Smiling can be an automatic reflex when we feel happy. When we see someone we know do something funny we smile, laugh or smirk. When your teacher tells you your surprise quiz is cancelled you grin. When your crush tells you that you look beautiful or handsome that day, you beam. Smiling is a natural response from happiness.
Did you know that smiling can trigger different activities in the brain? Smiling has a certain effect on the mind, the left frontal cortex to be exact. This is the area of the brain that triggers happy hormones.
So, how many times a day do you smile? Do you smile when you walk to work? When you see your family? When you hang out with your friends? When you’re with a special someone? If you’re not, then maybe you should consider smiling more. The face contains 44 muscles that allow you to make 5 thousand or more type of facial expression and many of them are smiling.
We spend billions of dollars every year on research and medication to boost our health. We go to the gym, eat organic and healthy food, dental, doctor visits, prescription and supplements to help with our overall health. All those things can add up to a lot of money a year. There are different ways to improve your health without cashing big bucks. One of the free things you can do to boost your health is to smile! Yes, smiling will improve your health.
Below are some health and beauty benefits from smiling.
Lower Heart rate
Smiling can help relax the body and lower heart rate. This will allow your heart to function without over exerting its force. People who tend to smile or laugh more are less likely to develop heart problems. Laughing can help increase the heart rate. Laughing can help boost heart rate as much as jogging can. Laughing can also help tone the abdominal muscles. Smiling will temporarily reduce blood pressure.
Reduce Stress
Stress is a common problem in this modern age. Living a stressful lifestyle can cause a variety of health problems. Stress relief can come as easy as one, two, three. Simply smiling throughout the day will reduce stress levels in the body. Smiling releases endorphins in the body and lower the stress hormones.
Better Mood
The endorphins you get from smiling will be able to remove your stress and lift your mood. When you’re feeling down, smile! Even if it’s a fake smile, smiling throughout the day will increase your mood.
Increase Productivity
Smiling is known to increase performance. Smiling can help regain focus and make you more in tune with your task. This explains why reading funny comics or looking at pictures of cute animals can help motivate you and make you work harder. So the next time you feel like you’re losing focus look at one of those funny GIFs.
Encourage Trust
Research has shown that people are more trustful when they smile genuinely. Trust is an important part of social interaction, whether you use this with your loved one or co-worker. Trust can strengthen relationship and improve performance.
Kill Pain
Smiling can help reduce pain. Endorphins released in the body can help boost the mood and act as a natural painkiller.
Contagious
Have you ever heard of the phrase “Smile and the whole world smiles with you”? There may be some truth to this. When you smile at your coworkers, friends or even strangers, there is a 50% chance they will smile back. This will also help them spread the smile and the health benefits that come with it.
Look Younger
Smiling can work the facial muscle by lifting the face which will make you appear younger.
Build Attraction
Smiling makes people look more attractive, especially in women. Men can be easily attracted by a simple smile and eye contact.
So the next time you feel down and out, SMILE! Smile as soon as you wake up and smile before you go to sleep.
