Where should your tongue be during meditation?

 Q: Recently, a dental assistant told me that taking the tongue off the roof of your mouth is indeed the opposite of meditation and relaxation. I want to make sure that I’m teaching my meditative art clients properly, and essentially what they’re doing is meditative. I was looking for some help and clarification with this, if you could get back to me that would be great.

A: I was taught to relax my tongue down to the bottom palate of my mouth for meditation.

This has been SO helpful for me - in calming my mind, relaxing my face, and relaxing my whole body.  And I’ve been teaching “Relax the Tongue” during meditation for over 15 years.

It seems to work really well for about 99% of people who I’ve worked with. I have also heard that many doctors and dentists and dental assistants say that the natural placement of the tongue is on the top palate. I get that, however, I don’t think that’s the best place for it to go during meditation.

I hope this makes sense and clarifies things for you. I think it’s just the case that most doctors and dentists do not meditate, or do not have meditation instruction from an ancient master….and so they are just conveying what they know from the medical establishment (we can’t really blame them for that, right? it’s just what they know).

I would suggest trusting your experience, and allowing other people to disagree. I think it’s ok to accept that we might have different opinions than most doctors or dentists. And having the tongue on the top palate MIGHT work for some people! That’s ok, too! Wishing you all the best.

With warmth,

Sally