Smile More Often. You'll Feel So Much Better.
Your smile is an expression of happiness, fun, and kindness. It’s with you in the best moments of your life and paves the way for you when it comes to relating to others. Despite this, it’s not always present in your day-to-day as it should be. In fact, when you get carried away by routine, stress, and worries, your smile tends to fade. However, what if you made a conscious effort to smile more often?
Perhaps you think that a smile has to be natural and not forced. Indeed, you may consider a fake smile a sign of hypocrisy or emotional repression. However, it can be an extremely positive habit. As a matter of fact, the simple fact of smiling brings you great benefits.
The smile and its benefits
The relationship between smiling and positive emotions isn’t one-way. In other words, it not only occurs in response to pleasant situations but, by smiling, you can make situations more pleasant.
This is a power that you’re not always aware of but that you should start to use more often. For this reason, we want to share with you the main benefits of smiling.
It improves your mood
Smiling makes your mood improve. This happens due to the bidirectional relationship that exists between emotions and your expressions. For instance, when you’re angry, you frown; when you’re sad, you cry; and if you feel happy, you smile. However, you can also use this process in reverse.
In fact, when you smile, your brain interprets that you’re happy and immediately sets in motion mechanisms that help this become a reality. Therefore, you can influence your emotional state with this simple gesture. Give it a try and you’ll see how effective it is!
It helps you relax and reduce pain
When you smile, your brain releases various substances into your body such as endorphins, serotonin, and other natural painkillers. This makes you feel more relaxed and you get relief from physical and emotional pain.
In addition, in this situation, the production of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which contribute to the appearance of stress, is inhibited. Therefore, the effect of your smile is even greater.
Facilitate social relationships
The smile is a social facilitator in that it shows others that you have an open and non-threatening disposition. This promotes pleasant interactions and makes you project a more positive image toward others. Furthermore, on many occasions, that smile is returned to you by your interlocutor.
It enhances your optimism and helps you cope with adversity
Are you a bit of a pessimist? Do negative events affect you deeply? If so, adopting the habit of smiling more often will help you develop a more optimistic, light-hearted, and relaxed attitude. This’ll allow you to face setbacks more calmly and, in general, maintain good emotional stability.
It protects your health and prolongs your life
Smiling not only improves your emotional health but also supports your physical well-being. In fact, it helps reduce your blood pressure, prevents cardiovascular diseases, supports your immune system, helps you recover better from illness, and can even prolong your life.
Make a smile part of your daily routine
In light of the many benefits of smiling, why not try it more often? Indeed, instead of waiting for happy moments or fun experiences to happen to you, you can promote this process in different ways.
For example, watching comedy series or movies, or reading comic strips. You can also get used to smiling at everyday events. For instance, a baby looking at you on the street, a dog playing happily in the park, or a beautiful sunset.
Above all, you can use your closest friends to enhance your states of pleasure and well-being. Because when you talk with a friend, hug your partner, or meet a family member, you smile to let out your joy, enthusiasm, and gratitude. Alternatively, if you prefer to opt for a different experience, why not try a laughter therapy workshop? At the end of the day, a smile should be a part of your daily routine. Make sure it is.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Riezu, M. I. (2009). Humor terapéutico. El Humor Risa y Sonrisa (HRS) y su aplicación en las urgencias, emergencias y cuidados críticos. Revista de Enfermería de Urgencias, 1(4), 11-16.
- Addyman, C., Fogelquist, C., Levakova, L., & Rees, S. (2018). Social facilitation of laughter and smiles in preschool children. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1048.