Controlling the flow of chi
"The Inner Smile is an effective relaxation technique. It uses the energy that spreads from a feeling of happiness as a language to connect with the body's internal organs. You learn to smile into the glands and organs, giving the whole organism the feeling that it is appreciated and loved. You can feel the energy flowing like a waterfall from top to bottom through the whole body. With the help of the Inner Smile, the practitioner can more easily cope with stress and direct and increase the flow of chi" (Mantak Chia).
In Chinese medicine, each individual organ is associated with one of the five elements. For example, the kidneys represent the element of water and the color blue. The heart corresponds to the element of fire and the color red. These assignments make it easier to guide the healing power to each internal organ with the help of the corresponding color. This practice also makes it possible to transform disharmonious emotions into harmonious, constructive energy. This transformation is an extremely powerful practice of silent Qigong.
The Inner Smile is a high form of energy that reaches all areas of the body, muscles, cells, nerves, glands and organs
A sincere smile transforms disharmonious chi into loving energy, which has the power to relax, balance and heal. By learning to smile inwardly at the organs and glands, your body will feel loved and respected, and can enjoy the benefits of chi even more. Through Inner Smiling, connections are made between the organs, the colors, and the energies of positive virtues, and the relationship with the healing forces of nature and the universe is strengthened.
"The Taoist masters in ancient China recognized the power of smiling energy and practiced smiling for themselves in order to set their chi in motion, generate higher forms of energy and achieve health, happiness and long life. Smiling at yourself has a healing and rejuvenating effect, as if you were bathing in love. Smiling is the strongest expression of personal power. The true inner smile stimulates all organs to contribute their own share of strength, which then benefits the senses in concentrated form, especially the eyes. 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 exercise is a powerful and effective method against stress, tension and disharmonious chi. It can also be used effectively for physical and mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, negative emotions, high blood pressure, digestive disorders, pain and much more.
Meditation of the Cosmic Inner Smile - How to -
Before you start, find a quiet and comfortable environment. Sit with your back straight on the floor in a meditation posture, possibly with a mat or shoulder-width apart on the edge of a chair. The spine is straightened. The eyes are gently closed and, if preferred, the hands are folded into a special position with the palms together. The tongue is placed against the palate as a switch and the breath is now gently calmed.
Inner Smile begins in the eyes and in the point between the eyebrows (3rd eye). When you activate the heart, the loving energy will overflow, and you will feel the energy of the Inner Smile flowing like a waterfall from top to bottom throughout the whole body.
- 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 everything you associate with that place - the sights, the sounds, the smells, and the feelings.
- Then imagine that you suddenly meet a loved one who is smiling at you lovingly, happily and radiantly. Smile into your face and pull up the corners of your mouth slightly.
- Feel how you respond to the smile of that loved one, and respond with your own smile. Feel your eyes smile and relax.
- Smile down into the thymus gland and imagine a white flower there. Breathe gently into the thymus gland, connecting your breath to the olfactory organ. Smell the pleasant fragrance.
5. Focus your attention on your heart; see the heart in your mind's eye and smile at it. Keep smiling until you feel the heart smiling back at you. Imagine your heart as a red rose that is gradually opening. This will fuel the fire of love and compassion in your heart. Once you feel the red light and loving presence, the cosmic healing red light from above and around you will be activated.
6. Smile at the red light and draw the red haze, love, and compassion very slowly with a long, deep breath into the point between the eyebrows. Then down through the mouth and throat into the heart, from where they gradually pass into the small intestine. Breathe out, but keep the red light, love, and compassion in the heart and small intestine. At the same time, exhale the cloudy, black or negative energy. Continue breathing like this 18 to 36 times and wait until the heart becomes bright red in your mind's eye and begins to radiate out to your tongue, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Let the red light swirl around you and form a red aura. Feel red energy radiating from your skin.
7. Let the loving energy of the heart radiate to the lungs. Focus your attention on the lungs; see them in your mind's eye and smile into them. Smile until you feel the lungs smiling back at you, imagine your lungs as a white rose that is gradually opening. Smell its pleasant fragrance. This will awaken the courage in your lungs. Once you feel the white light and courage in the lungs, the cosmic healing white light from above or around you will be activated.
8. Smile at the white light and draw the white haze very slowly with a long deep breath into the point between the eyebrows and down through the mouth and throat into the lungs. From there it gradually passes into the colon. Breathe out, but keep the white light and the feeling of courage in the lungs. At the same time, exhale the cloudy, black or negative energy. Continue breathing like this 18 to 36 times, and wait until the lungs become brilliant white and begin to radiate out to the tongue, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Let the white light swirl around you and form a white aura that covers your skin like autumn dew.
9. Spleen, pancreas, and stomach correspond to the golden yellow color of the element earth. Connect these three organs and smile down into them from the point between your eyebrows. First connect to the heart, then attract the clear yellow light from above and around you. You may see the golden yellow aura of a ripe wheat field. Expel feelings of worry and breathe out the hazy, stuffy energy. Breathe in the golden yellow aura and fill the spleen center with golden yellow light. Repeat 18 to 36 times. Then let the light radiate to the tongue, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Envelop yourself with a golden aura that puts a golden glow on your skin.
10. Kidneys and bladder correspond to the blue color of the element water. The healing blue light carries gentleness. Breathe the blue aura into the kidneys. As you exhale, dispel feelings of fear and stress. Allow the energy field to grow and breathe the blue energy in and out 18 to 36 times until it radiates from your kidneys to your tongue, mouth, nose, ears and eyes. Collect the blue haze on your skin, where it envelops you with a blue aura.
11. Liver and gall bladder correspond to the green color of the element wood. Kindness replaces anger, which is expelled when you exhale. Proceed as you did with the previous organs and create a green aura. Breathe out the dark red, hazy heat. Breathe in the nurturing green of the forest. Repeat 18 to 36 times until the green light completely fills the liver and begins to radiate to the tongue, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes. Envelop yourself in a green aura.
12. Smile downward into the sexual organs and reproductive system. Feel love and sexual excitement - feel the heart and sexual organs unite. Observe how the sexual energy is transformed into chi during this process. Direct orange and red light down into the sexual organs. Thank them for keeping you alive and healthy. Rest without doing anything. Gather and store the energy by smiling into the Tan Tien and letting it spiral there.
Creating a Powerful Microcosmos
With increasing practice of the Inner Smile, you will soon be able to get to know your own inner world better and create a powerful microcosmos that you can access at any time. You will then be able to use it at any time and in any place and, even more valuable, the five “spirits” or “souls” of the elements will develop their own momentum and offer the practitioner protection, health and support.
The power of this Inner Smile technique is easy to illustrate: if you simply consider that our body consists of 65 trillion cells, all of which communicate and are connected to each other, you can imagine what happens to this released energy. If you add it up, it quickly becomes clear what a huge charge is released throughout the entire body. The energy level can be increased many times over and used for physical and mental stability. This means we have much more energy at our disposal.
An exercise video instruction from Mantak Chia himself, you can find under: Cosmic Inner Smile
Wolfgang Heuhsen (2019)