The year 2021 has just begun and it has already brought a lot of self-awareness upon us. I’m sure we are taking everything more seriously and while we’re at it, it is time we start reconsidering our Tongue Posture.
If you are new to mewing or the concept of tongue posture, it is likely that you’re seeking an answer to the following question – What is a Proper Tongue Posture?
- A proper tongue posture is the backbone of the concept of mewing. Further, in this blog, we will teach you everything about how to achieve a correct tongue posture and more.
- A proper tongue posture is nothing but the place you subconsciously rest your tongue. About 85%-90% of us rest our tongue on the bottom of the mouth, which is an incorrect tongue posture.
- The ideal tongue positioning is when you rest your tongue against the roof of your mouth, also known as the ‘Palate’.
Table of Contents
What is Proper Tongue Posture?
A lot of people do not realize that an incorrect tongue posture is messing up with their overall facial growth. However, you have taken your tongue posture game a step ahead and have stepped aside from this herd by having read this piece of information today.
Let me begin by clarifying, Mewing is a DIY technique wherein you maintain a proper tongue posture. Both concepts go hand in hand. Having cleared that, a proper tongue posture is positioning your entire tongue (even the back) upon your palate.
Step-by-Step Proper Tongue Posture Guide
- Place the tip of your tongue right behind your front teeth, on your hard palate.
- Push the entire tongue against the roof of your mouth, up until the back.
- Make sure your lips are closed.
- Keep your molar teeth (the ones at the back of your mouth) lightly resting on each other.
When mewing, make sure you are not asserting any extra pressure on your upper or lower teeth as it might cause a side effect.
In addition to the proper pressure, you should always engage in nasal breathing. Avoiding breathing through your mouth. Initially, you might find it hard but over time, you’ll get used to it.
If you face breathing issues, make sure to read our blog on how to breathe while mewing.
What is an Incorrect Tongue Posture?
Placing your tongue on the back of your bottom teeth is considered an incorrect tongue posture. What happens when you put pressure against your lower teeth is that they tend to shift resulting in crowding, grinding and in some cases decay.
Additionally, some studies suggest also believe that a bad tongue posture can result in increased neck pain, and jaw pain. One of the major drawbacks of not maintaining a proper tongue posture is how it falsely affects your facial growth.
Try to place your tongue on your palate and then at the bottom of your mouth, you will notice repositioning in your chin, neck, and head. This is why we shouldn’t let the strength of our tongue cause any harm to us.
Why is Tongue Posture so important?
Some people believe that a proper tongue posture might not be of utmost importance to our overall health and well-being, however, that isn’t entirely true.
There are many benefits linked to Mewing such as better-aligned teeth, wider palate, and reduced nasal obstruction in children dealing with sleep apnea.
Signs and Symptoms / Negatives of Improper Tongue Posture?
As discussed earlier, our tongues can apply a ton of pressure on our teeth. Apart from that, not only does it affect the mouth but it also affects our entire body including our posture and vice-versa.
Here is the list of symptoms that might potentially be a result of an incorrect Tongue Posture:
Teeth Crowding
As we know by now, not maintaining the mewing tongue posture can narrow your palate. Once your palate becomes narrow that leaves lesser space of all of your teeth of fit which finally results in Teeth Crowding or Crooked Teeth.
Gap in the Front Teeth
Though Diastema is normal these days, one can argue that the condition affects both children and adults. In children, the gaps may disappear over time but if not paid attention to, the condition might stay and become noticeable when they turn into adults.
Dysfunctional Bite
This includes an overbite, underbite, or crossbite. We have a separate in-depth blog answering questions about Mewing with an overbite.
Teeth Grinding
Teeth grinding or jaw clenching is counterproductive to mewing. If you grind your teeth and clench your jaw for a long period, it may lead to bruxism. People with stress and anxiety often grind their teeth, and they should avoid it as much as they can. Teeth grinding can cause headaches in the short term and can wear down your teeth in the long-run.
Tooth Decay
An improper tongue posture contributes to tooth decay. This is a condition, wherein a tooth’s enamel gets damaged. Though this leads to cavities and holes in your teeth, it can all start with you leading an unhealthy lifestyle. If you don’t treat it in time, it may cause infection, pain, and even tooth loss.
Recessed Chin
Many people turn to chin augmentation as a possible solution for a weak chin. There are many who consider a weak chin as having no chin. What they are basically referring to is a recessed chin. An improper tongue posture can have a significant impact on your chin. Sure, much is dependant upon genetic, but without maintaining a proper tongue posture, you’re adding fuel to the fire.
