Osteomyotropics

volume 1
Guide to identifying and fixing facial &
body asymmetry

Anika W., Katarina B.

Welcome to Volume 1 of Osteomyotropics.

This marks the first edition of a new field exploring how biomechanics shape our appearance and
health. Since this area of study is still evolving, we continuously refine our understanding,
update our methods, and improve our approach. With each iteration, we’ll uncover more
insights, fine-tune techniques, and collectively expand our knowledge.

The cranium and body consist of many moving parts working in harmony. While not every
technique or concept presented here needs to be applied daily, we encourage you to experiment
and see what works best for you. The more consistently you integrate these methods into your
routine, the better the results you may achieve.

With each new volume, our understanding will grow, and techniques will become even more
efficient. While the methods in this volume are already highly effective, it’s important to
acknowledge that we currently lack rigorous scientific validation. Our process involves self-
experimentation, observation, and feedback from others who apply these techniques. Given that
traditional orthodontics and medical fields may never explore this area—since doing so could
disrupt their business model—we don’t expect mainstream studies on these concepts anytime
soon. However, if you choose to submit your own data, we can analyze and refine our approach
further.

We've encountered countless anecdotal cases demonstrating the effectiveness of these techniques
and have personally experienced their benefits. Yet, there is still much to uncover. Our primary
goal is not profit, but rather to help people improve their health, function, and overall well-being
—not just aesthetics, but also body mechanics and psychological balance.

That said, we do rely on financial support to sustain our work. We kindly ask that you do not
share these documents without permission. Treat this like any other book—discuss the concepts,
but please do not distribute the contents verbatim. We strongly encourage conversations about
these ideas, as biomechanics affect everyone. However, since we are among the very few
actively exploring and sharing this knowledge, we must protect the integrity of this work to keep
the movement growing.

Thank you for your support and understanding. If the world allowed us to live without financial
constraints, we would share this knowledge freely. But as it stands, we must build this step by
step. We deeply appreciate your contribution, and we hope you find this information valuable.

Enjoy, and welcome to the journey.

Disclaimer
We are not medical professionals, orthodontists, or licensed healthcare providers. The
information in this document is for educational purposes only and should not be considered
medical, dental, or professional advice. Any techniques, exercises, or concepts discussed are
based on personal experience, observation, and anecdotal reports.

By choosing to apply any of the information presented, you acknowledge that you do so at your
own risk. We are not responsible for any outcomes, injuries, or unintended effects that may result
from implementing these techniques. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional
before making any changes to your health, posture, or physical practices.

This material is intended to share ideas and encourage discussion about biomechanics, but it is
not a substitute for professional medical guidance. Use your discretion, and proceed responsibly.
Table of Contents

General Techniques for Jaw Growth

Identifying Asymmetry

Cranial Stacking Examples

Torsion

Side Bending Rotation

Right TMCC

Lateral Strain

Suture Traction Therapy

Intraoral Techniques

Osteopathic Techniques

Reviv

Why Cranial Strains Are Not 100% Reliable

Curve of Spee

Skull Mechanics

Stretches
General Techniques for Jaw Growth

The jaw has 3 planes, vertical, horizontal, and anterior/posterior. To achieve true jaw growth, we
need to expand the jaws, and therefore the skull, in these 3 planes, relatively evenly, while still
taking into consideration the proportions of your face. If your face is very narrow, then perhaps
you may need more lateral expansion. If your face is very wide and flat, perhaps you need more
forward growth. If your maxilla is very short, then you may want to focus on forward and lateral
projection. So, feel free to evaluate what you want to change in your face in regards to these 3
planes, and implement them in ratio to your face. I would start off with these exercises, to get
familiar with your palate, and do them at a minimum of 5 minutes per day per exercise. This will
loosen up the sutures in your skull, and over time your results will compound and accelerate, the
looser these sutures and soft tissues are.

Throughout ALL of these exercises, the thumbs should mainly be positioned in the area of the
palate that is higher up than the rest of the palate. This is situated roughly between the premolars.
There are exceptions to this rule, but primarily this is the area we are working on.

Notes before thumbpulling:

The skull has a few main components that need to move around so that the bones can move
effectively and efficiently. Based on these 3 principles, you will see much quicker results over
time.
1) Soft tissues/muscles/fascia. These need to be relaxed and stretched out in order to make
space for the bones to move AND so that the bones don’t just get contracted back down.
2) Teeth. Teeth are the roots that connect the soft tissues to the bones. Think of them as a
bridge between muscles and bones. If you move soft tissues, the teeth will move. If you
move bones, the teeth will also move, but to a lesser extent. We need to help guide the
muscles and bones with the movement of the teeth.
3) Bones. The bones of the skull are moveable, and are much more efficiently expanded if
the soft tissues of the mouth, fascia surrounding the skull, and muscles of the face are
stretched, relaxed and lengthened.

Begin with soft tissue stretches intraorally, particularly focusing on any tighter areas, such as lip
ties, tongue ties, buccal ties, and then move on to the bigger muscles such as the muscles under
the cheekbones, masseters, and the retromolar area. You will notice that stretching out these
tense areas might change your occlusion a bit. This is a good sign! You might also notice that
some pleasant or not so pleasant childhood memories are resurfacing. This is also a normal part
of the process.

After taking 5-10 minutes to stretch these areas out, you can begin thumbpulling with these
techniques:

Lateral Expansion
Effect:
Better breathing, wider nostrils but overall smaller looking nose, wider cheekbones, wider face,
more room for tongue within the palate, wider smile, wider mouth, more teeth showing when
smiling, more angled upwards eyes. Tends to help overbite cases, small palates, narrow faces,
small cheekbones, eye bags.
If you can fit both thumbs in the palate:
It’s important to work in the area of the palate between the premolars, and to not touch teeth.
If you can’t fit both thumbs in next to each other, stagger them so one is in front of the other. I
would like to give Jordan Wood credit to this technique, because it is absolutely genius. Highly
recommend checking out his stuff on tiktok.

Forward expansion
Effect:
Better breathing, more forward upper and lower jaw, in some cases it can narrow the palate,
creates a better side profile, improves posture, improves sleep, if the jaw isn’t brought forward
with the maxilla it can cause overbite, more defined mid-face

Forward expansion. This one you want to do sweeps while pressing upwards. You can start with
both thumbs side by side to sweep left and right forward, then do one thumb sweeping forward in
the middle on the suture.

Upwards angling of the jaws

Effect:
Paired with forward expansion, you get CCW rotation of the maxilla. Lifts tip of nose up, makes
top lip fuller, shortens a long midface, improves posture, helps keep face from sagging. Done too
much without other techniques and bite splints, it can eventually create an open bite. Those with
open bites and short maxillas should avoid this technique.

Upwards angling. With this one, you want to paste one thumb on the suture in the indicated spot
on the diagram, wiggle side to side, palpate up, and then press up on exhale for a few seconds.
Then repeat. You can sweep forwards too, if you prefer.
Combining all 3 techniques if your face is relatively proportional in width, angling and length.
Hook your thumbs into the area indicated. It should really feel like you’re hooking your thumbs
in your palate. Tilt your head down, then wiggle side to side, palpate up and down, then press
upwards and push diagonally at the same time. This is a quick way to get all 3 dimensions in
order and can be done pretty inconspicuously throughout the day too, if needed.
Identifying Asymmetry

More often than not, asymmetrical eyes, and maxillae, are simply due to the cranium not being
well supported by the lower jaw. So as the cranium tips down on one side, the lower jaw starts to
shift to compensate, as do ALL of the muscles in the body. If you stack your cranium, as I show
below, you might feel an inherent sense of balance, especially if you maintain that position for a
bit, so that your body can adjust and balance. You can do this by jumping around in the new jaw
position, and then squatting down to check how balanced you feel.

