smile for better health

8/13/2019 Smile for Better Health

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How to Smile for Better HealthEdited by 80_Calo, Lojjik Braughler, Maluniu, Maniac and 12 others

Smilingplays a very important role in maintaining and improving your health, both

physically and emotionally. As Phyllis Dilleronce said:A smile is a curve that setseverything straight, and the smile can help you to stand out, improve people's perception of

your attractiveness and relieve any stress you might be experiencing. And if you're still not

convinced, there is evidence that those who smile often live an average of 7 years longer than

those who rarely conjure a regular smile.[1]

A fun way to improve your physical and mental well-being, the smile is free of charge and

always available by choice and this article explores the ways you can smile to be healthy.

EditSteps

1.
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1

Smile torelieve stress.Stress is easily shown in our faces. Smilingprevents people from

looking too tired or overwhelmed. When you're stressed, try to put on a smile, as it will make

you feel happy, and you will appear happy. Your feelings on stress will be reduced as the

endorphins associated with the smile are released,[2]and the infectiousness of your smile will

help to make others happy. When others are happy, you will feel even happier knowing

you're helping others to feel better. You may even start laughing, and if so, others might join

in. That shows you that from being sad, you can start laughing with the help of a smile.[3]

2.

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Smile to help your immune system work better.[4]Smiling brings about a sense

ofrelaxation,and it is relaxation that helps your immune systemto work more efficiently.
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You can reduce the risk of sicknesses such as thecoldand the flu by smiling, in addition to

getting a seasonal flu vaccine,exercising,eating right, andliving a healthy lifestyle.

3.

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Smile tostay positive.A simple testto show you how smiling keeps you positive is to smile.Then you need to try to think of something negative, but keep the smile, otherwise the test

won't work. You will soon see that it is hard to combine the negative thought with the smile!

When we smile, ourbody and mindare sending us a message that everything is okay, and

that life is great. Smiling will help to lift depression and sadness, and with frequent use,

works better than any type of medication to relieve you of stress. Dozens of studies show that

if you are positive, you are more likely to live longer, a state of being that also helps to ward

off sickness.[5]
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4.

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Smile tolook younger.Themusclesused to smile lift your face up, which makes people

appear much younger. Don't go for an unnatural and dramatic smile, just try to smile

throughout the day naturally.

Try the smize.
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Smile tolive longer.Those who smile are thought to live an average of 79.9 years, while

partial smilers live an average of 75 years, and non-smilers live an average of 72.9 years. The

only conclusion to be reached from this is to smile every day. Even if it doesn't guarantee that

you'll live longer, you'll feel a whole lot better for it throughout your life! Obviously as wellas smiling, also pay attention to appropriate exercising, eating right, andliving a healthy

lifestyle.[6]
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Smile torelieve pain.When you're inpain,physically or mentally, smile. Smiling releases

endorphins and serotoninendorphins are natural painkillers.[7]Together, these two

chemicals make people feel more able to cope when they're in pain. When someone is sad,

and their friend comes over and makes the person laugh tocheerthe person up, the resulting

smiling and laughter relieve pain.

[8]
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Smile to helpreduce your blood pressure.If you're a person suffering from high blood

pressure (hypertension), then it's recommended that you smile a lot more. When you smile,

you should see a marked reduction in your blood pressure:

If you have a blood pressure monitor, then you can prove this response. Sit for a little while,and read. Smile for a few minutes, and then read while still smiling. Then measure your

blood pressure with your blood pressure monitor. You should notice that your blood pressure

has gone down measurably.

Of course, smiling isn't the answer tohypertension.Be sure to be under your doctor'sguidance, receiving all care and attention required to treat your disease.
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8.

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Smile to seem more successful.People who smile appear more confident, are more likely to

be promoted, because they will put their boss into a happy mood, and are more likely to be

approached by many people, as well as making more friends.[9]Smile atmeetings,and you

will see that people willreactto you differently. Smile to help put people at their ease andyou'll feel a lot more at ease too. Ultimately, the smile is an easy way to improve your mental

well-being through increasedconfidenceand better relationships with other people.

The science of smiling: A guide to humans most powerful gesture

Posted on Tuesday, April 9th, 2013Written byLeo Widrich
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Why did the Mona Lisabecome one of the most famous

paintingsof all time? Thats a question an incredible amount of people have asked

themselves in the past. And one possible answer is this: because of her unique smile.

The smile is is the the symbol that was rated with the highest positive emotional content

concludes scientist Andrew Newberg. And for me personally, Ive been very reluctant before

embracing smiling. Only a few years back, when one of my teachers told me: Why dont

you smile more? Go learn how to do it!, I started to research learn about the actual power of

smiling.

