The Inner Smile is one of the most important basic techniques of the Universal Healing Tao® System
The Taoist masters of ancient China understood the power that comes from smiling and practiced smiling as a way to set their chi in motion, generate higher forms of energy, and attain health, happiness, and a long life.
The Inner Smile meditation is a powerful and effective remedy for stress, tension, anxiety and disharmonious chi. It can also be effectively used for physical and mental ailments such as depression, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, negative emotions, high blood pressure, digestive problems, pain, and much more.
Various variations for practicing the Inner Smile are described in the Universal HealingTao System.
This article is intended to provide guidance for a simple practice of the Inner Smile that anyone can learn and practice, even without extensive prior knowledge.
With the Inner Smile, we begin to develop a healthy, loving relationship with ourselves and our organs. This will help us form a more authentic and healthier self-image that can remain grounded in reality.
As a result, it becomes easier and more natural for us to radiate this love outward as well. We learn to love and accept other people, just as we learn to love and accept ourselves as we are.
The Organs, the Five Elements, the Soul, and the Spirit
Our body is the home of our soul and spirit; strictly speaking, each organ possesses its own soul and spiritual energy, along with specific emotions.
Thus, each organ is associated with one of the five elements (water, wood, fire, earth, metal), as well as their corresponding colors, and ultimately with certain positive and negative emotions.
Accordingly, the kidneys represent the element of water and the color blue. The heart corresponds to the element of fire and the color red. The spleen corresponds to the color golden yellow and the element of earth; the lungs are white and embody the element of metal. According to the Five Elements theory, the liver represents the color green and the element of wood. This system is also found in traditional Chinese medicine.
Each of the aforementioned (Yang) organs is also associated with additional complementary (Yin) organs, which are mentioned in the following meditation guide for the Inner Smile.
Directing Chi to the Organs
The practice of the Inner Smile makes it possible to direct the healing power to each internal organ using the corresponding color and to transform existing disharmonious emotions into harmonious, constructive energy. This transformation, in particular, is an extremely powerful practice of silent Qigong.
An essential prerequisite for learning the Inner Smile meditation is therefore to familiarize yourself in advance with the individual organs and their location in the body, in order to address the individual organs specifically during the meditation.
The Inner Smile is a High-Energy Force
A sincere smile transforms disharmonious chi into loving energy, which has the power to relax, balance, and heal. As you learn to smile inwardly, your body will feel loved and respected and will be able to enjoy the benefits of chi even more.
Inner smiling establishes connections between the organs, colors, and energies of positive virtues, and strengthens the relationship with the healing powers of nature and the universe.Smiling at yourself has a healing and regenerating effect; a smile is the strongest expression of personal power.
The Eyes Guide the Chi
The Inner Smile is a powerful meditation technique. It uses the energy that radiates from a feeling of happiness as a means of communication to connect with the body's internal organs.
You learn to smile into your glands and organs, thereby giving your entire body the feeling that it is loved and appreciated. You feel the energy flowing down through your entire body like a waterfall.
With the Inner Smile, the practitioner can more easily manage stress and direct and increase the flow of chi.
The true Inner Smile also stimulates all organs to contribute their share of their own energy, which then benefits the senses—especially the eyes—in a concentrated form.
“The eyes are connected to all organs and the other senses; with the help of the eyes, you can send energy to all organs,” Mantak Chia.
The Inner Smile - How to Practice
A quiet and comfortable environment, sitting on the edge of a chair with feet shoulder-width apart, is advisable for beginning practitioners.
The spine is straightened. The eyes are gently closed, and the hands, if desired, are placed in a specific position with the palms pressed together. The tongue is placed against the roof of the mouth to act as a conduit, ensuring the unimpeded flow of chi.
The breath is now gently calmed.
We begin by focusing our eyes, mind, and heart on a single point of attention. Since the eyes are directly connected to the brain—from which the vagus nerve communicates with all the body’s organs—directing the eyes’ inner focus toward each organ plays a significant role in enhancing the effectiveness of the Inner Smile meditation.
Focus on the point between your eyebrows and imagine that you are in one of your favorite places, a place where you feel safe, relaxed, and happy.
