This is the Inner Smile Meditation.
This is one of the fundamental practices of Taoist meditation and of many lineages of Qigong.
Smiling has an uplifting energy,
And when we bring that energy through all of our tissues in the body,
It's said that it can bring a sense of vitality and emotional and even physical well-being.
This meditation is best done seated in a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
But you can also do it on a cushion or even lying down.
So find a position now that you're comfortable in.
Take a few moments to adjust your physical body.
Allow your eyes to close and just allow your skin to hang off the bone,
Feeling the weight of gravity as you surrender into this precious time of relaxation and self-care.
Just allow your body to breathe naturally without forcing it,
Catching your attention on the thread of your breath,
Following a few rounds in and out,
Feeling your body as a faithful servant to your mind,
Constantly picking up stress,
Tension,
And the feeling vessel of our happiness and contentment as well.
Take a moment to express some gratitude to your body.
And now,
I'd like you to please bring to mind someone who you love a lot.
Maybe it's a friend,
A partner,
A child,
A parent.
I'd like you to imagine this person greeting you with a smile.
Look at their face,
And as they smile at you,
Notice what this evokes in your heart.
Can you sense your love and appreciation for this person?
And can you sense the energy of a smile,
This connection between two hearts?
And now let the image of your loved one fade,
But can you keep the energy of that smile?
Just sense that energy.
And now looking up,
Seeing a beautiful golden light shining from above.
And this golden light carries that same energy,
This buoyant,
Loving,
Kind energy.
Just imagine it coming into the crown of your head and filling your brain.
Feeling the energy of a smile filling your brain.
And with gratitude to your brain,
Just imagine this energy filling the brainstem,
The right hemisphere of the brain,
The left hemisphere,
The frontal lobe,
Moving into the optic nerves and forward into the right eye and the left eye.
Letting this smiling energy move into the eyes and smiling at your eyes.
Gratitude for this sense of sight.
And if your eyes are not healthy,
Just imagine this light kind of filling any dark shadowy spots.
This healing light.
Letting the light now move into the ears,
The inner ear,
The eardrum.
Shining through the cavity of the ear.
Gratitude for the ears as you smile.
Gratitude for the earlobes.
And then letting this light shine into your mouth,
Over your tongue in the sense of taste.
Allowing that light to wrap around the teeth and gums.
Into the lips.
Allowing the light to shine through the nose.
All the way through the sinus cavities.
Smiling at this light.
Smiling with this light.
And now filling this light,
Or feeling this light,
Just fill the whole face.
Just allowing this energy of caring to fill the face,
The whole head,
The skull.
And then starting to let that light flow down into the neck.
And down into the shoulders.
Smiling at your shoulders and down into your arms.
The right arm and the right hand.
And the fingers on the right hand and the thumb.
The back of the right hand.
The palm of the hand.
And then letting the light shine down the left arm and into the left hand.
The thumb and all the fingers.
And then letting that smile,
That energy of the light coming down,
Move into the lungs.
So smiling at the lungs now,
Feeling the lungs receiving this energy.
Our body often receives the energy of stress and not being enough,
So just really let your lungs now drink in this feeling of appreciation and care.
Almost as if every breath you're filling the lungs more.
Just smiling at your lungs.
Appreciation for all they do and your ability to breathe.
Been working tirelessly since birth.
And then let the light shine into the heart and all the chambers of the heart,
Smiling at the heart.
Again,
An organ that's been working nonstop.
And if you know that you have an unhealthy organ as we move through,
Just shining extra light into that space.
Feeling the light now move across the upper back and the shoulder blades and the chest breast area.
Letting that light flow down through the diaphragm.
And then the light of the smile moves into the liver,
Under your ribcage on the right side.
Filling all corners of the liver.
Smiling at your liver,
Just as if you would smile at a friend.
Let this light move across the body to under the ribcage on the left side,
To the stomach and the spleen.
Smiling at your stomach.
And if you have a spleen,
Smiling at the spleen.
Letting your attention move down into the digestive organs.
Letting the belly soften as you smile into the digestive organs.
This light illuminating all the twists and turns of the intestines.
The ascending colon,
The descending colon and the rectum.
Let the light now,
The smile,
Move back into your kidneys.
Smiling at your kidneys.
And down into the bladder and the reproductive organs.
The genitals.
The buttocks.
The low back.
And even the whole spine.
Letting that energy fill the whole spine.
So many people have back issues,
So especially if you have back pain,
Really smiling at your back,
Your spine.
And then letting that energy flow down the legs into the knees.
And from the knees down to the ankles.
And from the ankles down to the toes.
And now feel your whole body encased in this energy of a smile.
And if you forget what that is,
Bring to mind again your friend,
Your loved one,
And just imagine them smiling.
And just take in that energy into your heart.
Just really let it fill your whole body.
Can you direct that energy towards yourself?
And let it fill every cell of you as if it were medicine.
May I be free from fear and harm.
May I be happy as I am.
May I be at peace with whatever comes.
Please take as long as you need to rest in this smile.
And I hope to see you next time.