Unflattering face shape
Not everybody is genetically gifted with a cutting-edge face. However, with exercises, a healthy lifestyle, and mewing, you can certainly change the way you feel about your aesthetics. All the positive transformation starts with a healthy tongue posture.
Neck and Shoulder Pain
Our facial structure is connected in more than one way. A poor body posture has a significant impact on our facial structure as well. So just imagine what a poor tongue posture can do to our neck and shoulder. It’s quite self-explanatory.
Headaches
Poor tongue posture can cause headaches and might leave you with a heavy head for hours. Our sedentary lifestyle is what’s causing this disharmony and only we can fix it by taking crucial steps.
Improper head posture
It is incorrect to have your head thrust forward and your chin lifting. The ideal way to position your head is to let it rest back while your chin is slightly tucked down.
Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ)
TMJ basically means the jaw has been out of alignment which causes pain in several areas of the jaw including the joints.
Snoring and Sleep Apnea
Improper tongue posture messes up your airways, narrowing your sinuses with leads to trouble in nasal breathing and leading to Snoring and Sleep Apnea.
Improper swallowing
Most of us who aren’t aware of proper swallowing tend to use our teeth to chew and swallow. However, as per recent studies, using your palate and tongue for swallowing will not just help in exercising but also implement the proper swallowing method.
Benefits of Proper Tongue Positioning
The obvious benefits of mewing are avoiding all the symptoms we have listed above. Other than that here are some other benefits of a proper tongue posture.
Improvement in overall body posture – Mewing is all about posture improvement. While you are maintaining the mewing tongue posture, you can avoid any unnecessary jaw pains, neck pains, and have a healthy bite.
- Facial Structure Enhancement – With a proper tongue posture, you can achieve higher cheekbones and a chiseled jawline.
Image Credit: Pinterest
- Nasal Breathing – While Mewing you have to keep your lips sealed which in return promotes nasal breathing. It is also said to widen airways making it easier to breathe from your nose, this is specifically benefiting to those used to mouth-breathing.
- Sound Sleep: Mewing can help people dealing with snoring and sleep apnea.
Can a Poor Tongue Posture affect Cheekbones and Facial Structure?
The visual representation above showcases the difference that a tongue posture can make in regard to your facial growth. If you maintain improper tongue posture, eventually your face experiences a downswing which is mainly because of resting your tongue at the bottom.
When you keep your tongue touching the roof of your mouth, you are not just widening your palate but also helping the maxilla grow forward.
What is Maxilla?
The maxilla is the bone that forms your upper jaw. And by pushing it forward we create more prominent looking cheekbones.
The maxilla forms the centermost area of your face and by that growing forward, your entire facial structure looks much more well-defined.
Can Tongue Positioning Improve Jawline?
Mewing is said to fix your teeth alignment while defining your jawline. It helps the mandible that is the lower jaw by diverting the tongue pressure to the palate.
We have several Mewing Transformation and correct tongue posture before and after that we have spoken about in the past on this page.
For more mewing before and after transformations do follow us on our social media pages linked below. In all these tongue posture results we can see a definite enhancement in the appearance of the jawline.
A proper tongue posture, aka Mewing, lifts the area below your chin making your jawline sharper.
Tongue Posture Exercises
Initially maintaining a good tongue posture can be tiresome, but so is every change you try to bring to your body. You will have to engage in Mewing by reminding yourself to keep your tongue on to the roof throughout the day.
Here are some exercises that would help –
- Position the tip of your tongue right in the middle, behind your top teeth.
- Now gradually push the whole tongue on the roof of your mouth.
- Use a mild suction to hold the position for at least a minute to begin with.
- Keep your lips sealed and breathe from your nose.
The next one will help you understand if you are keeping the entire tongue flat on the roof of the mouth this whole time or not. Many of us get confused as to how much of your tongue should be pushing up, they can give this particular exercise a go.
- Grin, yes that’s right, smile with your upper teeth showing.
- Raise your eyebrows.
- Now try to swallow while maintaining that face.
You will notice that your entire tongue is now touching the palate. Practice like so and you will be subconsciously mewing in no time.
Conclusion
Everyone can benefit from maintaining a proper tongue posture. Enhancement is a facial structure is more likely in teenagers and children as their skull is still under development.
Although, even if you are an adult just learning about Mewing and a correct tongue posture, it is never too late. There are more positives to it than negatives.
For example, most adults suffer from teeth grinding due to our stressed lifestyles with can be curbed through Mewing.
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