This is why you should smile more..
Posted: 29th Jun 2018
Serotonin; mainly known as the happy chemical, because it contributes to wellbeing and happiness. It is a chemical that has a wide variety of functions in the human body.
Serotonin is used to transmit messages between nerve cells; it is thought to be active in constricting smooth muscles among other things. It is thought to play a role in appetite, emotions, motor, cognitive, and autonomic functions. It appears to play a key role in maintaining mood balance.
When we feel great, a smile comes naturally. It's an outward sign of joy, happiness, appreciation, amusement, excitement, or contentment.
Smiling activates the release of neuropeptides that work toward fighting off stress. Neuropeptides are tiny molecules that allow neurons to communicate. They facilitate messaging to the whole body when we are happy, sad, angry, depressed, or excited. The feel-good neurotransmitters; dopamine, endorphins and serotonin, are all released when you smile. This not only relaxes your body, but it can also lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
It reduces stress that your body and mind feel, almost similar to getting good sleep! Smiling helps to generate more positive emotions within you. It’s why we often feel happier around children, they smile more. On average, they smile at least 400 times a day. Whilst happy people still smile 40-50 times a day, the average of us only does so 20 times.
It also may help to reduce symptoms associated with anxiety. When that smile signals to your brain that you're feeling happy, your body will usually slow its breathing and heart rate. Reducing stress is so important for health! It can lower blood pressure, improve digestion and regulate blood sugar!
People usually look their best and happiest when smiling. Frowns act just like smiles, just with a negative reaction, so choose to smile and watch the world smile back!
If you're about to go on a job interview, you may think that your appearance is just about wearing nice clothes. Wrong! You can't just wear that suit; you have to wear it with a smile!
The benefits of putting a grin on your face at the office don't begin and end with a mood boost; that dose of happiness can help make you a more productive employee as well.
I am not saying that smiling is the ultimate solution to fixing your mood because that’s very far from logic, however, I can confidently say that the more you smile the happier you will become
Here's a simple exercise from a Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, to help you tap into the benefits of smiling:
As you breathe in, say to yourself:
Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Then, as you breathe out, think:
Breathing out, I smile.
By repeating this simple breathing exercise several times, you're relaxing your nervous system and countering stress.
｡◕‿‿◕｡ The world is simply a better place when you smile. ｡◕‿‿◕｡