I had a brief moment of disbelief that anyone can learn how to smile better. And yet, since

then, for many years, I practiced smiling in the mirror and on many other occasions. Thats afact Ive often been a little embarrassed to admit, yet the research of this post confirms how

powerful practicing a bit of smiling can be.

After recently discussingwhich words matter the most when we talk,digging into the facts of

smiling was one of the most mentioned suggestions. So here we go:

The science of smiling: What happens to our brain when we smileLets say you experience a positive situation and you see a friend you havent met in a long

time. This means that neuronal signals travel from the cortex of your brain to the brainstem

(the oldest part of our brains). From there, the cranial muscle carries the signal further

towards the smiling muscles in your face.

Sounds simple enough right?

And yet, thats only where it starts. Once the smiling muscles in our face contract, there is a

positivefeedback loopthat now goes back to the brain and reinforces our feeling of joy. To

put more succinctly:

Smiling stimulatesour brains reward mechanisms in a way that even chocolate, a well-

regarded pleasure-inducer, cannot match.

Smiling then, seems to give us the samehappiness that exercising inducesterms of how our

brain responds. In short: our brain feels good and tells us to smile, we smile and tell our brainit feels good and so forth.
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Thats why in a recentresearch scientistsconcludedthatsmiling can be as stimulating as

receiving up to 16,000 Pounds Sterling in cash.Here is a brief description of the different

muscles the cranial muscle activates in our face:

Real vs. Fake smilescan we tell the difference?

Whenever we smile, there are 2 potential muscles we activate. The first one is

thezygomaticus majorand it controls the corners of your mouth. Whenever this muscle only

is activated, its not actually a genuine smile. Scientists call this also the social smile. The

second muscle, known to show sincerity is theobicularis occuliand it encircles our eye

socket.

The true smile also called the duchenne smile, named after the famous scientist who firstseparated the mouth corners-only smile, from the eye socket one. Here is a comparison:
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Our brain can in fact distinguish very easily between whats real and whats fake. In fact

researcher Dr. Niedenthal argues there are 3 ways we can do so:

Our brain compares the geometry of a persons face to a standard smile We think about the situation and judge whether a smile is expected. Most importantly: We automatically mimic the smile, to feel ourselves whether it is fake

or real. If it is real, our brain will activate the same areas from the smiler and we can

identify it as a real one.

Niedenthal then experimented with how important it is to be able to mimic smiles and

whether we could still tell the genuine smiles from the fake ones:

Dr. Niedenthal and her colleagues asked the students to place a pencil between their lips. This

simple action engaged muscles that could otherwise produce a smile. Unable to mimic the

faces they saw, the students had a much harder time telling which smiles were real and which

were fake.

So the fact that we cant try it for ourselves, leaves us almost unable to identify any smile as

fake or real. Why is this so important though to know what and what doesnt trigger us to

understand smiling? Here are some more insights:

What smiling does to our health, success and feeling of happiness

Smiling can change our brain, through the powerful feedback loop we discussed above. And

your brain keeps track of your smiles, kind of like a smile scorecard. It knows how often

youve smiled and which overall emotional state you are in therefore.

Smiling reduces stress that your body and mind feel, almostsimilar to getting good sleep,

according to recent studies. And smiling helps to generate more positive emotions withinyou. Thats why we often feel happier around childrenthey smile more. On average, they
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do so 400 times a day. Whilst happy people still smile 40-50 times a day, the average of us

only does so 20 times.

Why does this matter? Smiling leads to decrease in the stress-induced hormones that

negatively affect your physical and mental health, say the lateststudies:

In the famousyearbook study,they tracked the lives of women who had the best smilesin yearbook photos compared to the rest. Women who smiled the most lived happierlives, happier marriages and had fewer setbacks.Here is a sample of the women from the

observed yearbook. I let you guess who was successful and who wasnt:

The baseball card study also found a clear correlation between how big a smile someonemade on a baseball card photo and how long they would live. The people who smiled the

most turned out to live 7 years longer than those who didnt.

Of course, the above only shows a correlation, and not a causation. And yet, I cant help but

agree that smiling breeds trust, makes you happier and helps you to live longer.

And most importantly, smiling can be learnt. Or to put more precisely, re-learnt. Most of us

forget how to smile genuinely over time, as we adopt social smiles more and more. Here is a

guide to get your genuine, duchenne smile back:

A 3 step guide to a better smile

Imagine a situation of joy before an event:

One of the best ways to make your smile more genuine and realcomes fromresearcher

Andrew Newberg:We just asked a person, before they engage in a conversation with someone else, visualize

someone they deeply love, or recall an event that brought them deep satisfaction and joy. Its

such an easy exercise, and we train people to do it in our workshops.

