Face, head, and jaw in Baseworks
Group: Primer Community Author: Matthew McIlhenny | Posted: 2025-11-16
There is ample content dealing with pretty much all areas of the body, and relevant concepts like micro movements or distributed activation, specifically for spine, rib cage , and neck. However I don’t think there is anything in the course that directly referenced what to do with face, head and jaw. I ask because I’m experiencing jaw pain and haven’t found any of the concepts totally applicable; though I am trying to do intensity travel modifications, micro movements and distributed activations, the jaw very often still feels locked
Replies
Section titled “Replies”Reply by Asia — 2026-01-06
Section titled “Reply by Asia — 2026-01-06”Hey Matthew,
That’s a very interesting question. You’re right that there isn’t much direct focus on the face, head, and jaw in the method. You’ll hear them mentioned during the body scan in Ignitions/Assimilations, but we don’t train specific active skills for the face or jaw itself. The head is also referenced frequently in terms of positioning.
Regarding the face, I actually started thinking about this a couple of years ago when I noticed that compared to the level of control I had over muscles throughout my body, my face almost felt like it didn’t belong to me. I addressed it by doing exercises that engage facial muscles through isometric contractions.
As for the jaw, while we don’t have a jaw-specific focus, there are several forms that systematically engage the muscles of the neck and create conditions similar to what you might work with in physiotherapy for jaw/neck tension and tension headaches.
These forms are:
- Neck Torsion
- Seated Torsion
- Spinal Traction These three forms might provide an environment where you can observe what happens with your jaw and potentially work with the tension you’re experiencing.
Let me know how it goes.