LeAnn Rimes left fans equal parts concerned and intrigued after sharing a video of herself sobbing during a so-called "deep jaw release," a bodywork technique that claims to unlock stored stress and emotion.
Practitioners of "fascial maneuvers" like this, including influencer Garry Lineham, claim that tension, stress, and even memory are stored in places like the jaw muscles, causing deep emotional reactions to release.
These methods aren't exactly backed by science, but that's not slowing interest.
Garry Lineham makes LeAnn Rimes cry
On Sunday, a fascial maneuvers practitioner and self-described expert in "human programming" posted an Instagram Reel of himself reducing the "Blue" singer to tears. As he massages an area of her jaw from inside her mouth, Rimes almost shouts, then moans and starts sobbing on the table.
"Say, 'that part of my life is over,'" Lineham instructs.
"That part of my life better be over," Rimes laughed. "Oh my god, you just don't realize how much tension is in there."
What is a "deep jaw release," exactly?
In the video description, Lineham calls the jaw "one of the body’s primary storage sites for stress."
"When we hold back our voice or push through pressure, the fascia in the face and neck 'locks' to protect us," he says. "By using the maneuvers to signal safety to the nervous system, we can finally allow that stored energy to move."
The influencer is describing a newer and somewhat controversial medical practice under the umbrella of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT). The theory behind this is that the body is interconnected, and therefore treatment for things like chronic pain should involve a "whole-body approach."
The fascia, according to John Hopkins, is a "thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place." Stress causes this tissue to tighten, which can cause muscle pain and stiffness.
A 2020 review of perspectives on OMT states that while modern medicine considers the practice safe, "there is limited evidence on its efficacy in treating chronic pain." The only exception is chronic lower back pain—a problem affecting 75.8 million American adults in 2018.
"Legit science or more wellness theater?"
Figuring out the science behind OMT and whether it really works or not is an ongoing challenge, but something clearly happened with LeAnn Rimes. On X, a man named Jonny Miller who runs a "Nervous System Mastery" bootcamp—whatever that means—attempted to explain.
"LeAnn Rimes is having her masseter worked on, one of the most densely vascularized areas in a human body," he wrote. "When sufficient safety + presence + pressure are applied to clenched areas, it creates the conditions for a latch to open."
He claims that this not only relieves tension but also allows for the completion of "buffered emotional responses" and "more interceptive awareness."
Average X users responded with a mix of intense interest and skepticism, with many asking how the maneuver works and how they could get one.
"Just watching this brought tears to my eyes and sent a powerful wave of sensation through my body… It really means something," said @LolaNeuroPhylo.
"I’ve never tried this exact technique before, but the kind of deep release she experienced is exactly what we’re looking for when we want to free ourselves."
"Is this legit science or more wellness theater?" asked @imonitie_lucky1. "The reactions are dramatic, but does it actually help long term or just feel intense in the moment?"
Other practitioners of somatic (body) work expressed concern about this "fascial maneuver" thing.
"Somatic work should expand a person’s agency: their capacity to sense & shape their own embodied experience," wrote psychotherapist Stephen Buehler.
"When it shifts toward 'releasing' someone by forcefully acting on their body, that person risks becoming a vehicle for experience rather than an active participant in it."
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