Here are a couple other examples:

*With the above image I meant to say tilt right

Cranial Stacking Examples

Try out a few of these exercises to see how you can stack craniums. It’s a very effective modality
for fixing asymmetries, and the more you practice, the better you’ll be able to be at identifying
your own.
After a while of doing these, you’ll notice that the more tilted someone’s head is, (whether it be
laterally, or anteriorly) the more asymmetries they tend to get. And this is solely due to muscle
compensations. While cranial strains can help us identify what needs to be worked on, I think
they don’t consider the whole cranium as a moving object, that balances itself on the spine. In
fact, I believe most people can achieve almost perfect symmetry, simply by habitually balancing
their cranium upright on their neck. Then, the muscles can remodel, and symmetry is that result,
of a healthy and balanced cranium.

Since Katarina and I have seen and analyzed together, probably around a thousand people, if not
more, we have found that cranial strains are not the most important piece to the puzzle. Think of
it like a rubiks cube. How can you solve it in the quickest and most efficient way? Yes, cranial
strains help, and they are an important building block for us to see patterns within asymmetries,
but as you continue reading, keep in mind this cranium stacking principle, and see if you can
stack the following examples of craniums to be symmetrical. You may be surprised at the results
you find, simply by rotating their head upright on their neck.
Torsion
Example

There are a couple of different sub-variations in regards to torsion, as I’ve witnessed in my

private consults. This usually is due to variations in tension in the face, as well as a lot of the
times braces will actually try and correct the torsion dentally, and end up tensing up the facial
tissues in the opposite direction as what is natural for the body. Most people with torsion also
have a chewing dysfunction, where they will chew on the back molars on one side, and then the
premolars on the other side. This causes the temporalis to tense up on the side where the
premolars are doing most of the chewing work and causes the infamous ‘longer jaw’ on that side.

With torsion, there are a couple of different ways to identify it. Let’s do a quick quiz! Answer
these questions here and tally up your points. If you have above 8 points, then you probably have
torsion.
1) Uneven eyes. One eye will appear higher up than the other, and most of the time the
eyebrow is also much higher up above the eye that’s higher up. So if one eye is higher,
that means that the other eye is described as ‘droopier.’
2) Uneven cheekbones. One cheekbone is significantly smaller, but higher up on the face,
while the other one ‘droops’ down and is typically wider, but less forward.
3) Maxillary cant. The side that has the more inwards cheekbone, is typically canted
downwards. However, the reverse is also true sometimes.
 4) Deviated septum. Direction of deviated septum is usually arbitrary, but torsion rarely
presents without a deviated septum.
5) Tension in the ‘smaller’ side of the face under the cheekbones and in the masseters. One
masseter will also be significantly shorter than the other and on the same side the ramus
is also shorter.
6) Uneven palate. One side of the palate is always more forward, when looking at the
premolars area of the palate, and one side is always wider. This creates the ‘rotation’ of
the maxilla, as well as the cant. There is also always a side of the palate that feels lower.
7) Internal and external rotation of the maxilla. This shows up in the teeth, where one side of
the teeth appear ‘caved in’ on the premolars area. This is arbitrary as to whether this
presents on the narrower or wider side of the palate.
8) Uneven nostrils. One nostril is always pulled more upwards compared to the other.
9) One side of the top lip is smaller/more inwards.
10) One ramus is shorter
11) Jaw clicking on the side of the face with the wider cheekbone.
12) Both jaws swinging to the same side. Ie: chin swings to the left, and the teeth/maxilla
also swing to the left.

If you have most of these bullet points, then you likely have torsion! The most important point
here is number 12, so if you answered no to #12, then you might have something else going on.

More often than not, asymmetrical eyes, and maxillae, are simply due to the cranium not being
well supported by the lower jaw. So as the cranium tips down on one side, the lower jaw starts to
shift to compensate, as do ALL of the muscles in the body. If you stack your cranium, as I
showed above, you might feel an inherent sense of balance, especially if you maintain that
position for a bit, so that your body can adjust and balance. You can do this by jumping around
in the new jaw position, and then squatting down to check how balanced you feel.

Now if you look at the previous torsion bullet points, you’ll notice that you can sort of mix and
match. For example, you can have your left eye be higher up, with a septum that’s deviating to
the left, a maxillary cant downwards to the right and internal rotation on the right side. To make
it even more complicated, you can have muscle tension left over from braces or retainers, that
tense the muscles in the opposite direction of the bones, and orthodontic work can also obscure
the internal/external rotation as well as the palatal asymmetries. Generally speaking, however,
torsion tends to present with all of these issues, and directions are mostly arbitrary. As long as
you are able to stack your cranium and see exactly where the cranium is tipping, and what
direction the jaws go in relation, you can see it really doesn’t matter whether you have SBR or
torsion, or lateral strain. Either way, the cranium needs to stack. SBR presents usually
completely differently, so if all of these bullet points, maybe minus about 2 or 3, apply to you,
then you have torsion. But if only a few bullet points apply, then you would likely have SBR.
Lateral strain can also mask torsion, so that’s another layer of complexity to this. But your palate
will still present the same as if you didn’t have lateral strain + torsion. We will talk more about
SBR and Lateral Strain later, though.

Remember with torsion, you do not have one side of the palate being smaller in ALL directions.
Rather it is that one side is longer, narrower, and canted, while the other half of the palate is
wider, more set back, and canted in the opposite direction. This is common in all torsion cases.
Make sure that when you are checking, that you take a picture of your palate, and you are
looking at the highest point in the palate between the premolars. There should be a line in the
middle of that area of the palate in the highest point of the palate between the premolars and you
will be able to see which directions in 3D each half of the palate is deficient in.

Like I said, regardless of whether you have SBR, torsion, lateral strain, or a mix, start by
stacking your cranium, and see where the jaws are rotating towards when you level your eyes
with the ground. This will undoubtedly show you where you need to rotate things.

Here is an example of a torsion palate:

Notice how one side of the palate is narrower, and one side is wider. The narrower side is also
more forward, and the wider side is more set back. This is what creates the maxillary rotation.
And it’s not always the case, but external rotation is followed with the narrower side of the
palate– counterintuitively.
So feel free to take a picture of your palate in good lighting and inspect visually, with your
thumbs and your tongue as well, to see which side of the palate needs to widen out a bit more.
Then bring the wider side forward with your thumbs, and the narrower side laterally. These are
the basics, but below I will show some diagrams for how to fix it.

First, here are some general descriptions of right and left torsion. Right torsion is way more
common than left torsion. I’ve only ever seen a few cases of left torsion, which is funny, because
the PRI mostly focuses on left torsion patients, and they typically disregard right torsion patients,
as they have no idea what to do with the structure of their body to straighten it out. Little do they
know that a simple mouth guard would probably fix most of the facial and postural asymmetries
presented in right torsion.

There are a variety of postural and gait asymmetries with torsion, but usually they boil down to
this:
1) One shoulder is hiked
2) One hip is hiked
And it can be the same hip and shoulder, or the opposite. The body compensates for cranial
strains and these tension patterns in the face, jaws and occlusion can show up in the rest of the
body as well in the form of tension. Stretching, and massaging these areas of tension out, as well
as breathing symmetrically through each lung/diaphragm can help correct a lot of body
asymmetry as well. The gait (walking pattern) in people with torsion is also pretty asymmetrical,
and described as ‘lopsided.’ Fortunately, a simple silicone mouth guard can help with this, and if
you want to take it even further, you can look into PRI (Posture Restoration Institute) and see
what kind of exercises they might recommend for your body pattern. We have some in this
booklet here too in a different chapter. Like I said, they typically only work with left torsion
patients or people with side bending rotation, so if you have right torsion, PRI basically says
you’re SOL. But I don’t think you’re SOL. More on the mouth guard later.

