Smiling is indeed a very powerful weapon against stress and calming our emotions and tensions .

First and foremost when you smile, all the muscles on your face will relax and if you can follow the below procedure qigong method of “healing smile” it can work wonders to all the organ in your body.

The trick is to learn to smile at your own internal organs which can release tension and generate relaxation. The purpose is to relax and prepare your internal yin organs, calm the mind and stablize the metabolism.

Steps:

  1. Sit comfortably on a chair with both feet flat on the floor, knee shoulder-width apart and relax. Clasp your hands in fron of you in your lap with the right over your left, to seal-in your chi. ( this exercise can also be done lying down where you let your clasped hands rest on your abdomen wherever comfortable)
  2. Close your eyes.If thoughts occur in your mind gently let them go and bring your attention inside yourself. Pay attention to how you feel.
  3. Find a thought, a memory, an image or a picture which causes you to smile- one of those warm smiles which gently softens the corners of your mouth
  4. Let the warm,soft gentle energy of this smile grow and accumulate.
  5. Your energy follows your mind. Using your mind bring this smiling energy to the point on your forehead between your eyes, and allow it to begin to increase at this points, like warm water slowly filling a deep bowl
  6. Connect the tip of your tongue with the roof of the palate in your mouth just behind the top of your teeth. This lets the energy flow through your tongue and throat into your torso. Using your mind you are going to direct and send your energy into your heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and spleen and then gather it at your navel. Don’t worry that you do not know the specific place as along as you are focus at that area as the energy channel/meridian runs there and feeds into all of the related functions. In each organ, you can hold the healing energy of your smile as long as you wish, or for the count of a certain number of breaths, or until you feel it overflow-the amount of time depends on you.
  7. Directing the energy with your mind, send this warm smiling loving energy to your heart. All day long and every day your heart is working for you. Say ” thank you” to your heart and give it your gentle love and care. Let your heart fill with smiling energy. Hold it there as long as you wish or feel the need to or until you feel it overflow.
  8. Now send your smiling energy to your lungs. All day long and every day your lungs are working to bring fresh clear energy into you and to send out the old stale energy you have used. Say thank you to the lungs and appreciate your lungs and to send them your best love and care. Let your lungs fill with the smiling energy. Hold your chi there as long as you wish.
  9. Now send your warm, smiling healing energy to your liver. Your liver is situated below your rib cage on your right side and is the largest organ in your body. All day long and every day your liver works for you. Say thank you to your liver for everything it does. Let your liver fill with the smiling loving energy. Hold your chi there as long as you wish.
  10. Now using your mind send your energy to your kidneys. Do the same as the other organ.
  11. Next send your warm gentle loving chi to your spleen. Do the same as the other organ.
  12. Now finally use your mind to send your chi to your navel. When it is at your navel, let go of your smile from the corners of your mouth, so that your mouth is relaxed and neutral and bring your warm current of smiling energy through one organ after the other- your heart, lungs, liver, kidney and spleen slowing winding it until it all finally comes to rest in your navel.
  13. If you are a man, place the centre of your left palmover your navel then cover it with the centre of your right palm. If you a women, do the opposite. Stay in this position and feel the warm energy in your navel. This is your chi. It is now in your Centre. Concentrate on feeling and experiencing it there.
  14. Pay attention to how you feel and find a word,phrase, image or symbol to describe it. Remember this:it is you personal internal “key” to your own chi. Just thinking of this”key” can re-activate some of the relaxation you have experienced through this exercise
  15. Relax your hands and let them take any comfortable position and slowly open your eyes and return back to the outside.

Every one knows the magic of smiling - we are familiar with giving our love to our special people in our life, similary the abovementioned process is to send your own warm, gentle, loving energy to yourself!

It is a simple practical way of taking care of and loving yourself. It releases tension and stress and generates deep relaxation. It calms your emotions, refreshes your sense organs and benefits the various tissues amongst other benefits.