Why You Should Smile More

When was the last time you broke into a smile when you were feeling stressed out, or having a rough day?

My guess is probably never.

When we are stressed out or having a rough day, one of the last things on our mind is to break into a smile. However, interestingly numerous studies offer some compelling reasons as to why smiling is one of the best things we can do in such situations.

The good news is, even faking a smile can do the trick. The simple act of smiling tricks your brain into believing you’re happy and triggers the release of feel-good hormones in our body like endorphins, dopamine and serotonin and reduces the stress hormone, cortisol.

In fact, it can be so powerful that British researchers found that one smile can generate the same level of brain stimulation as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate!

Some of the various benefits of smiling include,

• Reduces blood pressure

• Reduces heart rate

• Increases endurance

• Reduces pain

• Boosts your productivity

• Reduces stress

• Strengthens the immune system

Making a habit of smiling more

With the amazing benefits, something as simple as smiling can have on our mind and body, it makes sense to get in more smiles during our day.

Whenever you find life gets serious, you can use it as a reminder to get in a big wide smile. Here are some other smiling prompts to get in more smiles during the day to make it a habit

• When you wake up in the morning

• In the shower

• When you are feeling down or stressed

• You are stuck thinking negative thoughts

• Smiling at the people around you

Smiling at myself in the mirror upon waking up is something I’ve been doing over the past week and it helps to start off my day on a positive note. I’ve also observed that smiling is a great way to snap out of negative thinking or otherwise stop the momentum of negative thoughts building up.

Now smiling may not bring about a drastic shift in your mood and make you feel ecstatic when you are feeling low. But this simple act can help us to prevent ourselves from sliding into a negative mood and steer it into a more positive one.

While it feels good to smile for no reason, something that feels even better and more rewarding is, of course, smiling at other people. Smiles are contagious and is one of the easiest ways to spread positivity around and make others happier and healthier. Studies indicate that it also makes us more attractive, appear more likeable, trustworthy and competent.

Smiling isn’t the solution to everything. But this simple act can shift our energy even if it’s just a tiny bit and make a vital difference to how our day pans out.

Go ahead and try it out for yourself and see what happens after holding the widest smile you can for 15 seconds.

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