Right torsion:
Right side is the ‘droopier’ side and the left side is ‘snatched.’ The right side of the palate at the
highest point on the palate between the premolars, will be wider, more set back, and higher up,
and the left side of the palate will be narrower, longer, lower, and veering towards the right.
More tissue tension in the left side of the face, particularly in the zygomatic area, as well as the
masseters and temporalis.

Left torsion:
The left side is ‘more developed’ as it’s usually described. And the right side is ‘recessed.’ More
tension in the right side of the face, especially in the zygomatic area as well as in the masseters
and temporalis. The left side of the palate in between the premolars, at the highest point on the
palate, will be wider, more set back and usually higher up. The right side of the palate in the
previously mentioned area, will be longer and veering towards the right, while being narrower,
and usually lower as well.

If you are confused at this point, no worries, I would be too! Here is a breakdown on how you
can identify which side of the palate to work on:

1) Take a picture of your palate, where your eyelashes are just barely showing. Try and line
up the camera to your eyelashes
2) Look in the premolars area, where the highest part of the palate is. Is one side longer? Is
one side wider? Does one appear lower, or possibly is the palate veering towards the left
or right?
3) Take your tongue and feel around in the palate. Which side do you have more space on?
Which side is lower?
4) Take a picture of your face with the back camera of your phone. Look into the camera as
straight as humanly possible. Then objectively determine whether one side of the face
looks larger/smaller/narrower/wider/higher/droopier. Ask a trusted friend or your parents
to help you with this. Tell them it’s for a science experiment so that they’re actually
truthful and objective in their evaluation. Let them describe your face in as much detail as
possible. In some instances, it will sound like they are being mean, and this is exactly
what you want! Ask them questions like does my face veer to the left or right, which
cheekbone is larger, etc. This part is not for the faint of heart, so if you don’t want your
feelings hurt a little bit, then don’t do this. Also absolutely DO NOT ask a partner or a
spouse to do this. Just trust me on that.
5) Now that you have evaluated your face and palate, try stretching the soft tissues
intraorally, and see where everything is tight/inflexible. Likely, the tensest areas will also
be smaller and result in a smaller half of the palate. Skip to the ‘Stretches’ portion of this
booklet and do some of those.
6) Lastly, use your thumbs to feel the topography of the palate, as well as your tongue, then
try some of these thumbpulling exercises in one direction, then the opposite direction.
Which direction is your body screaming at you saying ‘heck no’ and which direction is
your body saying ‘ahh this makes sense!’

It’s really important to cross reference what is going on in the musculature of the face, as well as
the bones, teeth, palate, and prior orthodontic work. Like I said, sometimes due to orthodontic
work, things get a little bit obscured, and masked. So just go piece by piece, and unravel the
puzzle in a way that makes sense to your body. On the first day, you might focus on just the
zygomatic areas, then the next day you might realize which palate is smaller and start working
on that. Allow the puzzle to unravel itself, and try to think of it as a journey of self-discovery.
You can reach out to me and think of me as sort of a guide, but you know your body better than I
do, so even if I take a look at your pictures and evaluate what’s your cranial strain, it is in
reference to what I’ve seen so far, what I’ve read and experimented with so far. Everyone has a
unique face, with unique characteristics. Basically, trust yourself in this process, trust your body,
because nobody else knows it better than you! Remember also that DIY-ing things is a lot safer
than having an ortho treat you and that’s in part because you can listen to your body’s cues,
rather than ‘pushing through’ your body screaming at you at the hands of an ortho. Remember
also, that whatever you do in one direction, you can reverse it by doing the exact same thing in
the opposite direction.

The most difficult part of cranial strains is actually determining which one you have, while the
whole face and body is twisted. We are all accustomed to taking pictures at a certain angle,
shifting the camera around so that we look as symmetrical as possible. This is in part because
people with cranial strains quite literally see the world differently. Cranial strains can cause
binocular vision disorder, vertigo, dizziness, uneven prescriptions, and just a general lack of
spacial awareness. This is because the cranium is essentially sagging/tilting to one side, and the
body is using it’s musculature to compensate. So, if the cranium is tipping and sliding off the
head, then obviously this tilts the eyes over time and causes a ton of vision issues. Our awareness
of space is not what it’s supposed to be. That’s why you see many cases of people who wear
Reviv One and all of a sudden the world seems stiller, clearer, and more colorful. Our cranium
and jaws are the center.

Here is a nice way to determine which way your jaws are shifting. I personally came up with this
and it seems to work on pretty much everyone, and it really clears things up for most people.
Cranial strain patterns are great and all, but from my experience, they also have so many
variations, it’s almost impossible to keep up. It’s just not the best algorithm to determine facial
asymmetry in my opinion.
It’s called ‘Cranial Stacking’
The goal really is to start from the top of the head and stack the face as straight as possible.
Here’s how to do it:
1)Go to a mirror and stand up straight.
2)Tilt your head so that your eyes become parallel to the ground. If you have lateral strain, you
might consider also rotating the ‘bulgier eye’ side backwards, just to make the eyes as even as
possible. If that’s not possible, then don’t worry about it, just make sure at least your eyes are
completely parallel to the ground.
3) Without moving your head, swing your lower jaw, so that the center of the chin lines up with
the area right in between your eyebrows. Try and make it so an imaginary line that you draw
from the forehead to the chin is completely vertical, and also perpendicular to an imaginary line
drawn straight across with the eyes.
4) Now bite down. This will lock your head in this position.
5) Do a big giant cheesy smile, and check which way your maxilla is rotating towards. Left or
right?
6) Now you see the direction where both jaws need to swing towards.
You can see how rotation and tilt of the skull, along with an unbalanced and sidewinding
occlusion, can cause significant asymmetries in musculature. The second pic is me stacking my
cranium, although I rotated it a bit too far backwards on one side. It usually helps to straighten
your posture out. But this just goes to show that asymmetry, is simply the head not balancing
well on the neck. Now imagine if I held the left photo as my natural position for over 16 years,
what would happen to my teeth, bones, jaws, neurology, cervical spine, spine, etc. Our parents
weren’t wrong when they said if we frown too much, we might get stuck like that! Haha. And
imagine what happens with jaw surgery! How do they even determine what is straight, where is
vertical and horizontal, when someone is as twisted as for example I was (and still am somewhat,
lol).

I have read the studies on jaw surgery. These surgeons barely have a clue where center is
themselves. However, you can determine it by how you take photos of yourself, and how you
contort your body for that kind of thing to make yourself look attractive. That’s another hint, for
how you can figure out how this all works. Another will be neck traction later.
The area between the premolars is where the palate starts to rise upwards. Start with your tongue
behind the front teeth and slide it backwards slowly. Feel where the palate raises upwards. This
is the spot!

Asymmetrical Expansion

Expanding the palate helps expand the airways, widen the face, decrease nasolabial folds, expand
the cheekbones laterally, widen the mouth, and widen the smile to reduce buccal corridors.

Asymmetrical Expansion Modified

This one is if you can’t fit both thumbs between your premolars.
After a month or two of doing these exercises you should be able to transition to being able to fit
both thumbs in the palate for lateral expansion.

Upward Angling of the Jaws With Torsion

The primary function of this is to help correct the maxillary cant, as well as to shorten the
midface, bring the tip of the nose up and make the top lip fuller.

Forward growth
Forward growth needs to be leveled out with both sides of the face. So the wider side of the
palate needs to be grown forward a bit more than the narrower side of the palate, as the narrower
side of the palate is ahead in terms of forward growth. For a modified version, anchor down on
one side, as shown in the modified lateral expansion diagram, and then cycle through the
numbers on one side of the palate, then switch.

