Stress Tip - Choose to Smile
Smiling is contagious and has big benefits. After you’ve read the article CLICK on the photo for my quick Youtube video tip on the importance of smiling for stress management.
The other day a former work colleague sent me a lovely message asking me how I was going and letting me know that she missed seeing my smile...
Well other than making my day - it got me thinking. I know I was often pretty stressed at work and I confess I sometimes had the 'fake smile' happening. But it must have felt real enough for other people to feel good around me.
As a stress resilience coach I know that smiling helps release endorphins that raise our mood and help us manage our pain (we can push through more when we smile). And I know that stress raises our heart rate and that smiling helps lower our heart rate. But there are so many other benefits to smiling. When we are stressed it can be hard to smile. But we can CHOOSE to physically smile even when we're not felling it.
There are benefits to smiling even if our smiles aren't coming form a play of happiness. Here's a short article with some of the benefits.
9 Surprising Reasons Why You Should CHOOSE to Smile More
A lot of us think that smiling is something that ‘just happens’ when something brings us happiness or makes us laugh. Which is true… but smiling can also be something that you CHOOSE to do. Science has been doing its thing again and has uncovered that it doesn’t matter if your smile is genuine or not, smiles are GOOD for you.
If you want to choose to have a good day, deciding to wear a smile will give you a great foundation. We all know that sometimes crap happens at work and at home and smiling can be something that we have to work at.
But science shows that smiling has benefits for you and those around you.
Smiling has a lot of benefits, many of which may surprise you:
Smiling makes you feel good. When your face muscles smile, your brain releases neuropeptides that help to fight off stress. Then neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins start to activate. These molecules help relieve pain and make you feel good. Studies have shown that you can change your attitude and feelings toward a negative situation just by smiling.
Smiling is contagious. Try this one out - when you smile, other people will smile too. You might not see it, but they do. When someone sees you smile, it fires up their brain neurons that create a similar response. When you make people smile, they feel good and if you’ve made them feel good, they like you. Smiling creates a chain of benefits that flow to others and back to you – its like a smile circle of benefits.
Smiling helps your confidence. We feel more confident when we smile. Smiling can make us feel better and more optimistic about our circumstances and how we view ourselves. When we feel more optimistic our self-confidence rises which increase our potential at work. Studies have shown that people who smile appear more confident and are more likely to be promoted at work. Try wearing a smile for your meetings at work and notice if people respond differently to you.
Smiling improves productivity and creativity. A number of studies have found that smiling helps our productivity. When we are in a good mood, we accomplish more. When we smile we also get more creative. Studies have shown that when we are in a good mood and smiling, we are more likely to come up with creative solutions to challenges.
Smiling helps your health. The hormones we release when we smile enhance our immune health. When you smile a lot you are less likely to catch a cold, the flu, or a variety of other ailments if you smile. Cancer is often linked to immune function, too. Smile and be healthy.
Smiling helps improve and develop relationships. People are naturally attracted to people who smile. Facial expressions like frowns and scowls tend to do the opposite and push people away. Studies have shown that people find those who smile more reliable, relaxed, sincere and attractive.
Smiling lowers stress. This is an interesting one. Even forcing a smile after a stressful situation helps reduce your heart rate. Stress increases your heart rate and raises your blood pressure. Making yourself smile is a great way to reduce your stress and reduce your chance of developing heart diseases.
Smiling makes you more trustable. A study on the impact that smiling had on people’s willingness to trust found that people were 10% more willing to trust if the other person was smiling. People who smile are viewed as being more confident in themselves and smiling even under pressure is seen as coping well under pressure.
Smiling helps you be more positive. Even if it feels forced, a smile can impact your feelings of positivity. Here’s a quick experiment: Smile big and wide. Now try to keep that smile and bring to mind something negative. It’s hard to do.
One of the most important reasons to smile is that there is some suggestion that it may have an impact on lengthening your lifespan overall. While more research is needed on this one, studies so far have shown that happy people seem to enjoy better health and live longer.
So try starting your day with the intention to smile. You will be helping your health and stress levels, and by sharing your smile with others there is a really good chance of keeping your positive vibe all day because of the smile circle you create.
Smile more and observe the many benefits. You have nothing to lose but your bad mood! A genuine smile has a power all its own.
I'd love you to take the challenge and choose to smile and just notice how other people respond to you, and whether it makes a difference to your day.