Recall the happiness of a special moment and let a loving feeling flow through your body.
The Inner Smile Begins in the Heart and Extends to the Small Intestine
With a smile on our faces, we turn inward toward our hearts. We place our hands over our heart. We continue to look inward toward the organs we are smiling at, holding our hands over each corresponding organ.
Visualize your heart in your mind’s eye and smile at it. Smile until you feel your heart smiling back at you.
Love and Compassion
Visualize your heart perhaps as a red rose that gradually opens, kindling the fire of love and compassion within your heart.The heart pumps our blood through the entire body without rest. Because of this, it deserves special respect. With this thought, we strengthen the energy of love in our heart and feel deep gratitude for its unceasing work.
From the heart, we then smile toward the small intestine, which draws nutrients from our food and nourishes our cells with them. Disperse negative feelings such as impatience or hatred and exhale the murky, stifling energy.
Exhale, but keep the red light, love, and compassion in your heart and small intestine. At the same time, dispel negative feelings such as impatience or hatred from your heart and exhale the dark, black, or negative energy.
From the Spleen to the Pancreas/Stomach
Imagine the fire of the heart turning to ash and thus nourishing the Earth, which is represented by the spleen. In the Five Elements theory, the spleen, pancreas, and stomach correspond to the golden-yellow color of the Earth element.
We now radiate the loving energy as golden-yellow light toward the spleen. This energy will permeate the spleen and then flow to the stomach and pancreas.
You may see the golden-yellow aura of a ripe wheat field. Let go of feelings of worry and exhale the hazy, thick energy.
Inhale the golden-yellow aura and fill the spleen center with golden-yellow light.
To relax the stomach and pancreas promotes digestion. The warm, smiling energy relaxes the stomach and pancreas and supports their function.
Lungs and Colon
Bring the smiling energy, now filled once again with love from the heart, to the lungs.
As the lungs calm in the glow of the white, nourishing light, the bronchioles contract more effectively and automatically gain more energy.
Breathe deeply and slowly into the lungs and feel them expand.
Smile until you feel the lungs smiling back at you.
Perhaps imagine your lungs as a white rose gradually opening. Smell its pleasant fragrance and awaken courage within your lungs.
From there, we spread the smile to all parts of the large intestine—the ascending, transverse, and descending colon.
As we do this, we also think about the elimination of waste. The more relaxed the large intestine is, the better it can eliminate waste.
Dispel feelings such as grief or sadness and breathe out the gloomy, dark, or negative energy.
From the Kidneys to the Bladder
The kidneys and bladder are associated with the blue color of the Water element.
We draw some of the loving energy from the heart once again and direct this smiling energy toward the kidneys.
The healing blue light carries gentleness within it.
When the kidneys are blocked by stress, the blood becomes increasingly toxic, and stones may even develop. Warming the kidneys and smiling into them keeps them healthy and more vital.
From the kidneys, we direct our attention to the bladder and send the smiling energy of love to it.
Dispel feelings of fear and stress, and breathe out the murky, black, or negative energy.
From the Liver to the Gallbladder
We refocus on love and gratitude and direct these feelings toward the liver and gallbladder. The liver and gallbladder correspond to the green color of the Wood element.
Kindness replaces anger, which is released as we exhale.
We circulate our energy through the liver and relax it.
When the liver is slightly cooled and relaxed, it produces more bile, thereby supporting digestion more effectively.
A healthy gallbladder absorbs bile more effectively and releases it smoothly. In a blocked gallbladder, however, stones begin to form and cause digestive problems.
Activating Sexual Energy (Jin Chi)
From the organs, we return to the heart and smile down toward our sexual organs.
We hold our hands in front of the pubic bone, feel the slight sexual arousal, and direct orange and red light downward.
Observe how the sexual energy (Jin Chi) is transformed into Chi during this process.
Once we have generated enough sexual energy, we direct it to the other abdominal organs.
In this way, we nourish our organs with our most vital creative energy.
Thank your organs for keeping you alive and healthy.
Rest without doing anything.
Gather and store the energy by smiling into the Tan Tien and letting it circulate there in spirals.
Starting or ending the day with the Inner Smile is a wonderful technique for maintaining health.