Behind every exquisite motion, is an internal act: a smile inside. An internal smile allows access to kindness and it implies a subtle, and necessary, kind of power; it provokes long term freedom; and it allows connection to people and to the world.
It may sound selfish, but it’s not. The first touch of kindness must be with the self. It’s an inner act, remember? Yes: it happens inside. While reading, press the back of the neck into the collar, and smile inside. Creating an inner smile fine-tunes the body, lifting it up lightly.
This motion gets neglected by computer readers, reaching instead with faces drawn toward the screen, many readers defy common courtesy to their selves, dismissing impeccable posture as secondary to reaching the face down and toward the ravishing light. Moths to flames.
No doubt, while reading, you understand and perhaps empathize with other readers, those who lost this subtle sensation. But you lift lightly at the nape, resting in kindness. You know that, because this is so subtle, kindness is a less-than-accurate description of such a sublime motion. So much depends upon this little act, that personalizing is luxurious. Not a luxury in the sense of unnecessary (but you knew that too, this sentence must be for haphazard viewers, not for regular readers), luxury in the sense of personal artistic intention.
Some personalities, some environments, and some peculiar circumstances drive the inner smile towards a sensation of sinister, cold, free vision: a sardonic subtlety. Other circumstances or proclivities feel and perhaps portray an aura of bliss, and for others: inner, lifting smiles are simple, friendly expressions that maintain some sense of subtle humor.
Because it’s inside, and our world draws us outward with so much finesse, so many magnets tearing at our foundations, allow a brief sojourn with 4 external pillars of kindness that help hold up that inner smile.
External Manifestations of Kindness
Consider 4 external foundations for the inner smile: supportive mechanisms that create appropriate social functions. Though often neglected in our modern, anxiety driven media culture, slowing down and immersing in these will engineer each act toward integrating grace. Imbue each act with one or more…
- Courtesy
- Manners
- Politeness
- Respect
…and notice how the inner smile lifts up.
In Taiji some of this feeling is called to ward off by lifting upwards. In Qigong notice energy raising up the back. Baguazhang proclaims sky palms an upward, creative sensation, and in vocal motions, one discovers an ease of projecting expression, however large or small such an intended expression may be.
No doubt, a cursory glance wonders the difference between courtesy, manners, politeness, and respect. Those with Integral Grace understand the subtle differences, attached as they are to the refined power of luxurious arts. Nevertheless, we’ll explore these more in depth in subsequent articles, if only to delight in refining applications and awaking kindness ever more deliberately.
