4 surprising reasons why you should smile more!
“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do” Mother Teresa said, and she couldn’t be more right. Although it might be clear by now that smiling is way more than a contraction of muscles in our face, there are some fascinating facts on smiling we overlook.
It drastically and instantly makes you feel better!
Smiling releases dopamine and serotonin in the brain, sparking a feeling of happiness. The level of endorphins –the so-called happy hormones- increases when we smile too. Endorphins are the body’s natural pain medication; they alleviate pain, lower stress level, boost up your mood and increase feelings of pleasure.
Interestingly, smiling stimulates the brain’s reward mechanisms. A study conducted in the UK found that a smile can bring the same level of stimulation to our brain as 2,000 bars of chocolate or £16,000!
In short, when you smile your brain feels happy, and when your brain feels happy you feel happy!
It benefits your health!
Smiling lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It decreases stress hormones and strengthens our immune system by increasing the number of white blood cells.
It boosts your social life!
Social interactions are a vital part of our life, and smiling facilitates those. Research has shown that:
1) We are more willing to engage socially with people who are smiling,
2) People who smile are perceived as more approachable, friendly and attractive, and
3) People who smile are rated as more trustworthy than people with non smiling facial expressions.
Fake smiling brings the exact same effects as genuine smiling!