Down Dog Yoga Pose Variations for TMJ Spasm and Scoliosis

Everyone knows the standard down dog yoga pose. I went to yoga this past week when my right jaw was in TMJ spasm. This slightly advanced down dog, open-hip position immediately relaxed my right jaw, thereby providing instant relief.

When my spasm are bad, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and employ this method on the ground next to the bed. :/ It happens.

So here is the down dog position that I strive to achieve for maximum right jaw pain relief. It is a "full" or advanced down dog yoga pose.

Bent-leg-open-hip-down dog yoga pose for TMJ pain relief:

I have a few variations and notes on how to make this pose easily attainable for any flexibility / pain level.

 

Variations - How to Get Into This Pose Properly for Maximum Pain Relief:

1) Start the position in a regular down dog yoga pose. To make this pose easier AND to get a better stretch through my torso and upper back, and jaw, I bend both of my knees and balance on the balls of my feet throughout the entire pose start to finish When I balance on the balls of my feet, I can raise my booty higher up in the air and give my back the slightest arch. I achieve a much better stretch than if both of my feet / heels were on the ground. I am WORKING UP to a good down dog pose on my heels, but my body is telling me that I'm just not ready for it yet. I also get a nice muscular release in my lower back if I really stretch all the way from the tip of my nose through my tailbone, giving myself the slightest of arches to my spine to achieve this great stretch. This stretch mimics the feeling I have after I leave the chiropractor. .

Here is a great instructional tutorial on how to get into an effective down dog position using bent knees. Apparently, this is caused by hamstring tightness.

2)  With both knees bent in a regular down dog yoga pose, I pick up my right knee and point my right heel to the sky. I straighten the right knee (knee that's in the air) while keep on aiming to point the right heel to the sky. I have to remember keep keep keep stretching through my upper back and through my neck. I stay high on the ball of my left foot for this as well. Here is the straight leg dog dog yoga position. 

Picture of straight leg down dog yoga pose variation for right TMJ spasm and left scoliosis curve.

 

In this photo from her blog, this lovely yogi has her head pointed straight down. In my variation, for maximum pain relief, turn your head slightly to the right and look out beneath your right armpit. When you begin to look under your right armpit, the force should hold the bottom half (mobile portion) of the jaw to the left. This allows my right jaw to instantly relax. The relaxation from this pose is easy to re-create. Simply look into and alternatively out of the right armpit. Re-creating self relief is always gratifying and encouraging. :)
3) Bend the right knee so that your heel sort of "kicks" your booty. Try your best to hold this heel-to-booty position. Left knee bent. On left ball of foot. If you're doing it right, you should be working a bit throughout your entire abdominals through your torso to hold this position.

4) Look out beneath your right armpit. Take some deep breaths while looking out under your right armpit. Remember: right heel-to-booty; left knee bent; on left ball of foot; slightest arch in the back; booty high in the air. When you breathe out, try to direct your outward stream of air through relaxed jaws in the direction of your right armpit. This would probably be a good position in which to employ the Gauze Roll technique from this post. This will ensure that your jaw is centered while you work on keeping your body relaxed. Even with the Gauze Roll in your mouth on the right side of your jaw, try as best as you can to keep both the left and right jaws relaxed. Also, once you are in an inverted position, gravity helps to pull your body into line.
5) Try to "open your hiPS." You can achieve this by moving your left hip closer to the ground and moving your right hip closer to the sky. You should feel this between your shoulder blades and one each side of your ribcage.

Hold the down dog open hip position for a round of 10 nice deep breaths. Breathe from the belly, forcing it to stick out with every "in" breath.

One thing that I really like about practicing yoga at home is the freedom is gives me to not try to impress. At a class in front of a group of [judgmental?] people, most people [including me] are less inclined to do the less-challenging ground-leg-knee-bent down dog yoga position because it looks too easy. At home, I am not afraid to look weak, because the fact is: I'm weak! I have to strengthen my shoulder, deep abdominal, and back muscles and right now they are too tight to achieve heel-to-floor down dog.

When I don't rush into the advanced version of a yoga position (by not figuring how to modify it to be as easy as possible), I keep surprising myself by how quickly I advance from the basic position to the more advanced version. I attribute this my body learning the intricacies of a movement instead of just trying to poorly mimic the end result or "look" of the advanced pose.

I'd recommend starting your down dog at the most basic down dog position with bent knees. Each time you practice down dog, practice moving through each variation listed above. The variations are listed in order of how they should / can be performed. Your body will tell you what flexibility / variation you should try for.

Take your time with this exercise. There's no rush. You weren't doing it 10 minutes ago, so there's no reason why another 10 minutes could make that much of a difference. Enjoy each variation and the instantaneous muscular releases that you will feel.

As always with any stretching exercise, switch sides. Perform the entire exercise from on the opposite side. Feel the difference between your right and left sides. This was a huge learning experience for me about where my body is weak and strong.

Happy down dog-ing.