Palatal Sweeps
This one is generally a hard one for people to determine, because orthodontic work tends to
obscure this asymmetry a bit in terms of the teeth. A lot of the times, while the teeth are being
pulled to the center, the jaws themselves still are shifting away from the center, and the muscles
in this process are tensing up in varying directions that are physiologically normal for torsion.
Sometimes even the palate is symmetrical looking, yet torsion still presents in the muscles and
bones of the face. To determine the correct direction for sweeping, take into account where the
chin is veering towards, and assuming that you have torsion, then sweep in the direction away
from the chin.

The goal is to bring the maxilla back to center with this. So if you’re lucky, then your teeth,
maxilla, and lower jaw, all are veering towards the same direction. In which case, it’s easy for
you and you can sweep in the opposite direction to bring it back to center.
Do this at medium pressure, and slowly but surely. You want to imagine that your maxilla is
rotating from left/right to back to center. If your body is saying ‘what the heck, this doesn’t feel
right’ then try sweeping in the opposite direction.

Forward growth has to be accompanied with upward angling of the jaws, otherwise, the jaws will
just lengthen, but at a strange angle. The maxilla needs to grow upwards, in order to be beautiful.
The 3 dimensions are:
Lateral expansion (X-plane)
Forward expansion (Z-plane)
Upward angling (Y-plane)
With equal expansion of these 3 planes, your face will begin to balance, BUT we need to also
consider how each half of the palate is working in terms of these 3 dimensions.

The narrower side of the palate is deficient in the x-plane, and the y-plane usually. The wider
side of the palate is usually deficient in the z-plane and occasionally the y-plane. We have to
think about these 3 dimensions in relation to each half of the palate, but we also have to zoom
out and look at it in terms of the proportions of the face. So if your face is long, then you might
want to focus more on the y-plane, in BOTH dimensions, ie angling the jaws upwards. If your
face is narrow, then you can focus on the x-plane in BOTH directions ie. lateral expansion. If
your face is short and flat, then you might want to consider expanding forward more and
neglecting upward angling. Keep all of these things in mind while you are thumbpulling, and
adjust the time spent on each dimension as necessary.
Here are a couple of examples:

Anyways, the point really isn’t to end up looking like Kate Moss, IMO. It sure is a plus that
down the road we can look forward to that, but getting too far into analyzing appearances, really
can tear down one’s self esteem. So we should focus more on tracking improvement, increasing
functionality of our senses and biomechanics, rather than dissecting facial features.
Babies are a great example of people who have short midfaces! If you have a short midface,
make sure not to do upward angling of the jaws, and instead focus more on forward growth on
it’s own, and evening out the palate in 3D.
Side bending Rotation (SBR)

Bone Displacement:
The sphenoid and occiput rotate in the same direction around an anteroposterior axis, but also
bend laterally in opposite directions around two vertical axes.

The convex side appears broader, while the concave side appears compressed.

Facial Reflection:

Side profiles are significantly different.

One side of the face appears wider and more prominent (convex side).
The opposite side (concave) appears narrow and compressed.

Eyebrows and orbits are misaligned, but in a distinct side-bending pattern. One eye appears bigger
and the other eye more defined and set deeper.
Cheekbones reflect the bending—one is prominent, the other is flat.
Facial Reflection:

Side profiles are significantly different.

One side of the face appears wider and more prominent (convex side). The opposite side
(concave) appears narrow and compressed.

Eyebrows and orbits are misaligned, but in a distinct side-bending pattern. One eye appears
bigger and the other eye more defined and set deeper.
Eye and ears follow the same rotation; eye and ear on the same side are lower. Cheekbones reflect the
bending—one is prominent, the other is flat.

R L

Sphenoid and occiput

are further apart on
the right side.
Wider right side profile and more
compressed left side profile.
Maxillary Changes:
The maxilla follows the convexity, appearing slightly broader on that side. The dental arch
may expand or constrict asymmetrically.
Occlusion is affected, leading to bite discrepancies. May contribute to
unilateral posterior crossbite.

Indicators for Identification:

One cheek appears wider, the other narrower. Mandibular deviation
toward the compressed side. Asymmetrical nasal alignment.
The head may appear slightly tilted at rest.
Right TMCC
The dysfunction originates on the right side of the jaw, specifically the right TMJ.
Body compensates by shifting the facial structure toward the opposite (left) side
Right side is compressed, rotated internally.
Right temporal bone and jaw rotate internally.
Left side is wider or stretched due to the compensatory action of the muscles and tissues
on the left side.
The overall shift of the face is toward the left, but it’s a compensatory reaction to the right- sided
issue.
2 variations.
Right TMCC
Constants:

Tightness or compression: the more active side is often tighter or narrower

Rotation or shift: the opposite side may compensate by externaly rotating or shifting forward Facial width: the less

active side often appears wider, while the more active side appears narrower Left side will always be externally

rotated.

The first action dictates the whole pattern

In the right TMCC the right side rotates internally first due to cranial compression, causing the right side of the face
to appear narrowe and compressed.

As a compensations for the internal rotation of the right side, left side rotates externally, causing left side of the
face to become wider.

In the left torsion left side rotates outward first and then the right side compensates by rotationg
inward.
Right TMCC vs. Left Torsion
Lateral Strain

Let’s talk about lateral strain and torsion. I have seen lateral strain and torsion present together
quite a bit, and it seems to be pretty common, from what I can tell. About 1 out of every 4 people
with torsion also have lateral strain to some degree. The most confusing aspect of it, is that in
some cases, even despite the palate being smaller on one side, the face is still much fuller on the
same side, and the wider side of the palate presents with a slimmer face. Vice versa can be true
though, as well, so the wider palate can have a fuller face, and the narrower side of the palate can
have a slimmer face. Either way, you want to make sure that you’re taking face fullness into
account. Here is how you can tell if you have lateral strain:
1) One side of the face is much fuller in the cheeks, eye area, forehead, cheekbone, etc. and
on that same side, you have an ear sticking out.
2) The other side of the face appears set back and overall either smaller, or just slimmer.
The ear on this side is sometimes hidden, or just normal looking.
I would fix lateral strain first, as usually it takes about 1-4 weeks depending on flexibility of the
fascia and consistency. The goal is to make the ears ‘stick out’ the same, and have each side of
the face in the cheekbone area be roughly balanced. One of the eyes also tend to bulge a bit with
this, and this gradually goes way with fixing lateral strain.

Here is how to fix it:

1) Take the hand with the fuller side of the face and place it on your forehead
2) Take the hand with the slimmer side of the face and place it on the back of your head,
directly opposite and parallel.
3) Rotate the top of the head with the fuller side rotating back, and the slimmer side rotating
forward. This will either be a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation with both hands
rotating in the same direction.
4) Do this for a few minutes per day, every day, and watch your face become a lot more
harmonized.
Remember to rotate the fuller side of the face back and the slimmer side forwards. What it really
does is help stretch and train the muscles of the head, neck and back, to sit center, instead of one
side rotating forwards. Lateral strain is the habitual turn of the head to one side, and usually
presents with more forward head posture on the fuller side of the face as well. The muscles in
lateral strain are so tense, that it creates almost a completely different face on one profile, vs the
other. Usually, the curve of spee is also more flat on one side, compared to the other side.
 Suture Traction Therapy
Initiates innate ability of body to realign facial bones and self correct facial asymmetry.

