while watching your inhalations and exhalations. Adopt a willing-hands posture.
4. half- Smile W iTh Willin G han DS W hen you are irri TaTeD.
When you realize “I’m irritated,” half-smile or adopt a willing-hands posture at once. Inhale and 
exhale quietly, maintaining a half-smile or willing hands for three breaths.
5. half- Smile in a lyinG -DoWn po SiTion.
Lie on your back on a flat surface, without the support of mattress or pillow. Keep your two arms 
loosely by your sides, and keep your two legs slightly apart, stretched out before you. Maintain 
willing hands and a half-smile. Breathe in and out gently, keeping your attention focused on your breath. Let go of every muscle in your body. Relax each muscle as though it were sinking down through the floor, or as though it were as soft and yielding as a piece of silk hanging in the breeze to dry. Let go entirely, keeping your attention only on your breath and half-smile. Think of yourself as a cat, completely relaxed before a warm fire, whose muscles yield without 
resistance to anyone’s touch. Continue for 15 breaths.
6. half- Smile in a S iTTinG po SiTion.
Sit on the floor with your back straight, or on a chair with your two feet touching the floor. Half-
smile. Inhale and exhale while maintaining the half-smile. Let go.
(continued on next page )
Note. Exercises 1 and 3–7 are adapted from The Miracle of Mindfulness (pp. 77–81, 93) by Thich Nhat Hanh. Copyright 1975, 1976 by Thich