Smiles Inside

It’s one thing to stop the flow(s) of negative input, it’s another to allow that space to fill with joy, optimism, confidence, abundance, health… Whoo-hoo! You get the idea.

On that note, try this short exercise. I forgot where I found it, so I can’t offer the source, but here’s my take on it in 4 easy steps.

Inner Smiles Exercise

Stop whatever you’re doing.

Prepare the system: Take a deep breath, hold it for a few beats, and let it out slowly. Now the first one might not have much effect, so do it again. Breathe in… hold…… breathe out. For extra credit, do it one more time to allow your physical processes to slow and any mental franticness to release. Aaahhhh!

Continue deep breathing but a little more relaxed and natural. Breathe into your belly, which signals a feeling of safety.

Now, imagine each cell of your body smiling. You heard that right. Imagine your body filled with happy faces smiling for no reason, for lots of reasons, nudging other cells to smile too. Get into it! Give it a full minute. Imagine this wave of smiles moving throughout your body until you are just radiating, glowing, sparkling. Now check your face. I bet there’s a soft smile there right now. Repeat often. It’s a superpower!

BONUS: the more you do this exercise, the easier it is to imagine your body filled with joyful emotion and we all know the positive benefits of that.

Smiles image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay