I have written about the importance of a vivid and expressive face for an actor before. One method to warm up your face is the “the mouse & the bear”-technique. Another one is the following — which also has no official name, I guess, so I call it “chew baby chew”.

Chew baby chew focuses on your jaw area and lips, aiming for it to get loose and get rid of any kind of tension. Here is how it works:

• Chew small: Pretend to be chewing a tiny tiny bit of chewing gum. Make very small movements with your jaw and your lips.
• Chew big: Now imagine a giant chewing gum in your mouth and chew making big exaggerated movements with your jaw and lips. Widen your mouth forming circles, trying to keep your lips together, as you would when chewing a gum properly.
• Repeat, also changing the direction of your chewing.

Do you feel the difference? Does your jaw feel more relaxed?

-your tiny woman in a giant world