TMJ pain almost always starts in your neck and shoulders, not your jaw. Garrett finds what's loading your jaw from upstream and teaches you how to take the weight off it.
Book your first sessionYour jaw is the last stop in a chain that runs from your shoulder blades through your neck. By the time it reaches your jaw, there's nowhere else for the tension to go.
When your upper back and shoulders stop doing their job, your neck picks up the slack. When your neck runs out of room, your jaw is what's left. Clenching and bracing become the jaw's way of holding tension that should have been shared across your upper body.
A night guard protects your teeth from the clenching. It doesn't touch why you're clenching. Bite adjustments work on the joint. Neither one changes the upper-body pattern asking your jaw to compensate, so the clenching comes back.
Once your shoulder blades, upper back, and neck are back online, your jaw is no longer being asked to pick up the slack. The clenching eases. The ache that comes with it follows.
The body wants balance, not pain relief. Once your shoulders and neck are carrying their share again, your jaw can stop bracing.
Full assessment, guided protocols, and a take-home practice. About 60 minutes, in San Francisco or over video.
Garrett looks at your shoulder blades, upper back, and neck, the chain that ends at your jaw, not just the jaw itself.
Using a yoga block or gymnastic rings, Garrett guides you into positions that bring your shoulder blades and neck back online.
Most clients feel their jaw loosen and their shoulders drop before the session ends, without any work done on the jaw itself.
You leave with a short practice, about five minutes, that keeps the upstream pattern moving in the right direction.
Virtual sessions work well for TMJ. The work is in your shoulders and neck, not hands-on jaw work, so Garrett can guide you through it over video.
I came in for back pain. I didn't expect to sleep better and stop grinding my teeth too.Elise · Jaw Finally Quiet
If something isn't here, ask on a free discovery call. Garrett answers everything before you book a paid session.
No. The Amari Method doesn't address the joint or the bite directly. It addresses the pattern of tension upstream, neck, shoulders, upper back, that's loading the jaw. When the upstream pattern changes, the jaw stops bracing. Many TMJ clients work with Garrett alongside their dentist. The two approaches complement each other.
A night guard protects your teeth from damage caused by clenching. It doesn't address why you're clenching. The Amari Method works on the why. Many clients keep using their night guard while addressing the pattern, and they find the clenching reduces over time as overall body tension drops.
Often, yes, though it depends on the specific cause. When the clicking comes from the jaw bracing against tension, reducing the tension typically reduces or resolves the clicking. When it comes from disc displacement within the joint itself, results are more variable. Garrett can usually tell within the first session whether your pattern is the kind that responds to the work.
Stress is often the trigger that turns a body that's already out of balance into a body that's clenching its jaw. It's not the cause. People without postural compensation get stressed and don't develop TMJ. The pattern of holding tension in the upper body is what makes the jaw the next compensation point. Addressing that pattern reduces vulnerability to the stress trigger.
Mostly no. Direct jaw work releases tension for hours, and the pattern that loaded the jaw reasserts within days. The Amari Method works on the pattern upstream instead, the chain running through your upper back and neck that loads the jaw. The release in the jaw is a downstream effect of the upstream change, and it lasts because nothing is loading the jaw anymore.
Book a session with Garrett. If you don't experience noticeable relief, he keeps working with you until you do, at no additional charge.
$225 · First session · San Francisco + virtual