Relaxes sutures between:

1. Frontal and parietal bone

2. Frontal and maxillary bone
3. Frontal and sphenoid
4. Frontal and zygomatic
5. Parietal and parietal
6. Parietal and sphenoid
7. Parietal and temporal
8. Parrietal and occipital
9. Occipital and temporal
10. Sphenoid and temporal
11. Sphenoid and zygomatic
12. Zygomatic and temporal
13. Zygomatic and maxillary
Suture Traction Therapy

• Promotes general symmetry and facial harmony

• Initiates the process of bone realignment

• Used for minor asymmetries or as an addition to the routine for more severe asymmetries

• Techniques can be done unilaterally and organized into a routine for specific type of the asymmetry

• Before STT, ist’s necessary to relax the palatine suture

• Position: with elbows on the table, elbows on knees OR while laying down
Suture Traction Therapy Techniques

Place index fingers on each side of the suture. Apply pressure on the bone and pull the fingers to opposite sides
to relax the suture.

Sagittal suture
Intraoral techniques

Purpose
Relaxing palatine suture
Paletal expansion
Forwards growth
Centering the maxilla
Improving the symmetry

Position
Laying down
Sitting down with elbows on the table
Sitting down, leaning forward and placing elbows on knees.

Sets and repetitions are highly individualized, but most people can start with 3 sets of 3 repetitions,
each repetition includes 10 seconds hold.
Other ratios are possible as well so listen to your body and adjust each technique.
Intraoral relaxation techniques

1. UP AND DOWN

• Anchor down above molars with index fingers and thumbs

• Pull the right side down and gently push the left side up. Switch the sides and pull the right side gently up
and the left side down.
• 3 sets of 10 repetitions

2. LEFT AND RIGHT

• Anhcor down above molars with thumbs and index fingers

• Apply forward and backward movement. Goal here is to
„swing the maxilla forward-backward
• First apply forward pressure on the left and backward on the right, then do the opposite. Switch between
those two states 5 times.
• Don't slide fingers across the gum line, rather apply pressure forward-backward.

Up-down Left-right
Anchor down and first pull forward on one and backward on
other side and switch.
Intraoral basic techniques
1. PALATE MASSAGE

• Massaging the palatine suture starting from the middle/ the point
between the 5th teeth going forward.
• On each point press up and massage in circular motion for 10
seconds, 3 sets.

2. LATERAL THUMBPULLING

• Apply upwards pressure on the first palatine point.

• Move thumbs laterally (upwards and lateral pressure).
• Stop before you reach teeth.
• Starting from the front teeth until we reach the point between 4th teeth.
• In cases of severely narrow palate, it can be done until we reach the point between 5th or 6th teeth.
• Thumbs on each side of the palatine suture pull to opposite sides.
• Never apply pressure on the teeth.
Intraoral centering techniques

1. Maxilla set back on one side

• grab the maxilla with your tongue and index finger above molars
• Pull the set back side forward and the forward side back
• Use firm but gentle pressure, level 5 at most.

2. Maxilla higher up on one side

• Grab the maxilla with your thumbs and index fingers above molars on both sides
• Pull the side that’s placed higher down and pull the lower side up at the same time
• It can be done simultaniously with the technique #1.

1. 2.
3. Maxilla set back on one side
• Grab a maxilla with your index finger and thumb above your canines on the side that’s set back
• Achor down the opposite side with your thumb and index finger above molars
• Pull the set back side forward with your thumb (unilateral thumbpulling)
[Link] forward and internally rotated on one side, externally rotated and set
back on another side

• Grab the set back, internally rotated side of the maxilla above canines and
pull that side of the palate forward with the thumb
• At the same time pull the thumb on the opposite side
laterally and back

5. Maxilla set back and internally rotated on one side, externally rotated and
forward on another side

• Grab the maxilla above molars (or canines) on the externally, more forward side of the maxilla
• Pull with the thumb laterally and forward on the narrower, set back side of the maxilla
Intraoral expansion techniques

1. Both sides internally rotated

• Apply upwards pressure on the first palatine point with the tips of your thumbs.
• Move thumbs to opposite sides holding that upwards pressure and applying lateral pressure.
• Stop before you reach the teeth and never apply pressure on the teeth.
• Repeat the same until you reach premolars.

2. Both sides internally rotated & set back (Collapsed or narrow maxilla)

• Apply upwards pressure with the tips of your thumbs on the first palatine point.
• Move thumbs to opposite sides and forward while holding that upwards pressure.
• Hold for 10 seconds, repeat 10 times and move to the next palatine point until you reach premolars.
• 3 sets of 10 reps.
3. Severely narrow maxilla
 Place the tip of the thumb on the first point of the palatine suture
 Apply firm upwards pressure and move thumb laterally to one side applying both lateral and upwards pressure
Repeat the same to the other side.
 Repeat 10 times on the first palatine point and move to the next point.
 3 sets of 10 repetitions. 3x a day.

Forward growth techniques

1. FORWARD THUMBPULLING
• Press on the point between 5th teeth and push forward (10 reps)
• Move on the point between the 4th teeth and push forward (4 reps)
• Repeat 3 times a day, preferably before wearing a mouthguard.

2. MANDIBLE SWING

• Place the outer parts of your thumbs under the mandible arches and lay your palms over the sides of
your face.

• Slighly open the mouth and gently push the mandible forward.

• Gently swing the mandible back and forth.

• Avoid moving the mandible side to side!

Osteopathic techniques

The occipital bone is located at the back of the head, while the sphenoid bone sits centrally within the skull,
just behind the maxilla.
The greater wings of the sphenoid can be palpated through the slight depression at the temples.

In different cranial strain patterns, the occiput and sphenoid shift in relation to each other. Identifying their
relative positioning is essential for selecting the appropriate technique to restore optimal alignment.

Occipital bone
Sphenoid
Centering sphenoid:
Place fingers on the greater wing of the sphenoid (temples) and gently apply a subtle rocking motion both
directions.

This will allow for sphenoid release and help bring the cranial bones into better alignment, which could help with
maxillary asymmetry.
TORSION
Greater wing of the sphenoid is lower on one side but greater wing of the occiput is higher on that
side.

The opposite happens on the other side; greater wing of the sphenoid is higher
while the greater wing of the occiput is lower.

This can be recognized by higher eye and lower ear on one side and lower eye and higher ear on
the other side.
TORSION TECHNIQUE

Place index fingers on the sphenoid (temples) and thumbs on the greater wings of the occiput. Push the lower
side of the sphenoid up and the higher side of the occiput down, push the higher side of the sphenoid
down and the lower side of the occiput up.

Fingers don't move, they stay on sphenoid and occipital bone, but the force direction is different.

This needs to be done gently.

Perform this technique while laying down and hold it for 30 seconds to a minute. Repeat a few
times a day.

Don't apply a lot of force, rather do it gently multiple times a day! If you
experience pain, stop immediately.

R
L R L

*Your sphenoid in torsion may be higher on the

left side so you can reverse all the arrows
TORSION TECHNIQUE

Place index fingers on the sphenoid and pull the set back side side forward and forward side
backward.

Place thumbs on the occipital bone and do the same movement pushing the set back side forward and forward
side backwards.

Fingers don't move, they stay at sphenoid and occipital bone, but the force direction is different.

This needs to be done gently and while laying down, your can apply gentle force in those directions and hold it for 30
seconds to a minute.
Repeat a few times a day.

Don't apply a lot of force, rather do it gently multiple times a day!

If you experience pain, stop immediately.

R L R L
SIDE BENDING ROTATION (SBR)

Place index fingers on the greater wings of the occiput and thumbs on the greater wings of
sphenoid.
On the side where occiput and sphenoid are closer together pull those fingers apart; sphenoid forward and
occiput backwards.
On the side where sphenoid and occiput are further apart, apply pressure like you’re trying to
bring fingers closer together; sphenoid backward and occiput forward.
Sphenoid and occiput are closer together on the side where side profile is narrower.