Personally, Ive tried to do the same experiment before a phone call or even before writing an

email. Ive found that people can always tell if you have a smile on your face, even if they

dont see you. Ive even tracked how this improves response rates to emails I send

forBufferrelated feature suggestions or partnerships for example. That should most likely be

another blogpost.

Practice smiling in front of the mirror
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Here is something Ive done for almost afew years in the morning: Stand in front of the

mirror and smile. Practice to activate both your mouth corners and your eye sockets. You will

know whenever your smile is genuine, because you will immediately feel happy and relaxed.

The power of a smile, even practiced in the mirror is that it can invoke the emotion

immediately.

Become comfortable with smiling

A lot of people (myself included!) see smiling as something that makes you weak. Personally,

Ive found that developing a better smile starts with being very comfortable to smile a lot. If

in your head, you can imagine yourself going through the day and smiling lots to everyone

and everything, thats often when a happier life starts.

Yes, this might be just a small change in thinking. And yet, for me personally, that was the

most important part to smile more every day.

Quick last fact: Women smile more than Men, here is whyHere is something interesting. Researcher LaFrance concluded that overall women smile a lot

more than men. This comes not just from the fact that they might be happier, but also, that

socially, it is more acceptable for women to smile, shesays.And it doesnt stop there:

In general women are more accurate than men in detecting what is really going on with

someone by looking at their face and listening to their voice. Women are more likely to tell

the difference between a felt and a fake smile.

Smiling is definitely more than just a contraction of muscles in your face. In fact Mother

TeresasWeshall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.reaches

probably even further than imagined. What have you discovered about smiling? Id

love your insights on this.

Smiling Reduces Stress And Helps The Heart

Wednesday 1 August 2012 - 12am PST

A new study suggests that holding a smile on one's face during periods of stress may help

the heart.The study, due to be published in a forthcoming issue ofPsychological Science,

lends support to the old adage "grin and bear it", suggesting it may also make us feel better.

The study is the work of psychological scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman of the

University of Kansas. They looked at how different types of smiling, and people being aware

of smiling, affected their ability to recover from stressful episodes.

Kraft told the press they wanted to explore whether old adages like "grin and bear it" had any

scientific merit.
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The age-old saying suggests smiling not only signals happiness to others, but could also be a

way to help cope with life stresses.

Previous studies have shown that smiling affects emotion, and that positive emotions have an

effect onstress.But Kraft and Pressman are the first to experiment with types of smile to

see what effect they have on stress.

Researchers often class smiles as being of two types: standard smiles, where only the mouth

shapes the smile, and genuine or Duchenne smiles, where the muscles around the mouth and

the eyes shape the smile. (The latter was named after Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne, who

used electrophysiology to show how truly happy smiles also use the muscles around the

eyes).

Kraft and Pressman experimented with types of smile to see what effect they had on stress

For their latest study, Kraft and Pressman invited 169 volunteers from a Midwestern

university to undergo an experiment in two stages: training and testing.

In the training stage, the researchers taught the volunteers how to either hold their faces in a

neutral expression, hold a standard smile, or hold a Duchenne smile.

They also got some of the volunteers to hold their face in a forced smile by holding

chopsticks in their mouths.

In the testing phase, the volunteers performed some multi-tasking activities, during which

they held their faces in the manner instructed.

The activities were designed to increase stress levels, but the volunteers didn't know this. One

test for instance, asks the participant to use their non-dominant hand to follow the path of a

moving star that they observe in a mirror. The other test involves plunging a hand into abucket of ice water.
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The researchers monitored the participants' heart rates as they performed their various tasks.

They found the participants who were instructed to smile, and in particular those whose faces

expressed genuine or Duchenne smiles, had lower heart rates after recovery from the stress

activities than the ones who held their faces in neutral expressions.

Even the volunteers who held chopsticks in their mouths, that forced the muscles to

express a smile (but they had not explicitly been instructed to smile), had lower recovery

heart rates compared to the ones who held neutral facial expressions.

The researchers say their findings suggest smiling during brief periods of stress may help

reduce the body's stress response, regardless of whether the person actually feels happy or

not.

Pressman said this could be useful to know, for instance if you find yourself stuck in a traffic

jam, try to hold your face in a smile for a few moments: it may do more than just help you

"grin and bear it", it may actually help your heart health too.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Copyright:Medical NewsTodayNot to be reproduced without the permission of MedicalNewsToday.

