Inner Smile
2017. What a crazy year! It was filled with fun, sadness, excitement, stress and transition. I lost my beloved cat. I sold my house and moved in with a friend. I moved countries and started new projects. The one thing I didn’t do was write in my blog. Writing these blogs fed my soul. It was the outlet I needed to get back in touch with my essence; bringing me back to me. Because 2017 had so many emotional ups and downs, I just didn’t have any interest in writing and felt I had nothing to contribute. Now that I’m a bit more settled, I felt the need to start again. Writing about spiritual stuff and healing is exactly what I need right now and hopefully, I may have something to say that you need to hear. So hear we go again!
Recently, I had a stomach issue. I attributed it to stress as moving countries, starting a new job, a new business and issues with various relationships are particularly stressful. It seems it all caught up with me and settled in my stomach/intestinal area. I figured the stress would continue for a bit but in the meantime, I could put myself on my biofeedback machine. While this did help the situation, it did not take the problem away. I also did Reiki on myself which helped as well but again, it did not heal the problem. After about 10 days of this, I started writing down the feeling associated with the discomfort by focusing on that area. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I know how to do that and I teach it in my classes! Perhaps it was because I wanted a quick fix but when that didn’t work, I had to look a bit deeper. Your organs will tell you things if you just listen. Again, I know this but it seems it is easy to forget when it comes to my own stuff! I began looking over my previous blog entries and saw that I wrote multiple exercises on looking inward but I wasn’t doing any of them. So one night, I sat with the discomfort in the stomach region and all kinds of stuff came up. It was not a pleasant experience but I started to get an idea as to what was going on with me. There were things/places/people and childhood stuff I wasn’t allowing myself to release or deal with properly. I was holding on tightly to them in an unhealthy manner. I sat with the feelings in that area for a few nights and also wrote down the issues that came up. Although it was an emotionally draining week, the discomfort began to dissipate as did the intensity of emotions associated with that region.
Mantak Chia wrote a book called, “Inner Smile.” He is quite the prolific writer on working with energy to heal the body through breath and intention. I recommend any of his books. The ‘Inner Smile’ is a meditation. The concept being when you smile at something, it brings joy therefore when you smile at your organs or body systems it will increase the chi (life force energy) to that region. I remember reading this years ago so when I started listening to my organs (in my case it was the stomach/intestines) and hearing/feeling what they had to say, I then smiled at them and thanked them for bringing this issue to my attention.
At this point, you are probably saying, “um, that’s kind of silly.” I get it. It is kinda weird. But if it didn’t work for me, I certainly would not be talking about it. If the physical problem had not come up, I would not have been alerted to the emotional issue associated to it and therefore healing could not take place.
I invite you to try the exercise below and see if it works for you but before we start, I want to make it clear that if you are having a physical problem, it is in your best interest to see a doctor. I do believe in western medicine and if my issue had been grossly uncomfortable, I would have gone to the hospital. There is no reason to suffer unnecessarily! These exercises work best along with the treatment you are receiving, not in lieu of.
Technique 7
Pick a time that you can do this uninterrupted. It could be before you go to bed, in the morning or whenever you can grab some quiet time. Light some candles. Take a bath. Whatever you need to do to put you in a relaxed mood.
Start focusing on your breath. Don’t do anything with it. Just watch what the breath is doing. Do this for a few minutes.
Start taking in some slower, deeper breaths and release the breath for the same amount of time you inhaled. Continue this for about 5 to 10 minutes. It’s important to slow the mind down before going any further.
Now shift the focus from the breath to your body. Where are the sore parts of your body? Start with that region. If you do not have any sore parts then start with the liver. Find an anatomy chart to locate the liver and gently bring your attention there. Ask it what it wants you to know. Pay attention to any emotions that come up. You may get some images or hear or feel something. I also ask it what I can do to help it. You may get nothing when you ask an organ any question and that’s ok. Alternatively, you may be surprised at what you do pick up! If you get an image or a feeling that is very uncomfortable, I encourage you to reduce the amount of time you spend there. When the feeling is too intense, it can tear your energy field making healing in that region even more difficult as your energy will leak out. So tackle an issue a little at a time. There’s no rush to sort things out immediately! For a physical problem to develop, the emotional issue has been there a while so be patient and kind to you.
After spending a few minutes on this area (stay longer if you feel it’s ok to do so), thank the liver for all it does for you. It performs necessary biological functions without you being aware of it so thank it and smile at it. Smile at it for a few minutes.
Follow this same pattern for your other organs. Focus on the body systems such as the circulatory or nervous system. You could also focus on your joints or bones or any part of your body that is a problem for you.
This can be an emotionally draining exercise so perhaps only do a few body parts or systems at a time. Write down what you pick up so you can remember.
Once you do the parts that are a problem for you, then start thanking and smiling at the good parts. They need attention too!
If you haven’t noticed by now, the exercise is really about Self-love. Love for Self. We care so much about what the outside looks like, that we are not paying any attention to the inside. Let your body know you love it and want to nurture it. Doing this by eating right, exercise and getting a massage now and again is really not enough. Of course, it certainly helps the body but you still need to give love and thanks to your temple.
It’s the only one you got and you are the only one that lives in it!