Smiling can lift your mood
Well-being 🌿 | Constructive attitude 🏗️ | #Smile #Brain #Trick
TL;DR
Smiling can trick the brain into feeling happier, even if it's forced.
Smiling triggers the release of feel-good chemicals, reducing stress and improving mood.
Adopting a positive facial expression and body language, such as a genuine smile, can boost your spirits.
Seed
Before reading, this Seed, please note that research on this topic is ongoing, and not all studies agree on the conclusions. As always with what you read on the web, take it with a pinch of salt, and check the sources of the articles you read. I have added a couple of links at the end of the post if you fancy digging further.
It is likely that smiling, even if it's forced, can actually make you feel happier. When you're feeling happy, your brain automatically makes you smile. And you can use this connection to trick your brain into thinking you're feeling happy by smiling.
When you smile, your brain releases feel-good chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These chemicals help to lower your stress levels and elevate your mood, which is why smiling can be such a powerful tool in making yourself feel better.
It might feel silly or fake to smile when you're not feeling happy. But the truth is that it doesn't cost anything and it can have a small but significant impact on your spirits - even if you don't feel it right away. So next time you're feeling down, try taking on a positive facial expression and body language, like a genuine smile, going from the mouth to the eyes, a good posture, and maybe even stretching a bit.
And remember, something is better than nothing. So, don't underestimate the power of a simple smile. It might just be the thing you need to turn your day around.
Example
How do you think you might feel if, for just a week, you start each day practising gratitude, smiling and living in the moment, for only 5 minutes each time? Think about the cost-benefit balance of such a practice.
Bonus
Practising regular smiling is also good for your beautiful face. It’s an easy and short exercise for your facial muscles.
And if you happen to do this in public, there’s a chance you may convey a hint of happiness to people who see you smiling - assuming you don’t look as creepy as me when you smile.
Finally, a great short video about this, on the channel In59seconds, which I highly recommend: The Smile Test
Sources
The summary of a recent study on the topic of this Seed:
When you’re smiling, the whole world really does smile with you - News and events - University of South Australia (unisa.edu.au)
And finally, this meta-analysis, in which the authors are prudent in their conclusions:
Psychologists find smiling really can make people happier -- ScienceDaily
Let me quote the last paragraphs of the abstract:
[…] facial expressions have a small impact on feelings. For example, smiling makes people feel happier, scowling makes them feel angrier, and frowning makes them feel sadder.
"We don't think that people can smile their way to happiness," Coles said. "But these findings are exciting because they provide a clue about how the mind and the body interact to shape our conscious experience of emotion. We still have a lot to learn about these facial feedback effects, but this meta-analysis put us a little closer to understanding how emotions work."