During a recent yoga class that my husband and I attended, the teacher focused on the theme of joy and the Inner smile. This message spoke to me given all of the extra planning, activities, and some frantic feelings I felt during this holiday season—and I rediscovered my joyful, inner smile.
The Concept of the Inner Smile
The concept of the Inner smile comes from Thich Nhat Hanh who was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. He passed in 2022 and was known as a peace activist, prolific author, poet, and teacher:
“To meditate well, we have to smile, a lot… I always say that a smile can be a practice, a kind of yoga practice. Yoga of the mouth: you just smile even if you don’t feel joy and you’ll see after you smile that you’ll feel differently. Sometimes the mind takes the initiative and sometimes you have to allow the body to take the initiative. Sometimes the spirit leads, and sometimes the body can lead.” -Thich Nhat Hanh
Breathing In, I Smile, Breathing Out, I Can Release
The excerpted statements below are from Thich Nhat Hanh’s twenty-two-minute talk about breathing and the Inner smile, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3RkhdU9:
- Breathing should be pleasant and bring us joy.
- If you don’t know what to do at that moment, the right thing to do is to go back to your breathing and enjoy your breathing because your breathing is enjoyable.
- Breathe in such a way you enjoy your in breath and out breath.
- It’s a simple exercise, and you can realize miracles. The quality of your breathing will increase by itself. The breath becomes deeper naturally without creating an intention to do it, more harmonious, calmer, a more pleasant feeling in body and consciousness.
- Breathing in, I smile. Breathing out, I can release.
- I establish myself in the present. Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment.
- This simple practice nourishes joy and happiness, and heals wounds in the body and soul.
Hanh’s Short poem to practice anytime anywhere, while driving, washing dishes, or riding a bus:
In out,
deep slow,
calm ease,
smile release,
present moment,
wonderful moment.
Additionally, I’m sharing information from a blog courtesy of Anna Patrick, https://meditationsinwonderland.com/post/26955078590/thich-nhat-hanhs-smiling-meditation. I found just by reading these words, my breathing and inner awareness shifted:
- First, center yourself. Breathe in, and with every exhale feel yourself become more calm. Once you have reached a state of calm and relaxation, turn all of your energy into your head, make your head a focus point of your energy.
- With your eyes closed, let attention move to the inside of your eyes. Feel how wonderful your eyes are – they are the window to the world you see every day. Check in with them and feel them as they are. Do the same with your nose, focusing your attention there next. Feel what it is like for your nostrils to breathe.
- Next, send the focus lower to your mouth. Feel the inside of your mouth, letting your tongue relax behind your teeth. Feel your lips resting in their natural state. Move your attention downward to your chin, feeling your chin and jaw slacken and become calm, relaxed, and aware of its presence.
- After your face has been acknowledged throughout your practice so far, lend awareness to your face as a whole. With all of the parts relaxed, let your entire face reach a neutral and natural position.
- Finally, focus attention again on your lips. Slowly raise the corners of your lips upward, letting yourself attain a relaxed and gentle smile. Widen your smile until you feel it connect with your Inner smile – you will feel yourself click into a certain harmony of being. Notice your energy begin to shift, you should feel a warm sense of peaceful energy beginning to well up and then radiate from your body.
- Now, maintaining the smile, return attention to your eyes. Bask in the feeling of warmth, relaxation, and uplifted energy. Allow your eyes, while still closed, to smile too. Connecting the smile of your eyes with the smile of your lips will help you tune into your true Inner smile, that inner sense of harmony that you feel with your mind, body, and spirit.
- Hold this smile until you feel awareness start to come through to the rest of your body. When you choose to end your practice, end it slowly for the lingering effects of the meditation to uplift your energetic presence and sense of well-being.
Anna’s suggests, and I have paraphrased:
- Taking the established energy from the Inner smile and moving it through the rest of your body, one organ or body part at a time, sending love, light, and positive healing energy throughout your system.
- Practicing the Inner smile for as little as one minute or up to an hour. Then consider sending the energy beyond your body as far out as you choose to send it.
- Experiencing the transformative power of this meditation relieves moments of depression, anxiety, or anger and returns you to the present moment and your True self.
I trust that this reminder of your Inner smile will assist you during this holy time of the year, when the spiritual veil is thinner—a time for emulating nature by slowing down and going within. May your Inner smile meditation and breathing practice serve you in calming and restorative ways during 2025 and always.