When you're ready

The Inner Smile

Put your phone in airplane mode. Move at your own pace. You can stop at any time.

A voice will guide you through each phase. Turn your volume up, or use headphones. You can switch the voice off at any time.

Phase 1 of 4

Settle

Sit upright with your spine long and your feet flat. Soft eyes, jaw loose, tongue resting lightly on the upper palate. Take three slow breaths into the lower belly. On each exhale, let the shoulders drop a fraction lower.

Phase 2 of 4

Light the smile

Let a warm, half smile spread across your face. It is internal, not for anyone to see. Feel it soften the corners of the eyes, the cheeks, the tongue. Let the warmth pool at the back of the throat. Notice whether the smile changes your breath before you move on.

Phase 3 of 4

Send the smile inward

Send the smile behind the sternum, into the heart. Six slow breaths there. Notice whether impatience or tenderness loosens. Then to the lungs: six breaths, as if exhaling the weight of the day. Liver, under the right ribs: six breaths, letting held tension drain downward. Kidneys, low in the back: six breaths, letting fear or vigilance soften. Stomach and spleen, left side of the belly: six breaths. Finally the lower belly: six breaths, warmth gathering behind the navel. Stay with sensation, not pictures.

Phase 4 of 4

Gather and close

Place both palms on the lower belly. Take six rounds of slow belly breath, as if storing warmth there. On the last exhale, name one small thing you want to carry into the rest of the day.

Coming back

After the ritual

  • Drink a glass of water.
  • Do not check your phone for the next ten minutes.
  • Notice whether your shoulders are lower than when you began.
Back to library