How to smile down with the Inner Smile Start with the Eyes

To practice the inner smile begin by closing your eyes and smiling

sincerely into them. Relax and feel a deep smile shining through

your eyes. By relaxing your eyes you can calm your entire nervous

system.

Your eyes are connected to your autonomic nervous system

which is divided into two parts, the sympathetic and parasympathetic

nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system controls

the flight or fight reaction. The parasympathetic permits the

body to rest and feel secure. It generates calm, loving feelings and

is in turn activated by similar feelings of love and acceptance from

other people.

These two systems are linked with every organ and gland in the

body, which are given commands through the nervous system to

speed up or slow down the activity of the body as needed. Thus it

is through the link between your eyes and your nervous systems

that your entire range of emotions and immediate physical reactions

are controlled. By relaxing your eyes with the inner smile, you

free your mind of tension held throughout the entire body. The mind

is then freed to concentrate and apply all its available creative energy

to the task at hand, e.g. harmonizing itself with the environment.

This connection between visual relaxation and the ability to

concentrate is an essential Taoist insight.

After you feel your eyes tingling with a huge inner smile, direct

that smiling energy down into your body and fill your vital organs

with love. An easy way to remember the “smiling down” sequence

is as follows:

Front Line: Smile down into the eyes, face, neck, heart,

and blood circulatory system, the lungs, pancreas,

spleen, liver, kidneys and adrenals.

Middle Line: Smile down from the mouth to the stomach,

small intestine, large intestine and rectum, simultaneously

swallowing saliva.

Back Line: Smile down the inside of the vertebrae of

your spine, one by one.