Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy Workshop

What is Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy?
What is your face, mouth, and jaw telling you about the rest of your body?

Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) is a physical therapy that uses exercises to improve the function of the muscles and fascia of your face and mouth.  OMT can help with breathing, swallowing, chewing, speech, and more.

When we strengthen and improve the function of the muscles of the tongue, mouth, face, and neck we see:

• Improved nasal breathing and possible reduction in snoring
• Correct tongue posture, which supports better sleep and body alignment
• Stronger lips which assist lip seal for better sleep
• Improved posture and feeling the connection between the tongue position and whole body
• Improved muscle tone of the face and jawline
• Improved symmetry of the facial features

This workshop will explore:

• Proper resting tongue position, the role the tongue plays in whole body alignment, and techniques to start developing proper tongue position. 
• The theories behind underdeveloped facial muscles and exercises to rebuild.
• The role the tongue plays in nasal breathing, why this matters, and exercises to support tongue position.
• What our face tells us about the rest of our body.  
• Myofascial techniques (self-massage) for jaw, neck, and shoulders areas often affected by decreased facial and tongue tone and alignment.
• OMT Exercises and techniques to support and optimize functions of facial muscles.

Jessica Cody

Jessica has been a dental hygienist for more than 25 years and began practicing OMT in 2018. She works at an airway/whole body focused dental practice in Acton, Dr. Ratti Handa DMD. She recently started an esthetic focused business called Faceworks. She lives in Acton with her husband and 3 children.

Jen Mast, L.I.C.S.W., E-RYT 500 (IYT), Integrative Functional Yoga Therapist, ChildLight Teen Yoga®, Lifeforce Yoga®

Stepping onto the mat everyday has allowed me to stay grounded in the things that are truly important. Diagnosed with an autoimmune disease over a decade ago, my life took an unpredictable turn. Things that were easy became difficult and I felt as though I had lost part of myself. It was during this time that I deepened my spiritual practice. Yoga helped to heal the aches and pains that came with autoimmunity, it improved my energy, my mood and it allowed me to show up each day for my friends, loved ones and most importantly myself.

Yoga’s transformational abilities led me on a new path to become a yoga instructor combining my past work as a Licensed Social Worker with my new path in yoga therapy, functional movement through yoga and myofascial release. As we bring all levels of a person’s being into balance, true healing occurs. Moving beyond illness and discomfort, we are able to live life to our fullest expression.

Jen completed her 300-hour at Kripalu with Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) in 2016 where she trained under Joseph and Lillian LePage and Maria Mendola (Integrative Functional Yoga Therapy). Jen furthered her study and attended an intensive training with Maria in Tucson, learning various techniques for myofascial release, therapeutic movements and exercises to rebalance alignment and long held patterns. In 2018, Jen completed a weekend training in The Roll Model Method® and a Ball Rolling Techniques Workshop with David Vendetti – both for myofascial release.

Her extensive work with athletes, injuries and chronic illness in both group and private settings inform her teaching style which infuses safety, mindfulness, alignment principals, unique uses of props and functional therapeutic movements, and of course a lot of humor and fun! Through the pandemic, Jen has continued to train and deepen her own practice with Susi Hately, Functional Synergy™ and a Monthly Mentor Workshop with Jill Miller, Roll Model Method™.