References Additional Information Citations

" Grin and Bear I t: The I nf luence of Manipulated Positi ve Facial Expression on the Stress

Response"; Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman; expected to be published inPsychological

ScienceAugust 2012.

Source:Association for Psychological Science.Reader OpinionsMost recent opinions are shown first

Smiling can sooth oncoming panic attacksPosted by C Mon 23 Jan 2013 at 1:59pmSuffering from panic attacks and general stress/anxiety over the past decade, after hearing

about this study, since not much else was cutting it, I decided to give it a whirl... Smiling

helps...surprisingly... I absolutely doubted the hell out of it, but anything is better than dealing

with panicked feelings all day... So while its not a cure to school shootings, and its obviously

just scratching the surface kind of study... there is something there...so yah, grin and bear it...

don't overdramatize things C... *smile* :)

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Cliche's hurtPosted by con 14 Jan 2013 at 5:47 pmI am not any kind of scientist but itseems to me that this must have been a very small test study. Where are the numbers? Tell

me about the volunteers. In my support group, I know many people who have had multiple

traumas (myself included). People like us smile all the time so we don't upset others, because

no one likes to look at a down face all the time, but our pain is still there. Example: Thepeople who survived the massacre in the CT school. Will smiling help the friends and family

feel better? Not likely. Yes they will be smiling, but inside they will not. I don't recommend

telling someone who is hurting to, "grin and bear it". Cliche's hurt.


"Smiling is the best medicine"Posted by Magdaon 6 Aug 2012 at 5:08 pmHere in Brazilwe have a saying "Smiling is the best medicine." I believe this article confirms a popular

adage. Everyone goes through stressful situations and how to react to these situations can be a

valuable difference.


Smile from your HeartPosted by Carlon 31 Jul 2012 at 9:07 amThis study is interestingbut rather artificial and therefore only scratches the surface of something very significant.

Following is a comment I posted on June 20 in response to the Huffington Post piece 'Smile'

by Yoko Ono. For almost 20 years I've had a practice of smiling just before I fall asleep and

just as I am waking up, as well as a lot of times throughout each day. My intent is to make

my smile my first conscious act and my last conscious act each day. I highly recommend this.

It's simple and can be highly effective in improving the quality of your life. It can help you

sleep better, help you wake up better, and help you...and others...flow more easily througheach day. When you share your smile with others, let it show, let it radiate warmth, light,

love. It doesn't have to be big and flashy to do that, but it has to be real, from your heart.

When you're by yourself, it will work even if it's subtle, if your intention is real. When you

smile for and with others, give your smile away freely and sincerely, with no attachments, no

expectations. A smile is a gift - a gift for you and for anyone else who is bathed in it. It

warms hearts. This is the kind of global warming we need and can really live with.


Old NewsPosted by Dado Won 31 Jul 2012 at 8:43 amThis is old news. Everyone has heardthat laughter does good like medicine! You have to smile in order to laugh. ;) So, smile on! In

addition, hugs also proves to increase endorphins which lowers stress and aide in the lowing

heart problems. So again, hug at least ten people a day! ;)

Study: Smile - happiness is good for you

Happiness is good for the heart - and new evidence shows that may be true in theliteral sense and not just the figurative.

A study in the journalProceedings of the National Academy of Scienceslooked at thelink between happiness and a number of health markers for more than 200 adults. All

of the men and women who participated in the study were government employees
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living in London, England, and were white, between the ages of 45 and 59, had never

been diagnosed with heart disease or high blood pressure, and had several years to go

before retirement. All the women involved in the study had gone through menopause

or were going through it.

The researchers assessed each participant on a work dayand on a weekend day.Participants were measured both at work and at play on a number of criteria,includingblood pressureand heart rate, levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and

blood fibrinogen levels, a marker for inflammation that can be a predictor of heart

disease.

Measurements were taken both under normal conditions and following a mentalstresstest. Under each condition, participants rated their happiness on a scale of 1

(low) to 5 (high).

There were no differences in happiness between people who were married or single,male or female, or of varying levels of socioeconomic status. But across the board, the

happiest participants had the best results for the various health markers.

For example, the happier participants had lower heart rates than those who were lessjoyous, even after accounting for such factors as age, BMI, and lifestyle differences

such as physical activity levels, smoking habits, and status at work.

Happier people also had, on average, 32% lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol,which can have an effect on everything from blood pressure to blood sugar levels.

And while most people had an increase in blood fibrinogen during the stress test, the

least happy people were almost four times more likely to see a rise in their levels of

this marker for inflammation. But apart from the stress test, there was no difference in

blood fibrinogen levels among participants who reported varying degrees of

happiness.