This needs to be done gently and while laying down, your can apply gentle force in those directions and hold it for 30
seconds to a minute.
Repeat a few times a day.

Don't apply a lot of force, rather do it gently multiple times a day! If you
experience pain, stop immediately.

R L
R L
CENTERING ATLAS

This technique is done while laying down on the back. Place thumbs on
the mastoid process behind the ears.
Lean your head towards the left side and apply pressure on the mastoid process on
that side.
Now lean your head towards the right side and apply pressure on the right mastoid process.
Each time keep the pressure for 30 seconds and switch sides. Repeat a couple of
times a day.
Reviv
After all of this, you can put in a Reviv One mouth guard. The mouth guard essentially takes care
of the soft tissues and teeth component of things, balances the bite, brings the jaws forward and
center, expands the palate in 3D, corrects maxillary cants, corrects posture, corrects brain fog and
TMJ, as well as a whole host of other things. You might notice that wearing this mouth guard has
a lot of therapeutic psychological benefits, such as resurfacing of positive memories from before
you had braces, or any traumatic life event that caused you to tense up immensely to the point
that your facial structure changed. For women, this typically happens right after birth, hence why
their facial structure drastically changes afterwards. Reviv also adds dental height splinting,
which is usually uneven in people with torsion, hence causing the maxillary cant. Reviv is the
stack of books under a wobbly table.

You can use this link to see what it looks like, but realistically, any mouth guard should work, as
long as it looks similar to this. Just make sure it is flat plane, and NOT boil and bite. The actual
mouth guard is $25, and the support package is $100.

JUST mouth guard:

[Link]
variant=45729457832177&sca_ref=7996573.04RfhbekemJgWeB0

Skool community, 1-on-1 with Ken, and mouth guard:

[Link]

You might also notice you are thinking much clearer with wearing the mouth guard regularly
overnight and an hour or two a day, and it’s most likely a completely different plane of thinking.
Something you might have experienced a glimpse of throughout your life, or similar to how you
thought about things when you were a kiddo. If your structure is particularly messed up, then you
will experience your 5 senses a slight bit more intensely. Almost like taking a low dose of
psychedelics. You will see color more saturated, but without hallucinating anything of course.
Music will sound good again, regardless of the genre. You might even start listening to music
from before you had structural collapse. Food will taste better, you will feel extra details with
your finger tips. Life will feel alive again. And it makes sense to feel these effects, as all of our
senses are connected to our cranium. So, if the cranium and it’s components are twisted, turned,
off balance, and compressed, it makes sense that by aligning everything in the correct position,
we would gain benefits within our senses, such as vision, hearing, tasting, feeling, etc.

After experiencing what it’s like to live in almost complete structural collapse, to going to almost
normal person level of structure, I can’t tell you how alive I feel. I felt half dead prior to this. I
was struggling with all of these health issues for so long, low energy, and I felt that my
cleverness was fading along with my beauty. Some of my health issues I was able to heal
naturally with foods and things like that, but I still felt something was wrong with me, ever since
I got braces, which was in 2009. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it. So I searched and
searched, went through the whole holistic thing and back and just barely got better. Then I
started to learn about dental things after I got introduced to the idea of a palate expander. I went
to an ortho to see if I could get it, because intuitively I knew something was totally messed up in
my mouth. Naively I went, got the xrays and everything done, just so they can tell me I need
double jaw surgery and that I was absolutely NOT a good candidate for an expander. I thought to
myself “hell to the no” LOL. And that’s when this journey began. It’s funny, because only
recently was I introduced to myobrace. After almost 2 whole years of constant research, I only
now found what it is, thanks to Ken, who is the one behind Reviv. He was going through years of
also trying to fix himself, and he and I have a similar notion to things. We didn’t want to get
surgery, we wanted to tinker with ourselves, and throughout this process we figured out a few
things. Ken has more than 10 years of experience in this ‘game’ (as he calls it) and I think he
really hit the jackpot with Reviv, because as I was trying it, I realized that this is exactly what’s
solving most of my issues. Yes, thumbpulling is great, it’s essential IMO if you want to speed up
results and feel better quicker, and look better also. But the Reviv is almost a completely
different level of healing that I’ve never experienced before. It certainly helps a lot in symmetry
and bringing the jaws forward, so in the looks department it’s awesome, but the profound healing
that I’ve experienced in wearing this is almost indescribable.

Ken said that headaches are pretty common in the first few weeks of wearing it, as well as some
pain in the teeth as they are shifting. As someone who has gone through braces, the tooth pain is
not nearly as bad. It’s very quite subtle comparatively. The headaches though really do deter a lot
of people from wearing it consistently and getting through the first month. I had particularly bad
structure compared to the vast majority of people and for me the process was pretty bearable in
the beginning. Basically, the worse your structure, the more headaches you will get. But this is a
normal part of the process of the skull expanding. Over time the headaches subside, it’s just
something we have to push through initially, and then we’re over the hill on that front.

And you might think I’m absolutely whacko. I like to think I’m just particularly observant of
small changes. But I’ll leave that up to you to decide. Who knows, maybe I am crazy :] or maybe
this is the key to unlocking something science won’t touch for another 50-100 years.

Stretching the body. You will notice that with wearing Reviv, you will naturally want to stretch
your body more often. This is a great sign! As there is a connection between symmetry of the
face and flexibility of the body. The most flexible people on the planet are all very symmetrical.
Ken talks about this in this article, that I find particularly interesting:
[Link]
I came across his substack after I was searching up why the Mew’s had an incident where one
child got seizures from their Biobloc appliance. I kept reading and reading, and I realized that he
is actually the 2nd person in the US along with a guy who’s relatively famous in the
looksmaxxing community known as ‘Plato’ to try the Starecta appliance. I kept reading his
substack and I just absolutely fell in love with it.

Ken along with Marcello, who was also a really knowledgeable guy especially in the field of
dentistry, have the idea that the skull inflates like a balloon, and as we age, get braces, grind our
teeth down, or flatten the curve of spee artificially, the balloon starts to deflate. So if you look at
your face, there will be areas of your face that are ‘deflated’ in a sense, if you have torsion, and
that is primarily going to be only one side of the face. The idea is basically that adding dental
height, and raising the curve of spee, you can achieve a perfectly symmetrical face and body
(with a lot of stretching in this process) that looks like any runway model such as Kate Moss or
Shalom Harlow, with inflating the skull like a balloon. We all have this genetically coded into
us, but through various factors such as birth, trauma, braces, age, etc. the structure begins to
collapse. The question becomes that if humans are able to counteract this biological law, that our
teeth grinding down is really the root cause of death and illness, then what’s to stop us all from
living past 100 or even 150 years old?

Of course, in practice we will see how it plays out. I am generally a very skeptical person, hence
why I don’t normally trust anything that doctors or orthodontists do. I also acknowledge that a
lot of these ideas seem a little far out there. But back in the day, Copernicus also had pretty ‘out
there’ ideas and they turned out to be pretty true. So hopefully, this is one of those things. In
terms of applying it to my life and my structure, I do feel exactly what Ken talks about in regards
to the Reviv appliance(s) and he really is onto something. Theories like ‘are there aliens in the
universe’ are difficult to prove in practice, but this is something quite easily proven by just
wearing the appliance and recording the changes your body is going through.

To aid the relaxation and stretching process, you can use a magnesium lotion.. And preferably
you would find a magnesium lotion that doesn’t absolutely obliterate your skin. I’m currently in
the process of formulating one at the moment that is safe to use on skin and that is potent but
doesn’t burn. If the case study on the cream turns out to be a success, it will be on my website
available for purchase.

