🔼: # Oral Segment[^1] This segment includes: - the lower half of the head below the nose. - It is centered on the mouth, oral cavity, and upper throat but includes the jaw and chin. - In the back of the head, the muscles of the occiput which move the chin. Functionally, it is associated with taking in nourishment through sucking, biting, chewing and vocal expression including talking, singing, toning, crying, laughing, screaming, grimacing. We express [[⭐️ Emotions]] through the shape of our mouth and chin. We can control the feeling and expression of emotions through tightness in our jaw. ##### Major Muscle Groups of the Oral Segment ###### Jaw - Temporalis (which is also in the ocular segment) - Masseter (which moves the jaw up and down, involved in mastication) - External and internal pterygoid (involved in mastication) ###### Mouth - Orbicularis oris (a group of muscles in the lips surrounding mouth) - Zygomaticus (involved in moving the corners of mouth as in a smile or frown) - Levator labii superioris (lifts the upper lip) - Risorius (retracts the angle of the mouth to produce a smile) - Levator anguli oris (beside nose; elevates the angle of the mouth) ###### Chin - Mentalis (lifts and wrinkles the skin of the chin) - Platysma (wide sheet-like muscle, extends from chin through the neck to the clavicle; draws down the lower lip to express melancholy and horror) - Depressor labii inferioris (depress the lower lip) - Depressor anguli oris (pulls corners of the mouth down) - Hyoglossus (located underneath the tongue; depresses and retracts the tongue) > [!info]- Illustrations of the Musculoskeletal System >  >  > ##### [[🛡️ Emotional Armoring]] in the Oral Segment - Flat or fixed affect in the face and chin, like a fixed smile. - It is hard to cry, hard to authentically express feelings. The voice can sound flat or droning. - Often anger and rage are held back here. - Neediness, dependency, helplessness, lack of nourishment, feeling depraved. - Swallowing back tears. An appearance of needing to maintain control or holding onto control in the masseters. - The chin might sag or be pushed forward expressing pugnaciousness. ###### Working with Oral [[🛡️ Emotional Armoring]] > “Just as all emotions need to be expressed through the eyes to complete themselves, so they also need to be expressed in sound – sobbing, yelling, sighing, screaming. laughing. The mouth and jaw are clearly a key part of the vocalizing process: when armored. they form a 'lid' to the expressive channel, either closing the voice off entirely or else deadening and flattening it. Sound may emerge mechanically, but it lacks meaning and vibrancy as long as the jaw is tight. We can learn to recognize the dead, droning or quacking tone of an armored jaw; we all know to avoid someone who sounds like a bore.” > – Nick Totton and Em Edmondson, Reichian Growth Work - [[🛠 Self-Massage]] the face, especially the masseters, area around the mouth, and chin. Allow this area to soften and relax. - Allow your mouth to hang open so that you aren’t clenching your teeth - Practice expressing different [[⭐️ Emotions]] using the mouth, lips, chin, (including the [[💡 Ocular Segment]]) eyes, and forehead. - Express healthy aggression by pounding. Use accompanying sounds, like “Ha!,” that come from the belly. - Play sensuously with your lips - Puckering your lips and making kissing movements and sounds - Gnashing your teeth and snarling or growling - [[👟 Stretching]] your jaw in various directions – up and down, retracted and jutting outward, side to side - If there is spontaneous emotional expression, exaggerate it somewhat while staying conscious with the feeling that arising - Say what needs to be said. The recommendation here is to form simple statements, like “No!” or “Stop it!” [^1]: [[📖 ACP L2S06 - Milky Nourishment, Pink Unconditional Love, and Brilliancy]]