What You Need to Know About Your Tongue and How It Could Change Your Life
Do you remember sticking your tongue out at someone as a child?
Perhaps it was at a sibling, a friend, or even a teacher when they weren’t looking.
For generations, poking your tongue out has been considered cheeky, rude, or childish. We were told to put it away, stop being silly, and behave ourselves.
Yet perhaps we have underestimated the tongue all along.
Most of us think of the tongue as little more than a tool for tasting food, speaking words, and licking ice cream. But beneath its playful reputation lies one of the most remarkable structures in the human body.
The tongue is a muscular powerhouse connected to multiple cranial nerves. It assists with speech, swallowing, breathing, chewing, balance within the mouth, and sensory awareness. A surprisingly large area of the brain is devoted to controlling the tongue and interpreting the information it provides.
The tongue never truly rests.
Even while you sleep it helps maintain the airway, assists with swallowing, and influences how you breathe. Every conversation, every meal, and every breath involves the tongue in some way.
Yet there is something even more interesting.
Most people have never considered where their tongue sits when they are doing absolutely nothing.
Right now, where is your tongue?
Is it resting against the roof of your mouth?
Is it sitting on the floor of your mouth?
Is it pressing against your teeth?
For many people, the answer is “I’ve never thought about it.”
That simple observation opens the door to a fascinating area of anatomy and function.
The Forgotten Bone
To understand the tongue, we need to meet one of the most unusual bones in the human body.
The hyoid bone.
Located beneath the jaw and above the voice box, the hyoid is unique because it is the only bone in the body that does not directly articulate with another bone.
Instead, it floats.
Suspended by muscles and connective tissues, the hyoid acts as a central anchor point linking the tongue, jaw, throat, neck, and upper chest.
When the tongue moves, the hyoid responds.
When we swallow, speak, yawn, breathe, or sing, the hyoid is involved.
This small horseshoe-shaped bone sits quietly in the background, yet it participates in hundreds of movements every day.
Meet the Suprahyoid Muscles
Above the hyoid sits a group of small but important muscles known as the suprahyoid muscles.
These include:
- Digastric
- Stylohyoid
- Mylohyoid
- Geniohyoid
Together they help elevate and stabilise the hyoid bone during swallowing, speech, tongue movement, and normal daily function.
Modern lifestyles can place these structures under increasing stress.
Hours spent looking down at phones, prolonged sitting, forward head posture, mouth breathing, and reduced movement patterns may contribute to changes in how these muscles function.
This has led researchers and therapists to explore exercises that target the tongue and hyoid region.
Simple Hyoid and Tongue Exercises
High-Speed Jaw Openings
Sit or stand upright.
Open your mouth as wide as comfortably possible and then close it again.
Repeat for 20 repetitions.
Perform 3 sets.
Chin Tucks
Keeping the head level, gently draw the chin backwards.
Avoid looking down or curling the neck.
Think of creating a “double chin.”
Repeat for 30 repetitions.
Perform 3 sets.
Tongue Presses
Place the entire tongue against the roof of the mouth.
Press upward and hold for 10 seconds.
Repeat 3 to 5 times.
Suction Hold
Create gentle suction between the tongue and the palate.
Hold comfortably while breathing through the nose.
This is often referred to as a suction hold and is commonly taught within mewing and oral posture approaches.
What Is Mewing?
Mewing is a term popularised by British orthodontists Dr John Mew and Dr Mike Mew.
At its simplest, mewing refers to maintaining:
- The tongue resting against the palate
- Lips gently closed
- Nasal breathing
- Relaxed jaw posture
While many claims surrounding mewing remain debated, the practice has drawn attention to something important:
The resting position of the tongue matters.
Not just during exercise.
Not just during swallowing.
But throughout the day.
Small Structure. Big Influence.
The tongue influences far more than most people realise.
It interacts with:
- The hyoid bone
- The jaw
- The palate
- The throat
- The airway
- Multiple cranial nerves
Researchers continue to investigate the relationships between tongue posture, swallowing, breathing, sleep quality, airway health, and head and neck posture.
While many questions remain, one thing is becoming increasingly clear.
The tongue is not simply a muscle used for speech and taste.
It is part of a highly integrated system that contributes to many of the functions we perform every day without a second thought.
A Simple Experiment
Pause for a moment.
Notice where your tongue is resting.
Notice how you are breathing.
Notice whether your jaw feels relaxed.
No equipment.
No gadgets.
No expensive programs.
Just awareness.
Sometimes the greatest discoveries begin with the smallest observations.
And perhaps that mischievous little tongue we used to poke out at people as children has been quietly trying to teach us something all along.
By Dawn Kelly, Founder of the Inner Compass – Guiding you to align with the highest expression of your true self.
If you would like to book a bio-electric session with Dawn then please reach out and book a session includes a postural assessment to determin the root cause of your issue/pain.
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