Clenching your jaw? You might be clenching your pelvic floor too.

If you're clenching your jaw, there's a good chance you're also clenching your pelvic floor—and it’s not just a coincidence. The jaw and the pelvic floor are neurologically and fascially connected. They both share deep ties through the brainstem and cranial nerves, especially via the trigeminal and vagus nerves, which influence muscle tone and stress response.

From a functional standpoint, both areas tend to mirror each other under stress. When you’re in fight-or-flight mode, your body tenses—starting with the jaw, shoulders, and often the pelvic floor. Chronic clenching up top can signal or reinforce holding patterns down below. So if your jaw’s always tight, your pelvic floor might be stuck in "on" mode too, which can lead to tension, pain, or dysfunction over time.

In short: your body works as a system, and when one part is gripping, another usually is too.

So what can we do about it?

First step -> Awareness.

Most of us don’t even realize we’re clenching until we’re in pain or feeling tense. Start checking in throughout the day—are your teeth touching? Is your tongue pressed to the roof of your mouth? Are you holding your breath or gripping your glutes? That tension adds up.

Here’s what helps:

1. Downregulate your nervous system
When you calm your stress response, both your jaw and pelvic floor start to chill out. Try:

• Diaphragmatic breathing (inhale through your nose, slow exhale through your mouth)

• Box breathing (4-4-4-4 pattern)

• Long exhales to tap into parasympathetic (rest and digest) mode
  

2. Relax your jaw consciously

• Keep your lips closed but teeth slightly apart

• Let your tongue rest gently at the roof of your mouth

• Try gentle jaw massages or stretches (like opening your mouth wide and slowly closing)
  

3. Connect to your pelvic floor

• Do “reverse Kegels” (focus on relaxing and lengthening, not squeezing)

• Visualize your sit bones widening on inhale, softening your belly and pelvic floor

• Use gentle movements like happy baby, deep squats, or child’s pose to release tension

4. Improve sleep & stress hygiene
- Poor sleep and high stress amplify tension. Magnesium supplementation, consistent sleep routines, and stress management tools make a big difference.

5. Consider nervous system-focused bodywork
- Craniosacral therapy and pelvic PT can help retrain your system out of chronic clenching patterns.

Questions, comments, concerns? Or needing more help? Shoot me a message (you can find my details in the Contact page) and I’d be happy to help.