On this forum there has been debate about whether hard mewing is beneficial or not, yet tongue chewing is universally seen as a good thing. The goal of tongue chewing is to get a stronger tongue to apply harder forces onto the palate, or I'm I wrong? So what's the issue with forcefully or consciously pushing the tongue harder if that's the goal with tongue chewing anyway. To me it's like saying you shouldn't engage the abs and stand up properly due to how straining it is, but it's okay to exercise the core and other muscles related to standing up straight. I can sort of see the logic as it's probably more efficient to work the muscles at a higher intensity in a workout session rather than thinking about standing up straight all day. At the same time, it's important to build long-term habits, and you can't build that through workouts, you have to actively try to change those habits.
The other thing that doesn't make sense to me is what do ya'll even define hard mewing. I'm pretty recessed so when I do my best chin tuck and try to have the best posture possible it is VERY difficult and I feel a lot of force from the tongue. So according to the gentle force principle I should just slouch more because my tongue is pushing up to hard, it doesn't make any sense. I'm not even trying to push my tongue up hard it's just that I and most people are so recessed that we aren't used to how we should be.
You answered your first question. You build the muscle strength so it can perform its natural role effortlessly. Another example would be gum chewing, which helps the mastication muscles become stronger and lift up the lower jaw subconsciously versus having to force yourself to keep your lower jaw closed all the time.
When you chin tuck your are forcing your anterior head and neck muscles including the tongue to contract hard to achieve that position. If you achieve that position naturally without any force everything will fall in place comfortably. You won't feel the same high force from your tongue.
my story: http://www.aljabri.com/blog/my-story/
What you're saying makes sense. I know for myself personally for example I've tried sleeping without a pillow and chin tucking at night but the problem is I'm so tense that I can't fall asleep and it wouldn't even matter if I did fall asleep because I'd probably have either reverted back to my original posture before I fall asleep and not remember it or just do that while I'm asleep. It makes more sense to build the strength through workouts since you can get more out of a session in a shorter amount of time so that holding the posture long term feels more natural. The issue I think though is that you want your posture to feel natural and it's achievable through building up the muscle, but what do you do about the airway? No matter what the airway is going to be constricted and this surely makes you more stressed and tense. Maybe try expanding the capacity of your breath? Or maybe adding plants around your house and having more airflow and maybe filtration and better cleaning to reduce allergens for better air quality? I also find that my airway is most restricted when not only I'm I trying to push my head back but I'm also trying to chin tuck, maybe we should just stick with one of them?
Theoretically the airway should open up as your alveolar ridge and mandibular condyles remodel forward with correct tongue posture. This is not far fetched as they are documented to do so in many treatments such as FAGGA, but to what extent one can achieve them from just tongue posturing is up for debate.
One user @greensmoothies reported interesting changes with her vertical growth indicator dropping by several millimeters. That indicates forward remodeling of the alveolar ridge. I am not sure if she started with the same airway restriction as you have right now, but it's worth inquiring.
my story: http://www.aljabri.com/blog/my-story/
Theoretically the airway should open up as your alveolar ridge and mandibular condyles remodel forward with correct tongue posture. This is not far fetched as they are documented to do so in many treatments such as FAGGA, but to what extent one can achieve them from just tongue posturing is up for debate.
One user @greensmoothies reported interesting changes with her vertical growth indicator dropping by several millimeters. That indicates forward remodeling of the alveolar ridge. I am not sure if she started with the same airway restriction as you have right now, but it's worth inquiring.
I didn't start to keep track of my vgi until May last year, but over time with mewing I did effectively reopen my wisdom teeth spaces and this effect was noted prior to trying anything other than mewing, taking about 4 years of mewing until I noticed it. For some time since reading about it in the fagga thread, I have tried to stimulate the nasopalatine nerve while swallowing and tongue chewing (not touching upper incisors with the tongue) since the theory is that doing so will stimulate forward growth.
Airway improvement goes along with palate expansion, that was my experience and what some dentists conclude as well. I had forward posture which worsened after a car accident, but also nasal breathing for life, Op's experience is somewhat relatable.
Despite having a wide palate now I try to engage some of those related best practices like avoiding allergens, routine cleaning, outdoor time, increasing humidity during sleep if it's low, etc and believe it all helps breathing amoung other things. I haven't yet stuck with breathing exercises enough to access benefits but I've heard a lot of good things.
Remember this pain... and let it activate you.
Skull and Jaw Correction
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