8 Reasons A Smile Will Change Your Life
A smile can change everyone’s day – and even make you happier throughout your life too! Smiling and laughing are powerful tools that can trick your brain into feeling more positive, and make it easier to connect to other people. Here are eight reasons to smile more and, consequently, change your life for the better.
- Smiling Makes You Happier
Thanks to something that scientists call “facial feedback hypothesis”, smiling can make you happier. It means that your brain pays attention to what your body is doing, and this has an immediate effect on your emotions. The result? Not only do you smile because you are happy, but you also can become happy because you are smiling. It’s a lovely two-way street!
- Smiling Is Contagious
Did you know that smiling can be contagious? Not only can a smile will improve your own mood, but it will also send a positive message to the people around you too! Smiles are scientifically proven to be contagious. This might happen because our brain has an area called the cingulate cortex, responsible for our facial expressions. Whether you are smiling because you are happy or simply doing it because another person is smiling, the effects are the same. A single smile in a room can help spread happiness around the whole world!
Also Read: Ways to Improve your Mood
- Smiling Boosts Your Immune System
Remember that saying, “laughter is the best medicine”? Well, it all starts with a smile! A Mayo Clinic (USA) report stated that smiling, along with laughter and positive thoughts, help the brain to fight stress and even illnesses. On the other hand, negative thoughts can damage your body’s immunity… What can we say? Smiling is literally healthy for both your mind and your body.
- Smiling Makes You More Likeable
The simplicity of a smile goes a long, long way. So much so that it can be traced to having better relationships too! As humans, we are drawn to people who smile: our brain is attracted to positive signals, and smiling is definitely one of them! Some scientific studies have found that smiling makes people more likeable. And that means they are easier to relate to, creating a relationship that’s healthier to maintain and grow. Other studies have linked smiling to maintaining positive emotions, which help to create better relationships too. Your overall well-being is linked to that smile, so keep it lighting up your face!
- Smiling Eases Pain
Do you need instant pain relief? Try smiling! It might sound counterintuitive, we know. How can we smile when we are in pain? A report from the Mayo Clinic (USA) stated that laughing and smiling will naturally make your brain release pain-numbing hormones throughout your body. Other scientific studies have shown that a smile and a good old laugh will help your body to create a higher tolerance to pain! Whether we are talking about emotional or physical discomfort, remember to smile. Watching funny YouTube videos, your favourite stand-up routine or even a Hollywood comedy can help too.
- Smiling Makes You Live Longer
Is a smile the secret to living forever? A study from 2010 analysed the intensity of smiles across photographs to predict life longevity. And guess what they found out? Exactly: people who smiled more ended up living longer. This data was used in combination with other factors, such as body mass index (BMI), career length, marital status and physical performance. The conclusion is: while maintaining a generally healthy and fit body is important, keep a positive mind is also key in living a long and happy life.
7. Smiling Is Good For Your Heart
Smile and laugh, and your heart will thank you too! After smiling and laughing, the body enters a period of relaxation — given the high release of feel-good hormones flowing down the bloodstream. With this, what follows is a decrease in the heart and respiratory rate, reflected in lower blood pressure. When you smile, your whole body gets calmer and more relaxed, and that reflects on your general health.
- Smiling Reduces Your Levels Of Stress
We are not joking here: laughing and smiling are a great dose of stress relief — no matter how serious the problem is! Keeping a good sense of humour can significantly help to reduce a person’s stress hormones. Laughter increases your intake of oxygen, stimulating your organs and releasing endorphins. Because laughing increases circulation, your muscles are instantly more relaxed, which might reduce the physical stress factor like shoulder or neck tension. And that’s in the short term only! Long term, laughing can teach us how to deal with difficult situations, making it easier to cope with them. You can check out more on smiles here.
How about that? We hope this article has put a smile on your face. Send it to a friend to keep spreading happiness and make your friends smile too. For more interesting takes on smiles, you can check out Treasure Quotes.