"Our findings indicate that positive affective states are related to favourable profilesof functioning in several biological systems and may thereby be relevant to risk ofdevelopment of physical illness," conclude the researchers.

But the study doesn't show that happiness actually causes these chemical changes -merely that there is a connection between the two. As well, because the results were

collected over such a short period, more research needs to be done on the long-term

health differences between happy and unhappy people.

This isn't the first study to associate your mental well-being with your physical health.Studies have linked stress to weight gain and diabetes, while depression has been

linked to everything from an increased risk of osteoporosis to dementia to heart

disease.

So when it comes to your health, while we can't say it's a case of "Don't worry, behappy," a cheerful outlook on life may keep you feeling better both physically andmentally.

Smile for better health

Be contagious with your grin

Intelligencer Journal

Lancaster New Era

Updated Nov 04, 2013 15:10

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By PAT JOHNSON

Correspondent

People get ecstatic when they're able to coax smiles from a newborn. Photographers are

always urging their subjects to "smile for the camera." When tough times hit, we're

encouraged to "put on a happy face."

But some days you just don't feel like smiling.

Smile anyway.

"Our attitude is manifested in how we feel about ourselves smiling is one indicator of how

good someone feels about himself," says Richard Wheeler of Wellness Counseling

Associates, 439 N. Duke St.

"I often use humor in counseling," Wheeler says. "I always encourage people to bring humor

into their lives. To be more positive. To laugh and smile more."

Studies have shown that smiling "activates areas of the brain associated with reward andtriggers release of the neurotransmitter dopamine," according to information from the

University of the Rockies, whose graduate programspecializes in social and behavioral

sciences. "Smiling also appears to stimulate responses in areas of the brain involving

cognition and emotional processing. Plus, there is said to be a link between smiling and

factors such as heart rate, blood pressure and other stress level indicators," according to the

university's report.

"When I look at someone, their smile is their first feature that I see. To me, a healthy smile is

a sign of both physical and mental health," says Dr. Laura S. Harkin, at SmileMaker

Cosmetic and Family Dentistry, 507 W. Broad St., New Holland.

"Most often, a smile is unorchestrated, contagious and spur-of-the-moment," Harkin says.
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"Equally as often, however, a smile and positive thought are a choice. I do believe that

committing oneself to being happy leads to more rewarding relationships."

"When we feel happy, we naturally smile. We can't even help it," says Carin Rockind, who

has a master's degree in applied positive psychology.

"An adorable puppy makes a cute face, or you see an old, dear friend approach, or you stand

in awe of nature's beauty, your mouth turns upward in a smile and you feel good," adds

Rockind, an author, life coachand adjunct professor at University of Pennsylvania.

The question is, how can we make ourselves happier when we don't naturally feel it? "Most

people don't realize that smiling is not only the product of feeling good but smiling can

actually cause us to feel better," she says. "Research out by Mark Stibich at Columbia

University shows that smiling can change our mood, relieve stress, boost the immune

system, lower blood pressureand make us more attractive to others. Plus, smiles are

contagious so when someone smiles at us, we naturally smile back, creating a moment of

joint happiness that some researchers consider to be 'love.' "

She suggests that smiling during brief periods of stress may help reduce the body's stress

response.

"So faking a smile for a momenteven if we don't feel like itmay be beneficial to the

body."

In his writings, "The Benefits of Laughter," Wheeler says: "Just as studies show the positive

effects of smiling occur whether the smile is fake or real, faked laughter also provides

benefits. So smile more and fake laughter; you'll still achieve positive effects, and the fakemerriment may lead to real smiles and laughter."

"However, I always recommend that clients feel their true feelings," Rockind adds. "We don't

want sadness to downward spiral into ruminative misery and depression. So, it is important to

feel the feeling, and then place yourself in natural situations that will make you smile, if for

just a brief moment."

She suggests that you "surround yourself with people you love, go out in nature, do an

activity that brings you joy and feel the benefits of natural smiles. And if someone really

wants to smile more, add more meaning to your life.

"Connect with something larger than yourself," Rockind says. "While a doughnut, a raise or a

new car will make you temporarily happier, you'll quickly tire of these things and pretty soon,

you'll frown from feeling gross after the doughnut, or your boss will again annoy you so

you'll forget about the raise, and the car will get dirty."

It is much more important to find hobbies, work and a life that feels fulfilling and purposeful,

like you are making a difference. Those things bring lasting satisfaction, she has discovered.

"It is important to have activities that nourish your sense of wonder, feed your soul and put

you into a state of flow."

smile for better health

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