Hello and welcome to the secret smile meditation.
So to begin,
Find yourself in a comfortable seated position.
You can also do this laying down or standing up if you prefer.
And begin by taking three deep breaths into your heart and on the exhale make a sighing sound.
Sighing out any tension,
Sighing out any stress,
Closing your eyes,
Continuing to breathe deeply and sighing into your heart to cultivate a sense of relaxation,
Calm,
And peacefulness.
To begin this meditation,
Put a smile on your face.
Allow this smile to feel authentic and genuine.
Feel it starting from the back base of your skull and coming forward so that you're smiling from the back of your head.
This allows for an authentic experience of a smile.
Even if you don't feel like smiling,
Your body will know this to be a true smile,
Increasing happiness and joy within your being.
So we're going to be going through several different states of being and states of awareness,
Beginning with a deep sense of relaxed calm.
So while you smile,
Feel the tension leaving your body,
Scanning from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head through your whole body,
Continuing to breathe deeply,
Sighing if you need,
Relaxing,
Releasing any tension,
Any points of constriction or pain,
Allowing them to relax,
Letting go of any thoughts,
Anything you need to do,
And finding yourself fully present in your body,
In the room,
In this moment,
Relaxing your entire system,
Dropping into a state of deep presence within yourself,
Continuing to feel that sense of relaxed calm.
Now taking this smile,
Bringing it into your heart,
And within your heart,
Cultivating a sense of joy and bliss,
Continuing to smile.
Think of somebody that fills you with love.
Maybe it's a memory.
Perhaps it's the first time you fell in love with your partner or the first time you experienced that romantic love.
Maybe it's the thought of puppy dogs and kittens,
Whatever it is that fills you with a deep sense of joy and bliss,
That feeling of the warm,
Fuzzy sensation in the heart.
If you'd like,
It can also be helpful to rub your heart lovingly with your hand to cultivate a sense of joyful presence within yourself.
It may be subtle.
It may be strong.
Whatever it shows up is perfect.
Breathing into this feeling,
Feeling it radiate through your chest,
This beautiful,
Warm,
Fuzzy,
Joyful,
Pleasant sensation,
Continuing to smile.
Next,
Cultivating a sense of confidence.
It can be helpful to have a confident posture.
Bring your shoulders up,
Open your chest.
You can even place your hands on your hips,
Like being like Superman or a superhero.
You can put even one arm out in front as if you're Superman flying through the sky,
Feeling that sense of confidence.
You can imagine a moment in life when you scored the winning goal or you had some great accomplishment that filled you with healthy pride and self-worth,
Creating that sense of confidence within yourself,
Feeling it bubble up and beam out of you,
Feeling as if you can do anything,
Feeling strong,
Feeling brave,
Feeling powerful.
Continuing to have this posture,
You can also lean back in your chair and cross your arms as if you're like the big boss man behind the chair.
Whatever resonates to help you feel confident,
The body language is very helpful in this to cultivate that confidence,
As well as remembering a time in your life where you were truly confident or proud of an accomplishment.
You can also use your imagination to create an image that fills you with confidence.
Feeling that confidence,
Feeling the warm,
Fuzzy,
Joyful sensation within your heart,
Feeling an undertone of deep relaxation and calm.
Next we'll cultivate laughter.
This one can get a little silly and it can be a little hard for people because we aren't used to laughing for no reason.
However,
Inside of your system,
You don't know the difference between real laughter and kind of,
For lack of a better term,
Fake laughter.
So we're going to bring a sense of laughter and physically laughing.
You can also place your hands on your belly,
Imagining you have a belly like a Buddha belly or like the belly of Santa Claus,
Imagining it kind of going up and down as you laugh,
Feeling that deep bubbling sensation of laughter moving up.
Oh,
Really letting yourself laugh,
Really making yourself laugh.
Don't worry about,
No one's judging you here.
Feeling authentic laughter,
Feeling that bubbling up,
That fiery crackling of laughter,
Moving your arms and hands up and down on your belly,
Really moving the belly to get that laughter.
If you'd like,
You can think of someone that makes you laugh or a memory of laughter.
If you've ever done laughter yoga,
This is the same principle of laughter yoga.
So feeling that bubbling of laughter,
You can even just do it really fake,
Like,
You know,
It's like,
It doesn't have to even be real.
It can just be.
And the more you practice this,
The easier it will become.
And you might feel that sense of,
Wow,
I actually feel joyful.
Be goofy,
Be like a kid.
We need to get out of our way.
So feeling that laughter bubbling up,
Feeling how it mixes with the joy,
Mixes and strengthens your confidence and creates a deep sense of relaxed calm.
And so now taking a moment to come back to your center,
And feeling an electrical aliveness over your whole body.
This is the fifth state,
Electrical aliveness.
Imagine a tingling sensation like electricity going over all the skin of your body.
It should feel beautiful,
Joyful,
Loving.
Imagine like a soft caress,
Like a warm hug,
That electrical aliveness,
Maybe after a workout or going for a run,
That invigoration,
And also the sense of relaxation that comes with it.
So feeling that electrical aliveness,
You can even gently caress or rub your body,
Putting your hands over it in a loving way to help move that electrical aliveness to stimulate the nerves,
To stimulate all the skin,
Moving your hands up and down.
Over your body,
Over your face,
Feeling that electrical aliveness.
And so coming back to your center,
And we're just going to run through these as best we can very quickly.
So coming back to center,
Feeling that deep,
Relaxed calm.
Feeling your system relax,
Smiling into your heart.
An authentic smile from the back of your skull,
Feeling a deep sense of joy within your heart.
Imagining someone that fills you with love.
Going to that place of confidence,
Changing your posture to be confident and strong.
Feeling like true pride and accomplishment.
Healthy pride,
Opening your chest,
Putting your hands on your hips,
Feeling that confidence.
Now moving into laughter,
Putting your hands on your belly.
Feeling that bubbling up through the system.
And now coming to electrical aliveness over the whole body.
Feeling that electrical impulse of aliveness through your whole body.
And so coming back to center,
With time,
These sensations will become more and more stronger and easier to cultivate.
It'll become faster.
And this meditation is called the secret smile.
Because you'll find yourself smiling throughout your day.
And no one will know why.
They'll say,
Why is that guy or girl smiling so much?
And it's because you've cultivated an inner experience of love,
Connection,
And authentic joy.
So these are states of consciousness and states of being that can help heal depression,
Anxiety,
And help us overcome all sorts of blockages within ourselves.
So practice this via this meditation,
As well as on your own throughout your day.
Remember to smile.
Remember to laugh.
Be confident.
Be calm.
And have a beautiful day.
