but nothing has truly worked, there’s a reason: Most treatments are based on faulty mechanical premises. Traditional medical and surgical treatments treat you like a machine that needs a fix, altering the structure of your body with surgery or a device to solve the issue.
Surgery and devices do not engage your learning ability.
Very often, TMJ pain isn’t a mechanical problem; it’s a deeply ingrained set of habits, some of which you started learning in childhood. The real solution lies in letting those habits go as learning new, healthier habits through sensory-motor learning.
With Feldenkrais you will notice that habits of clenching and biting, even tongue-habits are unnecessarily affecting your life and creating pain. And even though you might be aware of that consciously as you read this – the actual experience of feeling those habits let go in “real time” as you move is astounding.
You’re a living, breathing person, not a machine. And as a human, you have the remarkable ability to change and learn.
My Feldenkrais TMJ series offers a unique approach to overcoming TMJ pain. Rather than forcing your body into a new position or relying on devices, I will help you discover new ways of moving that are new, unique, comfortable and relaxed.
You will find multiple experiences of muscles spontaneously relaxing as you move and pain melting away. The gentle, guided movements that I teach tap into the natural plasticity of your nervous system, allowing you to drop old habits and develop new ones that reduce pain.
Each Feldenkrais session is a sensory-motor learning experience that trains your body and brain to work together more harmoniously. Movements are slow and mindful, encouraging you to notice the ways you hold tension or move unnecessarily. As you practice, your nervous systems builds awareness of these habits, letting go of old patterns like clenching, biting, or stiffening your neck.
Some of your new habits may require practice and the repitition of sessions. But many of them happen automatically as you move, without the need for you to remember anything at all: you instantly establish new, healthier movement patterns that allow you to live and move without pain. It’s a gentle, natural way to find lasting relief, working with your nervous system’s capacity to learn and adapt, rather than treating it like a machine to be fixed.
Have you checked out the details of my series? They are easy to do, and available immediately: Learn More
