Liu Wai Sang


Baby Smiling Energetics

Energy Healing with Genuine Joyful Expression

Baby Smiling Energetics is a practice that employs the most harmonious behavioural pattern, a genuine wholistic smile, to neutralise adverse emotions and daily stress. In other words, to practise Baby Smiling Energetics is to practise the transformation of negative energy of the body and mind into positive energy.

This practice often becomes effective, as it owes its origin to many disciplines. Some of the most important ones are discussed below:

  1. Taoism
  2. Buddhism
  3. Western Psychology
  4. Traditional Chinese Medicine
  5. Qi Gong, or Chinese Energy Work
  6. Tai Chi Emotion
  1. Taoism

    The practice of Taoism greatly emphasises the following of the harmony and virtue of the nature, and is centred on "Tao Te Ching", the Classic Book of the Way and Virtue by Lao Tse. The development of Baby Smiling Energetics is highly inspired by this book, especially by the beginning part of its Chapter 28 and Chapter 10.

    The beginning of Chapter 28 reads: "One must know masculinity to keep one's femininity in order to become the ravine under Heaven. Once the same one can become the ravine under Heaven, the same one will not be disconnected from Eternal Virtue and thus be able to return to become a Baby".

    Also in the beginning of Chapter 10: "[The body has] to hold the Ying Qi (mind) so to embrace unity, can this be done with the separation (of the body and mind)?"

    Cultivate the vital force until it becomes very gentle. Can this be achieved without behaving like a baby? A baby may appear to be small and helpless, yet it has a soft and gentle power to bring around joy and harmony, especially a smiling baby. To return to a baby state or to behave like a baby for a certain period is a very natural and effective way to moderate and transform hectic and stressful life energy to become more simple and relaxed, like to be reborn again. In this respect, practising Baby Smiling Energetics is trying to practise to return to a baby state and to behave like a baby so as to acquire a soft and gentle power to bring joy and harmony, not only to one-self, but also to the others.

  2. Buddhism

    The main aim of practising Buddhism is to relieve sufferings. The main means to relieve sufferings is to follow the Middle Way taught by Buddha.

    One day, the followers of Buddha met together at Vulture Peak. They were waiting for Buddha to deliver a sermon. After sitting for a long while, expecting the Buddha to present the sermon through speaking, he instead picked up a flower. At that moment, no follower could grasp his deed except Mahakashyapa, who reacted to the deed with a smile. It was with that smile that Buddha completed his silent transmission and found his successor.

    Living is suffering and so is dying. A picked flower suffers and so does an intact one, yet its suffering experience cannot be merely recounted by words, only by becoming the sufferer, either the picked one or the intact one. By being able to take the place of a suffering flower and then smile, suffering will begin to subside.

    Actions speak louder and clearer than words. Buddhism cannot be transmitted through words only, but mostly through actions. Just like finding true Tao (Path) cannot be told by words alone, yet also by walking to find the Path. The same applies to the demonstration learning of a natural baby smile. The most natural teacher is a baby, yet it is not natural to seek the demonstration of smiling from a baby simply by means of asking it; it is much more natural to seek it by making the baby happy by other means than just words.

  3. Western Psychology

    Making a smile involves facial expression. A few famous Westerners devoted much of their time to studying facial expression in connection with emotions. One of them is Charles Darwin and another is the psychologist Paul Eckman. According to Paul Eckman, a social smile differs from a genuine smile. A social smile often is not considered to arise from a real expression of inner joy like a genuine smile. To initiate a social smile, one only needs to use one's muscles of the mouth, while a genuine smile not only needs to involve the muscles of the mouth, but also the muscles around the eyes. In other words, a genuine smile involves the orbicularis oculi muscles as well, while a social smile only involves the zygomaticus muscles.

    Socially, smiling is a friendly way to present oneself, even if during the presentation the presenter may not have a real friendly and happy feeling. This means social smiles can often mask true internal emotional states. A baby smile, on the other hand, is far away from a social smile and more fulfilled than a genuine smile. It is an innate expression of happiness, very natural and not pretending.

    According to Western psychology, a happy facial expression can initiate an internal happy emotional state. Therefore, when one is under stress and unhappy, one should be encouraged to practise genuine smile so as to invoke more genuine happy emotions. Although the healing effects of genuine smiles are not as profound as those of baby smiles, yet to practise properly Baby Smiling Energetics, it is necessary to firstly learn how to smile genuinely before learning how to smile babily.

