The Yoga Smile :)

Did you know it's ok to smile during yoga practice? Even Ashtanga :)

But a yoga smile is a little bit different than the smiles we normally give out during the day. Those smiles have a social function; they help connect us to people and reinforce friendships and relationships. But the yogic smile is an inwardly-directed smile. It's a sort of inner dialogue. Just as with the Drishtis (gazing points), we are less concerned about the outside world than with our internal environment.

A soft, inwardly-directed smile during practice can do many things. Firstly, it can soften the muscles of the face, which often become unnessicarily tense due to the vigorous practice.

The yogic smile can also be used to diffuse thoughts that arise. If negative thoughts arise during an asana, do not fight them. Instead, gently smile at these thoughts, and they will start to recede. Soothe any fear, pain, or negativity as if it were a small child, deserving of boundless empathy. We are all deserving of this boundless empathy and acceptance, but it is hard to find out in the world. The BIG SECRET is that it is already abundant, in yourself! The jewel is in the lotus. You are perfect as you are. Smile inwardly, absorbing this knowledge into your being.

This inward smile can also be used to calm competitive, best-strongest-fastest thoughts; the type which Western sports considers to be a good mind-set. In a yogic view, these thoughts are really no more 'positive' than the 'negative' ones mentioned earlier, because they are very much wrapped up in attachment to certain outcomes. If you can only be happy based on a certain external outcome, your happiness is not under your own control. Learning to find happiness, compassion, and contentment is the ultimate goal of yogic practice. Learn to smile through your "easiest" and "hardest" poses, dropping judgement and offering full compassion to the self.

Off the mat, the inward smile can be extraordinarily helpful whenever you are feeling frustrated, annoyed, angry, etc. in the store, on the road, or wherever you are. Your chest probably feels tight. You might be teary-eyed. Try to disconnect with the ego-component that is viewing this frustration so personally. Try to smile at the part of you that understands that this is all temporary, that the world is unfolding exactly as it should. You are an amazing being with a divine right to be here. Smiling with compassion toward yourself gives you almost boundless energy to extend this smiling energy toward everyone you meet.