You can start with thumbpulling ie, rotating the maxilla back to center, expanding the palate in
3D, and asymmetrical zygo pulling on the smaller side of the [Link] lastly, clean your
teeth (hopefully, with Dr. Ellie’s Protocol, which I HIGHLY recommend checking out), clean
your mouth guard, put it in and go to bed. If you’re under 25, you can do each exercise about 3-5
minutes per day, and if you’re over 25, I would shoot for about 5+ minutes per day, per exercise.

Why Cranial Strains are NOT 100% Reliable

In this section, we are going to explain why cranial strains are not a 100% reliable and good
method to determine asymmetries. Do they work sometimes? Yes. Do they work ALL the time?
Nope. Is it extremely confusing for most people? Yes.

Initially, when we started talking about cranial strains, we thought it was a great scientific
method to explain asymmetry patterns. As we have started doing consultations, we realized
through looking at over 1000+ people’s pictures and structures, that cranial strains are not all cut
and dry. The reason for this, is that many people have overlapping strains, there are multiple
ways a head can tilt, jaws can reposition, and muscles can compensate, ESPECIALLY, when
you throw in something like braces or retainers. What we saw, is that most of the time, people
with braces exhibit an initial cranial strain that perhaps they were born with, and then as they get
braces or retainers, the orthodontist moves teeth in an occlusion that’s not straight with the jaws.
Their method of determining where ‘straight’ is, is completely arbitrary, and has no reference to
the jaws or the head or neck. To add in curve of spee into the mix, a lot of the times they also
flatten the curve of spee unevenly, basically contracting the jaws in the back unevenly. This
greatly reduces stability in the body, and over time this contributes to total biomechanical
collapse.

A better way, in our opinion, to determine asymmetry at home, is through stacking the cranium.
This levels the eyes, the lower jaw, and with twisting and turning the head while turning and
twisting the lower jaw around to find new positions, you can achieve some pretty good
symmetry. The REASON the asymmetry is happening, as in the root cause, is this curve of spee
issue, and the jaws contracting unevenly in the back retromolar area. The head tilt, twist, and
therefore later muscle compensations, are the direct result of that curve of spee flattening, or
flattening unevenly.

You know when you take a selfie, or look in the mirror, you see yourself as more symmetrical
than if someone else takes a photo of you? Try and turn and twist your head in that position, and
then move the lower jaw around to find perfect symmetry, which likely already exists within
your face. Now you’ll see how this works. It is not that your bones or face developed wrong, it is
that the body outside of it is twisting and compensating, so that the skull basically doesn’t just
crush the spinal cord and kill you. This is why stretching the jaws, supporting the cranium with a
splint or mouth guard, expanding the mouth, and habitual stretching, are all very very important
to restore nature’s intended beauty within yourself.

The best part about all of this is, you can simply try it out and see how it works!

Here are some techniques:

Head tilting:
Tilting the head to make the eyes level. Ie: if one eye is higher, tilt the head in the direction of
that eye, so that it is no longer higher up on the face.
Head twisting:
If one side of your face looks fuller and more forward, simply rotate your head so that that side
of the face is more set back.

Jaw positioning:
After this, you want to position your jaw in a way that lines up with the new cranial position, so
you can achieve symmetry.
1) Lateral shifting
2) Forward Twisting
Lateral shifting refers to just moving your jaw side to side. Play around with this and see which
one yields a more balanced face

Forward twisting. This one is a little bit more complicated, as it has a lateral and forward
component to the puzzle. So first shift laterally to see which way the jaw needs to swing to
achieve more symmetry, THEN attempt to move one side more forward, so that the chin is also
symmetrical in this case.

More than likely, a lot of jaw asymmetries can also simply be solved with a simple head twist
and tilt.

Now after you have achieved symmetry, the hard part is retraining the muscles and visual field to
fit this position. This has to include body work such as neck traction, stretching tighter neck
muscles, gaining mobility, stretching the whole body and basically manually unwinding it.

For example, a lot of people with lateral strain, will also have one side of the body be more
forward than the other. They might also have a more compressed diaphragm, or rounded
shoulders, hiked hip, etc on that side of the body, where the face is more forward/fuller as well.

Stretching all of the body’s muscles that yield in asymmetry of the body, also have an effect on
the face as well, while working with the face has an effect on the body as well. I personally think
this primarily has to be because of visual cues about spacial awareness relating back to body cues
in relation to tightness. So for example, if your eyes are used to having to look left a lot,
eventually your body follows. Ie: people who play tennis and only play forehand.

The opposite is true as well, if your body has tightness in it, causing you to turn left, then the
visual field will follow, and think of left, as the new straight.

So, while it takes a bit of time to untrain this, it is possible. We unfortunately, don’t have a guide
for it, but you can think of it like how stacking the cranium would have a ripple effect on your
body through walking, running, thinking, etc. as you are more and more able to move around in
this new head position. If your head is cocked to the left, you shouldn’t just sit and train your
muscles to have it cocked to the right, as there’s not really a good way to know when things will
be perfectly center. It’s important to stack the cranium as often as possible and try and move
around in that new cranial position, so that the visual field can adjust, and the body can remodel.

Skull Mechanics
Just purely from a physics standpoint, which structure is going to withstand wind, earthquakes,
time and gravity? Probably the one that’s meticulously stacked. This is the same with craniums.
And the soft tissue plays a huge role in this process. Usually, the ‘worse’ side has more muscle
compensations to keep the structure upright. Now, imagine what this can do in terms of muscle
compensation for your entire body? Possibly which organs become more compressed than
others?

It’s kind of like a wobbly table, with one leg being shorter than the rest. The table leg in this
scenario is our teeth! So you can stack books under the table, to make it even, stand strong, and
not be wobbly anymore. In our case, we can use a flat bite splint, or a silicone mouth guard to
balance the skull. Be careful with bite splints though, as they don’t always automatically center
the skull if they are indexed, as in they have teeth marks. You have to make sure it’s a FLAT bite
splint. Or even more convenient is a flat plane mouth guard like Reviv or Myobrace.

Just imagine how many different directions the head and jaw can tilt and twist:
The foramen magnum, is the little hole in the underside of your skull that connects to the cervical
spine. That’s also where your brain stem is roughly :] So you can imagine how function can
impede by compressing that area. This is why you experience positive neurological effects after
raising curve of spee and balancing your cranium correctly on your cervical spine. To do this,
you can put your hands underneath your skull in the occiput area, and play around with twisting
and tilting your head back and forth, left and right, so that you can get an equal amount of ‘skull’
in each of your hands. Then at the same time feel your lower jaw with your thumbs and try and
balance that together with your cranium.
This is a good exercise to see where your neck is tight, the mobility if your jaw, and how it wants
to balance due to muscle tension.

This may or may not teach you something about your body, but hopefully it gets you a good idea
of how the lower jaw balances the skull. Now imagine if the curve of spee, ie the ligaments that
hinge open the jaw, is artificially flattened and contracted. Those ligaments connect all
throughout the face and when contracted or displaced, it can affect your whole face and function.

Place your 4 fingers under the occiput area of the skull, then your thumb under your jaw. Lift it
up gently and try and balance your head and jaw in a way where equal weight is applied to both
hands. You can take a video of yourself doing this to help too. Then, try and center your jaw and
head according to cranium stacking, and see how much weight each of your hands bear now. I’d
be curious to hear how this works out for you and what you feel.

Curve of Spee
Curve of spee is arguably one of the most important pieces to this puzzle so far, and I thank Ken
Leaver and Marcello for introducing this idea. I heard about it from Ken Leaver, and it changed
my ENTIRE world. I was set on cranial strains up until learning this piece of information and
how CRUCIAL it is to fixing your biomechanics.