  4. Traditional Chinese Medicine

    According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, imbalance of emotion can be harmful to the mind, but also to the body as a whole. Whenever there is an emotional imbalance, the vital force (Qi) of the body needs to be regulated. In Chinese medicine, every major emotion is closely related to an internal organ and can activate the movement of the vital force (Qi):

    Happiness heart qi slows down
    Overjoy heart qi disperses
    Anger liver qi rises, depletes fast
    Thinking spleen qi becomes knotty
    Sadness lungs qi disappears
    Fear kidney qi descends
    Fright kidney qi becomes confused, without direction

    Of all these seven emotions, only the happy qi (vital force) is beneficial for emotional health. Hence, this hppy qi is often used to slow down or moderate the other six emotional qi. The common practice of regulating or moderating emotional qi takes place by applying acupuncture or by administering Chinese herbs. Although the purpose of developing Baby Smiling Energetics is to provide a much less invasive or interfering way of keeping the harmony and balance of the emotional qi, replacing the above common practice if possible, Baby Smiling Energetics still follows closely the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

  5. Qi Gong, or Chinese Energy Work

    Exercise is good for health. Qi Gong literally means energy work or exercise. The Chinese have a long history and a rich repertoire regarding health exercises of different kinds. Qi Gong is just one of them.

    Although there are more than a few hundred schools of Qi Gong, every school seems to have a common approach regarding the facial and bodily expression during practice. This means that during practice it is necessary to keep a pleasant expression. Generation after generation, it seems that keeping a pleasant expression during the practice of Qi Gong has proven a very effective way to encourage the gentle and harmonious circulation of vital force (Qi), which is very important for maintaining health.

    The development of Baby Smiling Energetics takes the above common approach one step further. A baby smiling expression, in this respect, is more natural and hence, it can naturally and lively encourage more the gentle and harmonious circulation of vital force (Qi) in a wholesome manner.

  6. Tai Chi Emotion

    Practising Tai Chi Chuan is originally practised as a martial art being good and effective for self-defence. These days, it is often practised as a means of keeping health. Regularly practising Tai Chi Chuan is not only good for countering stress but also good for maintaining a more pleasant mood.

    The practice of Tai Chi Chuan is based on the continuous exercise of a series of joint postures. To practise it effectively, the exercise should be slow and gentle and each posture should be well co-ordinated, relaxed and comfortable so as to maintain a pleasant circulation of vital force (Qi) within the body.

    Tai Chi Emotion is related to Tai Chi Psychology, which is closely related to Muscle Psychology. All these three disciplines are actually developed by the same founder as of Baby Smiling Energetics. Since every action is largely carried out by the activity of the musculo-skeletal system, and the muscular system is mostly the effector, the harmonious tone of the muscle has plenty to do with the harmonious practice of Tai Chi Posture.

    Although many Tai Chi Postures are based on or involved with animal expressions or behavioural patterns, these days those Postures are not performed in an aggressive or fearful way. Such an approach has great influence on the ongoing development of human psychology: with further regular practice, it is possible to moderate the certain innate unsettled animal emotions, which were evolutionary inherited.

    Tai Chi Psychology is closely related to Behaviour Psychology. Every practitioner of Tai Chi Chuan often demonstrates slightly differently in exercising every Posture, even among peers following the same school. This slight difference can be largely traced to their psychological background. To practise Tai Chi Psychology is to observe and understand this slight difference of expression so as to improve its ongoing development.

    One of the major obstacles to improving the ongoing development psychology of a Tai Chi practitioner is her or his emotional imbalance. The development of Tai Chi Emotion is mainly to promote the pleasantness of each Tai Chi Posture to unblock such an emotional obstacle.

    Since there are so many Tai Chi Postures involved in each practice, it is more practical to develop a certain single posture to incorporate them all as much as possible. Such posture is called Baby Smiling Posture.


On the whole, the practice of Baby Smiling Energetics does not only rely on the facial expressions but also the body expression in promoting the vital force (Qi) to neutralise adverse emotions and daily stress. In this respect, the expressions are more wholistic and the healing will thus become more complete.