“Each time you smile, you throw a little feel-good party in your brain. The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your health and your happiness.”
This Motivational Monday is about the power of a smile.
Even faking a Duchenne smile, a smile that involves both voluntary and involuntary contraction from two muscles: the zygomatic major (raising the corners of the mouth) and the orbicularis oculi (raising the cheeks and producing crow’s feet around the eyes), can lower stress, slow the body’s heart rate, and decrease blood pressure.
Want more scientific support for smiling? The serotonin release brought on by your smile serves as an anti-depressant/mood lifter. You can have what the pharmaceutical companies sell — for FREE! Plus, you don’t have to worry about any of the negative side effects!
Studies have even been conducted on how difficult it is to frown at a person who is smiling at you. It’s possible, but very difficult. Smiles are actually contagious. The part of your brain responsible for your facial expression resides in an unconscious automatic response area.
If you smile at others, their brain wants to make them smile back at you. By smiling, you really are changing the world around you!
What an amazing world we live in when a smile can change everything. Go change the world today with your amazing spirit and your awesome smile!
–Glenna
p.s. The book, Instant Happy: 10-Second Thought Interventions is full of simple quotes and thoughts to share with your students, your collegues, and your family. I use them and they really do work — even on teenagers!
