The Inner Smile

'Taoist Sages say that when you smile, your organs release a honey-like secretion which nourishes the whole body. When you are angry, fearful or under stress, they produce a poisonous secretion which blocks up the channels'

The practice of the inner smile I share below to release tension and promote ease and well-being in your body.

THE INNER SMILE

Sit comfortably – ultimately, you can practice the inner smile anywhere, in any position.

Allow a smile to dance into your eyes. If you like, raise the corners of your mouth ever so slightly, like someone who knows a really cool secret but doesn't need to tell.

Smile into any part of your body that feels tight, or uncomfortable, until it begins to ease or relax.

Smile into any part of your body that feels especially good. You can increase the smile by expressing gratitude to that part of your body for helping to keep you healthy and strong.

Allow the inner smile to reach every corner of your body.

Here are some specific suggestions:

a) Smile into the organs of your body – your heart, liver, pancreas, kidney, sex and adrenal glands. If you don't know where these organs are, it's OK to pretend – your body will redirect the energy for you.

b) Smile down through your oesophagus and into your stomach. Smile all the way through your large and small intestines and out of your bottom. (If anyone can think of a more delicate way to put that, answers on a postcard, please!)

c) Smile up into your brain, then down through the base of your skull and all the way down to the bottom of your spine.

You can smile into your life as well as your body. Try smiling and expressing gratitude into a relationship, an environment or a project you are currently working on, and notice how the energy around that situation begins to shift!