In the beginning, it is best to use this practice as a meditation but the goal with this practice is to make it part of your life. Once you have been through the steps enough, it will soon be easy to do this practice anywhere. Your ultimate goal is to be practicing the inner smile subconsciously. This is when you will experience the most benefits of this practice. It is a simple meditation that produces amazing results with regard to relaxation, stress reduction and tension relief. The energetic shift alone is reason enough to make this practice part of your day. The intent of a smile brings warmth to the body and mind, placing you in a more positive mind set. It is difficult to have a genuine smile and not some sense of happiness and ease.

This Simple Meditation makes it possible for you to control your sense of happiness and ease throughout the day.

Try this: sit in a comfortable position with good posture. Take a few deep breaths just to become more present. Now with a soft intent, visualize softly smiling with the back of your throat. Notice the energetic shift in your body, mind and spirit. It may be subtle for some, more profound for others, but you will notice a shift. Imagine if you did this as often as you could every day and it became a habit. What if 80-90% of the time you were walking around with this feeling of ease and positivity. This one simple practice can change your life dramatically.

To begin a more in depth practice of the inner smile, sit in a comfortable position and again take a few deep breaths, becoming more present. Start by lightly smiling with your mouth. Let your face soften and feel the smile. If this is difficult, think of a time in your life when you were happy or of someone who makes you feel good. Once you have this image in your mind, think about the ease and emotional peace you felt during that point in your life or how you feel when you are with the person who brings you happiness. Having this ability to clearly visualize yourself in a moment of happiness you once experienced is very helpful. You want to be genuine with your smile and the emotion behind the smile in order to get the most out of this practice.

Now smile with your eyes and lightly lift the crown of your head. Move the smile to the back of your throat, keeping your jaw and tongue relaxed. As you start to become mentally at ease, let the smile sink down your throat into your heart; feel a sense of openness, love, joy and happiness. Continue the smile down through all of your organs and reproductive system. For the next 2-3 breaths at least, expand your awareness by watching this smile radiate in your body. You can use this practice as a short reset throughout your day or you can use it for an extended meditation. Finish by letting this positive, relaxed energy move to your lower dan tien or navel center.

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