…Smiling is energetically very different from laughing. “Laughter is the best medicine” the saying goes, and laughing certainly releases tension and is good for the body in a number of different ways. According to Chinese medicine, if someone laughs too frequently or too loudly they may have excess heart chi and are unconsciously trying to release it. Laughter is more of belly centered emotional release than smiling.

Smiling is more subtle than laughter, a more inward and more sustainable experience. Someone who smiles continuously is not considered in excess, assuming it is not a “phony” outer smile. Smiling is less about emotions, which are our response to outer life events, and more about subtle feeling. Inner Smiling cultivates this feeling to a high level, focusing on the spiritual joy that arises from our inner soul and radiates out as subtle presence.

(Read in www.healingtaousa.com/pdf/innersmile_ch01.pdf)