In PERFECT Qigong, the R stands for Relax — and one of the most powerful tools for achieving genuine relaxation is Smiling from the Heart. It sounds simple. It is simple. But the science behind why it works is worth understanding, because it changes how you approach the practice.
What Science Says About Smiling
There are two types of smile worth knowing about:
- The Duchenne smile — a genuine smile that reaches from the mouth all the way to the eyes, named after the 19th-century neurologist who first described it
- The Pan Am smile — a surface smile involving only the mouth, named after the trained expression used to greet airline passengers
The intuitive assumption is that only a genuine Duchenne smile produces health benefits. Recent research suggests otherwise. Even a physically induced smile — one where the face is mechanically arranged into a smiling position, without any emotional trigger — produces measurable effects:
- Lower heart rate
- Reduced stress levels
- Improved immune function
In one study, volunteers holding a pencil between their teeth (which forces the lower face into a smile position) reported feeling happier than volunteers holding the pencil between their lips (which forces a frown) — without either group being told why they were holding the pencil.
The finding is straightforward: you tend to feel whatever expression you wear on your face, even when that expression is physically rather than emotionally generated.
What This Means for Qigong Practice
This is why Smiling from the Heart is built into the PERFECT Qigong system as a deliberate practice tool. If even a surface smile shifts your emotional and physiological state, a genuine, deep smile — one generated from the heart rather than the face — produces effects that go considerably further.
Smiling from the Heart in qigong is not about performing happiness. It is a skill: the deliberate generation of a warm, genuine inner smile that permeates the practice and deepens relaxation and energy flow in ways that a neutral or tense state of mind cannot.
A Common Mistake to Avoid
If you already practice Smiling from the Heart, make sure you’re not keeping it locked inside your formal qigong sessions. It is a skill you can apply at any point during the day — while walking, working, or waiting. The more consistently it’s practiced outside of formal sessions, the more natural and powerful it becomes within them.
Where to Learn It
Full instructions for Smiling from the Heart — written, video, and audio — are available in Smiling From The Heart, along with guidance on the other six steps of the PERFECT Qigong system. For an introduction to the system itself, see the PERFECT Qigong page.
