Stress can worsen or predispose you to lockjaw, and yoga is a great stress-relieving activity. Yoga is an integrated practice, which means it aids the physical and energetic body. When doing yoga, you are encouraged to go to the root cause of stress that has caused the muscle spasm of your jaw. Various yoga postures that help in curing lockjaw are as follows:  Asanas (yoga postures) such as the "Adho Mukh Svanasana" (Downward Facing Dog) improve the blood flow to the head and jaw. In this asana, the person assumes an inverted ‘V’ pose with the hips facing the ceiling while the heels and hands are on the ground. "Salamba sarvangasana" (Shoulder Stand) is a pose in which the shoulders rest on the mat or blanket and the entire body from below the shoulders is perpendicular to the floor. This inversion also increases blood flow to the head. Learn how to do this posture correctly before trying it on your own to prevent injury. "‘Viparita Karani" (Legs-Up-the-Wall-Pose) is done by lying on the floor, supporting your lower back with a firm bolster, and stretching your legs upwards using the support of the wall. "Shavasana" (Corpse Pose) acts as a muscle relaxant and helps in reducing muscle tension. It is a pose of complete relaxation. Lie flat on the floor face up with your arms at your sides palm up, and consciously relax all the muscles of the body from head to toe. Relaxation techniques may improve TMJ. A great technique to start releasing the temporomandibular joint of the jaw is seated meditation. Begin by sitting in a comfortable position for meditation and focus on relaxing your tongue. Often, the tongue will cling to the palate without you even realizing it. Relax your eyes and soften your jaw. Soften the skin at the corners of your mouth. These instructions are the starting steps of "pratyahara," i.e., internalization of sensory awareness. Decompressing the jaw in this manner takes practice, but is very useful. Exercises play an important role in the treatment of lockjaw. If done correctly and regularly, they help treat as well as possibly prevent lockjaw. To begin with, relax and lower your shoulders, relax your lower jaw, and relax your tongue. Make sure your teeth are not touching.  Warm up the jaw muscles with small up-and-down and side-to-side movement of the jaw. Be sure not to grind your teeth. Open and close your mouth as much as possible without pain or discomfort. Move your jaw as far as possible forward and then back. Make similar movements towards both sides and then relax. Push your fist below your jaw while opening your mouth. Push your thumb against your chin at the time of forward movement and against the right and left side of your chin during side movements. Keep your jaw at the extreme point of movement for a few seconds, holding it there. Open your mouth as wide as possible, then try to close it while resisting this movement by pushing downward against your lower front teeth with your fingers.  While looking in the mirror, try to move your lower jaw straight up and down, avoiding any deviations as well as any movements producing clicking or locking of the jaw. Each exercise should be performed for at least 10 counts each day. TheraBite is a portable system devised to treat lockjaw and provide patients with anatomically correct jaw motion. This system usually provides both stretching and passive motion for jaw rehabilitation. Cancer in the head and neck may cause lockjaw, especially if you have radiation therapy. TheraBite exercises may help in this case.
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One-sentence summary -- Do yoga. Try seated meditation. Exercise your jaw. Repeat the jaw exercises against the resistance of your hand. Consider using the TheraBite System.


Crossover steps are a simple way to move around. You simply cross one foot over the other, letting your momentum continue moving you backward. For this explanation, all of the examples will be to move ‘’’right.’’’ To move left, simply switch the feet in the directions. Crossovers can be done moving forward or backward, but to practice, you should start from a standstill. Set your skate down on the ice with your legs crossed at the knee. You should look a little like a young kid who needs to go to the bathroom. Uncross your legs by bringing your right foot around the back of the left and setting it down on the ice. You should be back to your original standing position. Keep crossing over to move laterally across the ice. Try a few in reverse if you are comfortable, put your left leg behind your right before bringing the right foot over the left. You can push off the wall, make perfect “S” shapes, or speed along with “C” cuts. Gain some momentum and then relax, gliding backward. As you move backward, cross your left leg over your body then quickly uncross your legs with your right foot. When done correctly, you should shift horizontally while maintaining backward momentum.  Think of the motion you make if when you start running to your right. Your left leg takes a step to the right and then your right leg quickly follows.  Practice Drill: Do two "C" cuts, one with each leg, and then one crossover. Do two more cuts, then a crossover the other direction. ’’’Practice Drill:’’’ Skate backward around the edge of the rink, and use crossovers to change direction in the corners. Skate both clockwise and counter-clockwise to practice both directions.
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One-sentence summary -- Use crossovers to change direction while skating backward. Stand up straight, knees slightly bent. Bring your left foot up and over your right foot. Bring your right foot behind your left calf. Repeat this crossover motion to move horizontally. Start gliding backward. Perform a crossover to change directions.


Take your shoelaces out of your shoes.  Fill your sink up about halfway with water.  Take some hand soap and work it into each of your laces.  Be thorough, loosen all the dirt you can.  Drop the laces into the water and wash away the remaining soap.  Rap a dry rag firmly around one lace.  Pull the rag along the length of the lace to dry it and repeat the process to dry the other lace.  You can also throw your laces in the washer.  Be sure to put them in a pillow case first and wash them in a normal cold wash cycle. Your old laces will start to unravel after a few washes so you should still buy new laces periodically.  New laces can instantly make your shoes appear brighter. You can also use an iron to dry your laces and straighten them. Pour a few drops of dish soap into a small glass of water.  Let the mixture sit for a few minutes.  Never use more than a teaspoon of dish soap in your mixture. Never use bleach to clean your shoes.  Bleach will turn your white shoes yellow. Apply your mixture to a shoe cleaner brush and rub it onto your shoes in a circular motion.  Work the mixture in until it starts to foam.  You can use a toothbrush to clean the soft fabric and hard to reach parts of your shoes.  Be gentle, don’t rub your shoes too hard or you may scratch them. Only use soft bristle brushes to clean your shoes.  A hard bristle could damage them. Gently wipe off the foam from your shoes with a soft clean cloth.  Put some dryer sheets on the inside of your shoes to soak up the remaining moisture.  Give your shoes some time to dry naturally.  It could take them as long as a day to dry completely.  Change the dryer sheets every few hours to speed up the process.  Don’t use a hairdryer or any other source of heat to dry your shoes.  Excessive heat can damage them. The dryer sheets will also remove odor from your shoes to keep them smelling fresh.
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One-sentence summary --
Clean your laces. Make your cleaning mixture. Use a brush. Dry your shoes.