In honour of World Smile Day, a day not only devoted to grins but to showing acts of kindness, we wanted to talk about all things smile related.
Benefits of smiling:
- Smiling can help to lift depression and sadness, as well as relieve stress.
- Researchers from Oxford University have found that smiling helps relieve pain by releasing endorphins and serotonin.
- Smiling can also lower blood pressure and reduce cortisol levels.
- Smiling puts our bodies into a more relaxed state, leading to a better immune response when suffering from a cold or the flu.
- Smiling helps you look to younger as the muscles required to smile in turn lift the face.
- Smiling can positively affect other people’s perceptions of our attractiveness.
Reasons to Smile:
- Smiling is a universal language and requires no translation. A smile communicates openness, confidence, interest in the recipient, trustworthiness and generosity.
- People who smile at colleagues and customers are more likely to be promoted, offered opportunities or get a raise.
- Smiling is contagious. Research has shown that more people smile when they see someone smiling at them.
- Smiling can increase your confidence and communicates confidence to others.
- Smiling helps to release emotions and creates space for a different perception.
- Even if you don’t have a reason to smile, faking a smile can make you feel happier by stimulating the physiological responses which help relieve tension. Often once you start fake smiling, a real smile is not far away.
Ways to get you smiling:
- Watch a funny TV show or YouTube clip.
- Read a funny book or article.
- Look at cute pictures; we love kittens and puppies.
- Spend time with loved ones.
- Carry out a random act of kindness and give someone else a reason to smile.
