Hello and welcome to today's smiling meditation.
A mindfulness practice means feeling how you feel.
Instead of shoving pain down or avoiding it,
You accept it with care and attention.
But that doesn't mean that you have to sit in pain doing nothing.
The simple practice of smiling can actually trigger joy in the mind and the body and can help relieve some of this pain.
In this exercise we are going to mindfully tune in to how it feels to bring a gentle smile across your face.
I heard a quote recently that says sometimes your joy is the source of your smile,
But sometimes your smile is the source of your joy.
Allow your eyes to close and find a comfortable seated position or you can lie down if you'd like.
If you are able to,
Keep the spine straight so that you can invite energy and alertness into your mind and into your body.
Begin by bringing your attention to the sensations of the body breathing.
Start with your belly,
Tuning in to the rising and the falling and just let the body breathe itself.
You don't need to breathe in any certain way.
Just noticing how it feels,
The expansion and the contraction,
The air coming in and the air moving out.
If you notice that your mind has started to wander,
Simply bring it back to the attention in your belly,
The breath breathing your body.
Now move the attention up to your nostrils.
Perhaps you can feel the air breathing in at the tip or the base of your nose.
Can you feel the air on your upper lip?
Just paying close attention to the subtle sensation of your breath here.
Open your awareness up slightly so that you can scan your face from the forehead down to the chin.
Notice what you can physically feel.
Tune into the eyes,
The mouth,
The jaw,
The cheeks and anything else that grabs your attention.
Finally,
Allow yourself to softly smile.
You may try thinking of something that brings you joy as a form of encouragement,
But that's not necessary.
You can trick your body and your brain into thinking that you are happy by just smiling.
Begin to bring your smile a little brighter,
A little larger and as you smile,
Notice how your face and the breath feel.
Tune into any changes in the breath,
The muscles in the face and any feelings that arise.
You might want to try letting the smile go and then bringing it back again,
Letting it go and then bringing it back.
Tuning in each time to the experience in your body as you do so,
Looking for those subtle changes,
Noticing what you feel as you smile a little larger,
Inviting in more joy,
More happiness.
As you begin to complete this practice,
Allow your eyes to open but sustain the smile for just a moment.
Look around the room,
Smiling at the things around you and then let the smile gently fade away slowly on its own.
Take a deep breath in and let it all go.
I hope you have a wonderful day and I hope you find many wonderful things to smile about.
