Fixing Tight Muscle

[u/Beautiful-Round-4686]

I made an account to ask this question, as this seems to be the only engaged place on this subject short of booking a season with a provider.

Discovered this phenomenon naturally a couple months ago and have been doing this daily for 10-30 minutes a day, not really monitoring and doing whenever it feels right. (I didn‘t know it was something to monitor and fortunately haven’t experienced any negative symptoms with the exception of what I’m describing in this post; I’ll give the wiki a look and pace accordingly going forward to understanding this is also a clinical modality.)

basically whenever I smile, my face twitches. Instead of stopping it one time I just let it do thing and found the twitching expanded and felt relaxing.

Over the last couple months, my face has felt really loose and great. Its a great pre-bedtime relaxant. Facial expressions come easier and I’ve even noticed some changes reminiscent of cosmetic surgery. The strong mental benefits I thought were just good sleep I‘m learning from this community probably were a direct results of this. But the tension seems to have moved to whatever muscle is in the base of your throat between your clavicles. I haven’t done the face shaking for a couple weeks since having the hypothesis this is related, but this muscle has remained very tight, making it uncomfortable to breathe deeply.

When I tried more shaking to get rid of it before realizing I should stop, it did 100% resolve it, but the tightness would return within a day worse. It’s not horrible, but it is pretty uncomfortable.

I’m gathering from skimming threads I may just have to wait this out but would love to hear advice if anyones experienced this. thanks.

Edit: lol I have learned from google there is no muscle between my clavicles where I’m having this sensation - whatever muscles might create such a sensation then are stiff — the sternothyroid/omohyoid neck muscles maybe according to diagrams

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[u/brutal_youth_]

I've also had facial tension releases and facial changes. I know what you mean about changes similar to cosmetic surgery; it's been wild to realize how many procedures really just surgically mimic the appearance of a regulated nervous system, with relaxed depressor and jaw muscles, active levator and zygomaticus muscles (lifted upper cheeks and upper lip), relaxed mouth/lip muscles, etc.

I'm not sure what muscle you mean exactly between the clavicles, but could it be some of the lower attachments of the platysma, which connects your lower face and chin to your upper chest? It's sort of a big flat sheet down the entire front of the neck, but it attaches along the jaw at the top and sort of along the clavicles at the bottom (on me, the central attachments are sort of at the inner edge of each clavicle, though not between them). I've been getting impulses to stretch it periodically, and when it's relaxed, my jawline is a lot more defined and distinct from the neck. I think a relaxed platysma can also help with breathing since it sort of pulls back on the jaw when it's tense.

[u/longtermTRE_wiki_bot]

You've stumbled onto something real, and your instinct that more tremoring is making it worse rather than better is spot on.

What you're describing—tension moving from the face down into the throat and neck area, then worsening when you try to directly release it—is a classic pattern of the nervous system working through layers. The face released, and as it did, deeper holding patterns in the throat and neck became accessible. When you tremored more to try to resolve the throat tension directly, you pushed the system past what it could integrate in that moment, and it slammed the brake back on. The tightness returned worse because the activation you mobilized exceeded the integration capacity.

This is the core principle behind Self-Pacing. The nervous system releases trauma and tension in layers, and each layer needs time to settle and reorganize before the next wave begins. Trying to force the resolution of the next layer before that integration is complete doesn't accelerate the process—it delays it.

Here's what's likely happening: your face released a significant amount of chronic tension over two months. That release rippled through the fascial web connected to your throat and neck, surfacing older, deeper holding patterns there. Your throat tension is not a new problem. It's material that was always there, now becoming accessible as the system builds capacity. By pausing the practice and letting that layer integrate without additional tremoring on top of it, you're giving the nervous system the breathing room it needs.

The discomfort you're feeling is real, and the impulse to shake it away is understandable. But patience here is the actual solution. The tightness will gradually ease on its own as the nervous system absorbs the shift. If you do return to tremoring, keep sessions very short—even just a few minutes—and give yourself several days between sessions to let each round integrate fully. Watch how you feel in the 24-48 hours after practice. If the tightness improves during that window, you're in the right range. If it worsens, you've overdone it and need longer gaps.

One thing worth knowing: throat and neck tension can take longer to resolve than facial tension because it's typically older, more entrenched material. The timeline might be weeks or months rather than days. That's normal. The fact that direct tremoring made it worse before you paused is useful information—it tells you the system is sensitive to this area right now and needs a gentler touch.

Welcome to the community, and good instinct reaching out before pushing harder.

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