The Power of Smiling

Hello my Friends, welcome back.

In this post, I will share some information about the smile.

Why our teething habit is developed in such a way and why is it worth practicing it more often as it influences our mental, physical and social health at the same time.

Let’s have a look at what a smile actually is, and what kind of benefits we can get from it.

Sign of Friendliness

Most of us met with such dogs and cats, that showed their teeth when they did not like our presence, meaning that: “I’ll put these big and scary teeth inside of you if you do not get away from me right away!”.

Many animals use this activity to maintain dominance or scare non-welcomed species away.

However, as we are getting closer to our primate cousins, we can notice that this action is used for different reasons.

Many apes, – especially our immediate relatives, the chimpanzees –  use this feature for non-aggressive reasons. Studies show, that chimpanzees use silent bared teeth expression.

These facial features are used for greeting each other and bonding as well. Totally opposite to what we can see in other animals.

If this all sounds familiar is because smiling works the same way for humans as well.

Humans are using smiles to make others feel more comfortable around them, ease tension, and make the bonding stronger. It is easier to get closer to a smiling face rather than a non-smiling one.

Further studies show that people find a smiling person more trustworthy, generous, and approachable. You can read more about being approachable in my previous post.

So, evolution developed our aggressive and dominative habits into a bonding and friendly activity. But why is it beneficial for us to smile?

Makes you live longer

You can make a positive impact on others only if you are living a good and long life. Smiling can help in many areas as well since it has a lot of good benefits to our health.

Boosts the immune system

During smiling, you are more relaxed and thanks to the release of certain neurotransmitters, your immune reaction will be improved.

Got cold and running nose? Jump to the mirror and put a big smile on your face. Soon, you will feel better and stronger.

Natural Painkiller

Furthermore, smiling releases endorphin and serotonin, which are known to be natural painkillers, decreasing pain in your body. Smiling is a legal and natural drug, which is healthy and free to use.

Smiling relieves stress

These two pieces of information give straight place to the third one. Smiling relieves stress. Studies show that even forced smiling can release certain well-being hormones in the body, that can systematically elevate your mood, decreasing the stress level in your body.

Looks like smiling looks good on your face and even makes you live longer. I would give a chance to it to shine out to the world more often! 🙂

The best part comes now. You have the power to pass it over. Check the next point.

Smile is contagious

Have you ever watched a video of a random person in a crowded subway starting to smile and then laugh? People around, who are immersed in their own business notice this very quickly and they all start to follow the laughing man with courage and eventually the subway bursts into loud laughter. Beautiful moment.

One smile is enough to light up a whole room.

We are constantly trying to connect with others, this is why our brain tirelessly trying to interpret other’s facial expressions.

As I previously mentioned, a smile is able to elevate mood. Not only yours, but also other’s via passing it to the people around you. Their smile will contain all the advantages, which I listed above. The awesome thing about it, that it can start a positive avalanche, as those people will also pass smile further, and so on. 🙂

Smiling is free and easy to impart. One of the best ways to connect and help others. Do not forget the power of the smile that you have ‘in your pocket’ and do not be afraid to pull it out from there whenever you can. It will make life much more joyful.

Life is beautiful, spread it!

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Follow me on social media and get in touch. Do you have any random social experience connected to smiling? Let me know.

Have a good one! 😊

Márk