The jaw is the smallest, hardest-working muscle in the chronicle of human anxiety. It clenches when we sleep. It tightens before we speak. It locks when we are bracing for impact that never comes.
Bring your attention to it now. Notice, without judgement, the state it is in.
Let your teeth come slightly apart. Not open-mouthed. Just unstuck. Like two pieces of paper that had been pressed together.
Let the tongue rest. Most of us hold the tongue against the roof of the mouth without realizing it, as if we were about to speak. Let it drop, soft, to the bottom.
Take a breath. Notice that releasing the jaw releases something in the throat too. And then in the chest.
The body holds tension in a long chain. Loosen one link and the others remember they're allowed to loosen too.
This is a thirty-second practice you can do anywhere. In traffic. In a difficult conversation. Before you press send. Unstick the teeth. Drop the tongue. Soften.