Curve of spee is the line you draw on your side profile, tracing your occlusion up to the ear.
This is a natural curvature found in humans, and it is imperative in balancing the skull on the
cervical spine. This is why a lot of people after braces, get a hunchback, bad posture, forward
head posture, or scoliosis after braces, or in old age. Some people are born with it too, which
likely has something to do with the birthing process or being compressed asymmetrically in a
compensated mother within the womb. These postural issues can be traced back to the flattening
of this curve of spee, and you have to remember, we technically have 2 curves of spee.

If one side of the curve of spee is flatter than the other, this equals scoliosis. If they’re both
equally flat, you get forward head posture and kyphosis. To raise the curve of spee back to it’s
natural balanced inclination, you have to do a couple of things:
1) Stretch your entire body like it’s nobody's business. EVERY square inch must be FULLY
mobile and flexible
2) Keep the curve of spee high at night via a flat plane mouth guard. At night is when this
curve closes back up again.
3) Retromolar area stretches are a bonus, but they speed up the process in our opinion.
4) Neck traction and stretching the neck so that the skull isn’t pulled down or forwards.

The retromolar area (the area retro to the molars, where your jaw hinges open behind the molars)
houses a lot of ligaments that connect the maxilla, mandible and sphenoid together, amongst
other bones. So if this area is artificially contracted and stuck in a closed and flat position, it
essentially zip ties the mouth shut from the back, and causes all sorts of balance, symmetry,
biomechanical and psychological issues. Imagine putting a muzzle on a dog basically. What
tends to happen when a dogs mouth is physically held shut? Well, they tend to not bark. Humans
however, would be too smart to just willy nilly go get our mouth zip tied shut, so they had to do
it from the back of the mouth. This is why people lose their voice, or get muffled voices after
braces, and why they gain their voice back after they open that area back up again. Singers know
this, that if you habitually keep your mouth shut while singing, nothing really comes out, vs,
when you hang your jaw open to sing, all of a sudden you get a large projection of sound. Now
imagine that with braces, the back of the mouth is artificially compressed and pulled down. Not
great for our physiology, to say the least.

It’s the difference between talking with your mouth closed, and talking with your mouth open.
This is not to say that orthodontists, or even the people developing their curriculum in the first
place, know this. What i’ve realized based on looking into orthodontic curricula, as well as
speaking to multiple orthodontists, reading studies by orthodontists and maxillofacial surgeons,
is that they, literally, have NO IDEA what they are talking about. The only ‘dentist’ I would
actually trust would be the TMJ dentist Dr. Brendan Stack, who unfortunately has passed away.
He realized that with this curve of spee being flat, that it causes a whole host of neurological
issues, and by creating flat splints for his patients, he was able to reverse Parkinson’s disease,
Tourette’s syndrome, and even got a girl out of a wheelchair. This man was extremely kind,
sweet and genuinely wanted to help people. You can just tell by the way he interacts with his
patients, and of course, his work. However, I believe I read somewhere that his family
unfortunately did not treat him so kindly. So hopefully we can remember his name and wish him
the best in the afterlife, because I really genuinely think more people need to know more about
his work and his contributions to humanity are HUGE.

To visually drive this point home, here is a mouth.

Imagine the retromolar area being really tight, vs very flexible. Well, those mechanics, whether
your jaw opens wide or doesn’t, is a huge piece of the puzzle to widening, lengthening, and
basically expanding the entire skull. There are a multitude of ligaments back there in that
retromolar area, that connect your facial bones together. So, if they are tight, like a hamstring
would be, it impedes function of the mouth, and aesthetics.

So how do you stretch it out? Well, there’s 2 ways, and I recommend you do both. One way is to
reach back there in the area highlighted as the retromolar area in the above picture, and stretch it
up, down, and sideways, while opening your jaw. You can use gravity to your advantage and use
the weight of your skull to add extra stretch, if you prefer. Here’s how I look doing it:

Obviously, one of the more flattering photos of myself. :]

I do these stretches whenever I need a boost in mental clarity, or when I feel like my posture is
slouching. It’s relatively easy to do in public too, if you don’t do both hands at the same time,
and if you have long hair, that’s a nice little curtain for it too. It basically acts the same way as
the mouth guard, by manually raising the Curve of Spee.

The second option to stretching this area, and it’s a bit more passive, is wearing a flat plane
mouth guard at night, to keep that stretch open. You can also wear it a few hours during the day,
or do these stretches for a total of 15-20 minutes per day, either way is fine.
Now imagine all the different types of ligaments connected throughout the skull and how any
tightness of these ligaments can lead to asymmetry, how it would impede function of the skull,
balance, etc.

The sphenomandibular ligament is a ligament that connects the sphenoid bone to the mandible
(lower jaw). It is located in the region of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which involves
several other ligaments. Here is a list of ligaments that are nearby or associated with the
sphenomandibular ligament:

1. Temporomandibular Ligament (Lateral Ligament)

○ This ligament is one of the main stabilizers of the TMJ, running from the
zygomatic arch of the temporal bone to the mandibular neck. It helps prevent
posterior displacement of the mandible.

2. Stylomandibular Ligament

○ This ligament runs from the styloid process of the temporal bone to the angle of
the mandible. It helps limit excessive movement of the mandible and provides
support to the TMJ.

3. Temporalis Muscle Tendon

○ While not a ligament, the tendon of the temporalis muscle, located near the
sphenomandibular ligament, can be considered a functional contributor to the
 area, as it helps with jaw movement.

4. Sphenopalatine Ligament (indirectly near the area)

○ This ligament connects the sphenoid bone to the palatine bone, located somewhat
near the sphenomandibular ligament, though not directly related to the TMJ.

This is why cranial balancing is important and stretching out the ligaments in the retromolar area,
as these are all connected in holding up jaw position and head position. These ligaments are the
key to stretching out the skull and decompressing it from tension, and sort of ‘uncrumpling’ it.
Stretching

In order to relieve muscle tension it’s necessary to stretch out facial muscles multiple
times a day.

1. PUFFERFISH STRETCH

Fill your mouth with as much air as possible.

Direct the air under your cheeks, upper and lower lip and feel the muscles stretch.
Keep for a couple of minutes and repeat a few times a day.
Jaw relaxation

2. CHEWING MUSCLES outside

Open your mouth a little bit and massage your chewing muscles from top to bottom Make sure the

pressure is firm and deep, but do not hurt yourself

Do the massage for 1 minute on each side.

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3. CHEWING MUSCLES inside

Place the thumb inside of your mouth and the index finger on the outside of your cheek

Press your teeth together in order to contract the chewing muscle so you can relocate your fingers
if needed

Open your mouth to relax the muscles again

Deep massage the muscle for 1 minute on each side.

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4. NECK

Put some oil or cream on your neck so it is easier to deep massage it Massage the neck

from both directions (up and down) with your thumb

You can adjust this massage to your preferances, BUT make sure to relax the neck muscles daily.

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5. STERNOCLEIDOMASTOID MASSAGE

Turn your head to your side to find the muscle Grab it and deep

massage it

Slightly lean your head to the opposite side to deep massage it

Repeat on the other side.

6. JAWLINE STRETCH
Place both sides of your jawline between the index and middle fingers Slide them to the

opposite sides.

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7. NECK TRACTION
Straighten your neck and place your fingers on the back of your head, thumbs under the mandible.

Apply upwards pressure and hold for 30 seconds to a minute

Repeat a couple of times a day..

8. RETROMOLAR STRETCH

Place your thumb inside your mouth, resting on the gum behind the last molar. Press gently but
firmly on the retromolar pad, feeling for tender spots.
Move your thumb in small circular motions for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Pull slightly
outward to stretch the tissues if they feel tight.