Twenty sessions.
Twelve minutes each.
A jaw that rests.

Five phases, 120 different movements, no repeats — from the rest position and gentle isometrics to controlled opening, neck work, jaw strength and habit change. For clicking, locking, clenching, jaw pain and the headaches driven by the jaw and the upper neck.

Before you start

SEE A DENTIST, DOCTOR OR MAXILLOFACIAL SPECIALIST before continuing with any of these: a jaw that locks closed and will not open, or locks open and will not close; jaw pain after a blow or a fall; a hot, swollen face or jaw with fever; numbness of the face or lip; a lump or swelling; opening that is getting worse week by week; a new or severe headache unlike any you have had; or jaw and neck pain with chest tightness or breathlessness on exertion, which is a heart question rather than a jaw one.

The rest position is the whole foundation. Lips gently together, teeth apart, tongue resting on the roof of the mouth. Your teeth should only touch when you are eating — a few minutes a day, not hours. Every session returns to it.

Nothing forces the jaw open. Everything stays inside a comfortable, pain-free range, and resisted work uses about two fingers of pressure. More is not better and usually flares it.

A painless click is not an emergency. Clicking without pain is found in a large share of people who have no jaw complaint at all. Clicking that comes with pain or locking is different and needs assessing.

Tongue up when you open. Opening with the tongue held on the palate keeps the movement straight and inside the safe range. It is the single most useful cue in this programme.

Three practical changes from day one: soft food for two weeks, no chewing gum, and chew on both sides. They cost nothing and they do a great deal.

Kit: a chair, a mirror, a towel and your own two hands. Nothing else.

Phase 1Settle the jaw

ALips together. Teeth apart. All day.The rest position is the whole foundation. Six gentle drills that teach it, plus the breathing that keeps the jaw out of your stress response. BOpen small. Close quietly. Nothing forced.The first controlled movement — small, straight and always inside a comfortable range. CTwo fingers of pressure. No more.Isometric holds in every direction — gentle, brief and the calmest way to load an irritable jaw. DFour in. Measure the opening. Watch it track.Phase 1 check-in: the three numbers worth tracking — how far it opens, whether it opens straight, and how the week went.

Phase 2Control the opening

EStraight line. Every open. Every close.Phase 2 opens on tracking — the jaw travelling straight rather than swinging, which matters far more than how wide it goes. FTongue up. Jaw loose. Two things at once.Tongue control and jaw control trained together — the tongue is the steering wheel for the jaw. GEat both sides. Talk without gripping. Notice the clench.The habits phase begins early, because habit change does more for a jaw than any exercise. HEight in. Straighter. And wider.Phase 2 check-in: opening, tracking and the headache count — and the first honest look at the habit work.

Phase 3Neck and posture

IThe neck and the jaw are one system.Phase 3 opens at the neck — it shares nerve supply with the jaw, and treating one without the other is half a job. JHead back. Over the shoulders. Where it belongs.Correcting where the head lives changes the resting load on the jaw — and it is trained here as a habit, not a lecture. KRotate. Release. Both directions.Neck rotation, side flexion and the releases that reduce the background tension the jaw sits in. LTwelve in. Fewer headaches. Check the numbers.Phase 3 check-in: neck range, deep flexor endurance and the headache count for the week.

Phase 4Strength and endurance

MStrong enough for a meal. And a bad day.Phase 4 opens on jaw strength and endurance — the qualities that decide whether a conversation or a dinner leaves it aching. NChew longer. Talk longer. Ache less.Functional endurance — the jaw doing its actual jobs for longer before it complains. ONeck strong. Blade set. Jaw quiet.Neck and shoulder strengthening, because a jaw sitting on a weak neck works harder all day. PSixteen in. Stronger. And it lasts.Phase 4 check-in: jaw strength, jaw endurance, and whether a meal still costs anything.

Phase 5Habits and return

QNotice it. Release it. A hundred times a day.Phase 5 opens on habit reversal — the intervention that does more for a jaw than any single exercise. RStress goes into the jaw. Give it somewhere else.Breathing and relaxation, because jaw muscle activity rises with psychological load and that is a treatable route. SEat normally. Talk all day. Yawn safely.The real tasks — a full meal, a long conversation, and the guarded yawn that stops a lock. TTwenty sessions. Wider, straighter, quieter.Graduation: opening, tracking, strength, endurance and the headache count — all measured against where you started.