I smile, you smile. You smile and she smiles. She smiles and he smiles. It’s all simple, right? Sure it is! Smiling not only shows off your physical features, but if you smile the right way, it can also positively impact your wellbeing and mood.
“Conventional wisdom tells us that we can feel a little happier if we simply smile,” says Nicholas Cole, a social psychology PhD student at the University of Tennessee. In April 2019, Cole lead a study testing whether facial expressions can lead people to feel emotions related to those expressions. “Or that we can get ourselves in a more serious mood if we scowl.”
Even during the most mundane and simple tasks, smiling has more positive effects.
Smiling can do a lot of beautiful things to your body. It can lift your mood, lower stress, boost your immune system and even prolong your life.
“The intensity of a true grin can predict marital happiness, personal wellbeing and even longevity,” according to the Association for Psychological Science. A University of Kansas study showed that smiling during strenuous activities can lead to less body stress, whether or not you are happy.
A Smile For Every Mood
There are different kinds of smiles for different kinds of emotions, with the fake smile the most common. There’s also the sarcastic smile, or perhaps the seductive smile when you want to get away with something. There are also smiles of embarrassment, of fear, of anger. But the most remarkable ― and studied ― smile is referred to as the Duchenne smile, often referred to as the genuine smile or the smile of pure enjoyment.
The Duchenne smile is named after Guillaume Duchenne, a French anatomist who studied many different expressions of emotions. It can be identified by lifted cheeks and happy eyes that are wrinkled underneath. This smile can enhance moods, improve relationships and act as an indirect way to express your emotions.
Practicing the Duchenne smile even when things don’t go accordingly can assist in having a better outlook on obstacles. This smile is accepted as genuine by the brain, which helps improve your mood. It also has the power to improve your wellbeing and trigger empathy.
Party in Your Brain
Smiling has also been proven to have a positive effect on the brain ― think of it as prompting a little feel-good party in there. With every smile, your brain releases neuropeptides, which tell your entire body when you’re happy, sad or nervous. These neuropeptides play an important role in fighting off stress. In particular, the feel-good neuropeptides — endorphins, serotonin and dopamine — are released each time you smile.
This, in turn, relaxes your body and positively impacts health and happiness. The endorphins also act as a pain reliever without having any side effects, while serotonin does a great job at being a mood lifter.
On top of all the benefits to you, smiling is contagious. So next time you see someone, give them a big smile and make them feel good, too.