HOW IS YOUR JAW JAMMING UP YOUR BODY AND TIGHTENING YOUR EMOTIONAL FREEDOM?
We’ve all been told how important it is to take care of your whole self as an actor or actress.
The benefits of a practice like yoga, Feldenkrais - improving human life through better movement, sensation, posture and breathing - and Alexander technique - changing your habitual ways of moving to more efficient ways - are countless.
I have been a professional actress for the past 20 years, along with extensive dance, circus and physical theatre training. I’ve spent years exploring how my body moves, how my connection to my body strengthens my connection to my acting, and how emotions can be expressed through movement.
Since completing my Kinesiology training, I have continued to be amazed and intrigued by the connection between our bodies, our emotions and healing, and the positive impact this can have on your acting craft.
BALANCE THE JAW, BALANCE THE BODY.
In Kinesiology, and specifically Kinergetics, we work on the principle “balance the jaw, balance the body”. 90% of the muscles in our body are related to our jaw – so if your jaw is tight, then chances are your body will be tight and compensating in other areas.
The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) consists of the muscles and jaw joint that move your jaw around on your skull. TMJ pain, teeth grinding, headaches, tinnitus, jaw tension and clicking are common symptoms of a jaw that is out of balance.
Deep trauma is held in our jaw and when jaw problems are left unattended, stress continues to build, causing further dis-ease which manifests into deeper physical stress on the body. TMJ issues are often triggered by adrenal stress and fight, flight, freeze, survival responses – this can be due to major/minor trauma or more mundane things, like dental work or holding back from voicing your thoughts. Literally “holding your tongue”, as it were.
Physically, TMJ issues are linked to the psoas (the pair of muscles that run from your lumbar spine to your groin, the ones that flex your body forward when you go to bend down and pick something up off the floor, stabilizing your core and spine) and upper trapezius muscles (the broad, flat muscle that stretches from the back of your shoulder to your neck)
The psoas and upper trapezius muscles relate to the kidneys, including both the organ function itself and the kidney energy meridian. The kidneys are responsible for filtering waste products from your blood, regulating blood pressure, balancing water and activating Vitamin D. The Kidney Meridian is considered the Root of Life – connecting us to our willpower, regulating circulation, energy, sleep and vitality.
The knock-on effect for the body from being out of balance is extensive. A tight jaw leads to headaches, teeth grinding and tightening your Psoas. This in turn leads to lower back pain, tilted pelvis, knee, neck and ankle tension, and stressed kidneys (both the organ and energetic meridian function). All of a sudden, we wonder how we ended up in pain and feeling anxious, stuck and frustrated!
HOW IS THIS CONNECTED TO ACTING?
Another method that I work with, and which is based on similar mind/body principles, is Niki Flacks’ acting technique, “Acting With Passion”.
Rooted in the work of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowan, both pioneers of bio-energetic therapy and the mind/body holistic movement, Niki’s work uses physical cues to access emotion held in our bodies. One of these movements is to lightly tap your chin and open your jaw as wide as you can as if taking a big bite of a large apple, and taking an inhalation of breath to the back of the throat.
This simple action, when combined with a series of verbal and physical cues, begins to access your “emotional dungeon,”. Your feelings start to flip around in your gut, allowing your actor-self to use them as fuel to speak your lines.
It’s fascinating that in both Niki’s work and Kinergetics, we access trauma through the jaw. Our throat, neck and jaw muscles have become highly skilled in holding back sounds and feelings. This is also a reason why actors have voice problems. The muscles we want to relax have learned to “bite down”, “hold our tongue”, push our instinctive cries back, and use words instead.
By accessing and releasing these we are on the road to balance, wellness and emotional connection. For actors, a jaw that is free of pain and tension also means you’ll have access to a richer emotional palate.
WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?
If you’re having TMJ pain or issues with your Psoas, Upper Trapezius, then it’s possible Kinesiology can help you. With kinesiology, we are essentially rebalancing your body’s energy so it can flow freely, moving through emotional, physical and spiritual stressors to achieve a more peaceful, pain-free life.
First, we better start with WHO. Sanford Meisner was an American teacher, actor and director. He was one of the founding members of The Group Theatre (along with Stella Adler, Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman), all of whom went on to revolutionise actor training in the 20th Century.
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Perhaps you’ve done some repetition in an acting class but it was out of context? Or maybe you trained in the technique elsewhere? The classes may resemble each other, but often the style and rules around the technique of repetition are different. The only true expert in the Meisner Technique was Sanford Meisner and he died over 20 years ago.
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We all know that feeling – frozen in a moment, unable to move – muscles go tight and eyes wide. It can feel like everything freezes – or you suddenly get the impulse of a ninja cat and hot foot it out of there or catch that falling object.
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If this is the first time you’ve seen actors doing this exercise, you’re likely to be wondering how on earth Sanford Meisner’s repetition makes you a better actor. The repetition exercise is designed to get you out of your head, focused on your scene partner and responding truthfully.
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I get asked a lot about what’s different about the Meisner technique compared to others. People who have nothing to do with acting are often intrigued to even know that there are different techniques at all.
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Truth is the highest value in our work – not a big emotional outpour. Emotions don’t have a hierarchy in the technique and quiet, truthful moments are just as valuable as enraged outbursts. Feelings are just feelings. We don’t rate them as good/bad or better than any other.
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One of the reasons I believe this work is so transformational for an actor, is that in order for us to train you to be truthful in your acting, we need to get you out of your head – to disconnect your intellect so you can live truthfully in your work.
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In 1990, a documentary found its way to centre stage: "Sanford Meisner, The American Theater’s Best Kept Secret." The documentary is a series of interviews with his students and snippets from classes – with Robert Duvall, Sidney Pollack, Gregory Peck, Joanna Woodward, Mary Steenburgen, and Eli Wallach, amongst others.
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I had been acting for ten years but was never really confident in my ability. Whilst on Scott’s workshop, I swiftly learned about using a true technique and craft which has now given me all the tools I need as an actor to go on and perform at the highest level. I highly recommend working with Scott Williams.
Michael Budd
Actor/Director/Producer
Ruby’s Choice (Director), In the Cold Light of Day, Matrix Reloaded
