The Inner Smile
The Inner Smile is a well-known Taoist Qigong meditation utilizing the heart’s qi to communicate with the inner organs and Five Element network. It promotes relaxation, love, healing and qi circulation. It is simple to do, and especially beneficial during times of transition.
Preparation
Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor so that your spine remains in an upright position. Imagine that the top of your head is attached to a fine string lifting you gently upward to allow the neck to relax completely. Place the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth in a comfortable position somewhere behind but close to the upper front teeth. Let it rest there as you breathe in and out through the nose. Smile gently, as if you have just remembered a pleasant experience. Smiling outwardly helps you to smile inwardly. Relax with a few deep breaths and let any thoughts go. Close your eyes.
Practice
Bring your awareness to your third eye (yin tang) in the center of your forehead in the space between the eyebrows. Allow this area to open up with warm, healing, smiling energy and draw it inwards into the center of the brain. Now imagine the energy flowing softly downward to cover your body, resting first at your thymus gland and heart. Feel them relax and expand with loving energy as you continue to smile.
Next, softly and gently radiate your smile into the lungs (let go of any sorrow); liver (let go of any anger); spleen-pancreas (let go of any worry); and kidneys (let go of any fear). Spend as much time as you wish with each organ, letting each one know it is loved and appreciated. Listen to your body: its sensations will tell you when all is well.
Finish by sending the smiling, loving energy up the spine to the crown of the head, bathing the whole body in love. Now bring the energy back to your navel: Men place left hand over right hand on abdomen and circle clockwise 36 times; women place right hand over left and circle counter clockwise 36 times. Do not go above the diaphragm or below the pubic bone. Then reverse the direction, circling 24 times. This completes the inner smile meditation by collecting the energy safely in the center, (qi hai) Sea of Energy.
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