We tend to think of smiling as what we do in response to something that pleases us: a flower, a friend, a funny joke. And certainly this is true. What we’re less likely to (consciously) be aware of are the various biochemical changes that happen within our bodies in response to emotional states of all sorts: those that produce frowns or tears as well as smiles and laughter. Candace Pert’s Molecules Of Emotion is a great introduction to the field of psychoneuroimmunology, for those of you who feel inclined to explore these links, in more depth.
The Inner Smile Practice as a "Yoga Of The Mouth"
What also might be a new idea is that our smiling can be proactive as well as reactive. It can be a kind of “yoga of the mouth” which induces the kind of internal (energetic and biochemical) environment that typically results from experiencing something pleasant. This is what the Taoist Inner Smile practice is all about. It’s a kind of “fake it until you make it” strategy, in which smiling is used, consciously, as a skillful means.
Social Smiling vs. The Inner Smile Practice
Now it’s important to be clear about the difference between, on the one hand, the use of smiling as a skillful means; and, on the other hand, the kind of “social smile” that’s little more than a mask: a more-or-less dishonest representation used to manipulate or control. The former is a kind of yoga – an internal technology for transforming our bodymind in the direction of greater health and happiness. The latter is a form of social posturing – which is not necessarily a bad thing, but good to be aware of when and why we’re doing it.
So I’d invite you to play with the Inner Smile practice, if you haven’t already. It might feel a bit odd – a bit contrived – at first, but that’s ok, and actually quite natural. Over time, as the practice begins to produce its effects, the technique will fade into the background, and the whole thing will begin to feel more integrated and spontaneous.
Caterpillars, Imaginal Cells, Butterflies
As with any paradigm shift, the transitional period (e.g. between "social" and "inner" smiling) is bound to feel awkward, and a bit uncomfortable -- like the caterpillar in his/her chrysalis, whose body begins to dissolve, to produce imaginal cells which initially are rejected as foreign by his/her immune system. What a confusing mess! Yet somehow a new, higher-order Intelligence – winged and stunningly beautiful – emerges …
Anatomy Trains & The Myofascial Network
A similar paradigm shift has been underway, in the world of structural bodywork, since the publication (in 2001) of Thomas Myers’ Anatomy Trains. In this new way of viewing the human body, it is the myofascial network rather than the skeletal system that is understood to be the primary organizational structure.
Floating Bones & Paradigm Shifts
Myers sees the body’s network of fascia – the connective tissue – being organized into what he calls “myofascial meridians”: long lines of tension whose collective effects determine our posture and movement. (Note: These myofascial meridians are related to yet distinct from the acupuncture meridians.) It is within this fascial network that the bones of our skeleton “float.”
Why is this revolutionary? Because the standard way of conceiving of the human form has had the skeletal system – the stacked bones – as a kind of scaffolding upon which the rest of the body’s organs and tissues hang. To think instead of the myofascial network as being the primary organizational structure is, then, very much of a figure-ground reversal: The bones as “building blocks” become instead “floating bones”; and the fascial network as a relatively passive “cloak” hanging upon its skeletal frame, becomes instead a living matrix -- a kind of implicate order -- whose lines of communication link and structure the more dense members of the community. Cool.
Floating Your Bones
So ... Along with the Inner Smile, here’s another thought experiment – shall we call it a “yoga of the bones”? Play with this notion of floating bones. Hold an image of your body as, fundamentally, a vast network of connective tissue: a living web of lines of force/tension and flow, which links every organ and structure to every other. Feel your bones floating within this pulsing network. Notice the effects of this way of imaging your physical body. How is it different from (what is likely the “default setting” of) thinking of your body as hanging on a scaffolding of bones? Let me know what happens!
