At the Tip of My Tongue: A Mindfulness Practice

I can sense that on the spectrum of reactive to calm that I often have been settled into reactive. If you find that you experience that too, then you might consider this awareness practice I’ve been doing for about 5 days now.

The practice I’m doing: Keep the tip of my tongue resting just above my teeth and touching lightly to the roof/palate of my mouth. Throughout the day, even the beginning of the day, I start moving that tongue around or it drifts down to the bottom of my lower teeth. Then with that tongue not resting, I would let the teeth lightly chew at the very surface of the bottom lip. I notice that especially during transition periods throughout the day – getting ready to go do an errand, making coffee, getting dressed, getting a meal prepared – that I would get tense and bring my tongue to rest back at the roof of my mouth. Not exerted up there. Just gently resting where the teeth meet the roof of the mouth.

I am finding this to be a powerful awareness practice for me. I feel calmer. I don’t feel as quick to want to interrupt or say something negative in response to someone else. I feel more relaxed most of all.

I’ll share in my next blog what I am practicing for meditation and prayer.

More reading on the additional health benefits of the practice of resting tongue tip at roof of mouth: https://www.healthline.com/health/tongue-posture#summary

I don’t put stock in the following article for several reasons (writing for financial gain and might be new- age pseudoscience) but it is interesting to consider: https://www.breathecoloradowellness.com/post/did-you-know-that-your-whole-tongue-should-rest-on-the-roof-of-your-mouth

my crayon and watercolor collage study of a Matisse still life