The expression you wear on your face is far more important than the clothes you wear, the car you drive or the phone you carry. It’s the one thing that impacts your relationships, work and most of all, your own #StateOfMind. So what is your most impactful #expression? It’s your #smile. It is one of the first things people notice about you. It is a universally effective tool of #NonVerbalCommunication that opens doors, hearts, coveys goodwill, warmth and #confidence. So go ahead and use your smile generously. It’s free. It’s highly infectious, like a virus… a very happy fever!
Science of Smiling
All this time you may have believed that your brain alone effects your expressions and moods. However, the latest research on the #ScienceOfSmiling proves that smiling is a two way process, and feedback from your face hugely affects your #mood and #behavior. A smile involves facial changes that have a direct effect on #BrainActivities associated with #happiness. Facial muscles when activated, create a change in temperature that triggers certain #biochemical processes. A smile leads to a cooler brain, creating #PositiveEmotions, while a frown makes the brain warmer, producing #NegativeEmotions. This may well be where the term #HotHead originated from!
Universal Language: Smile-hili
Ever wondered why you don’t quite like some people even before you have a conversation with them? Well, the answer lies in non-verbal communication that comprises over 65% of how humans #communicate. It comprises facial expressions, eye movement, gestures, posture and all other bodily signs primarily #FacialExpressions. However, a smile has emerged as the most effective form of non-verbal communication. From the #HipCities to the remotest #TribalVillages, a smile is the universal language of #friendship and good intentions, across the world. In fact, it’s so effective that even a smile on the phone attracts a positive response. So the next time don’t be intimidated if you’re travelling and don’t know French, Italian or Swahili. As long as you practice your Smile-hili, you’ll get along just fine!
Smile Your Way To #BetterHealth!
Smiling often and regularly
reduces stress, anxiety and #PanicAttacks.
It makes you calmer, lowers blood pressure and also works as a #NaturalPainKiller. It creates an additional 10% of oxygen and glucose in the bloodstream and this makes you more active, energetic, sharpens your memory and improves learning.
Smile: An Instant Facelift
In the age of dial-a-facelift, it’s easy to forget that jabs and knives are not the only way to attain facelift-nirvana. There is an even faster, #InstantSolution. It’s your smile! It is a fact that when you smile you get an #InstantFacelift. It lends softness to your face and makes you look years younger than when you are grumpy, broody or simply stone faced. It makes your appearance more joyful giving you a more #youthful disposition. Test it out! Pull out some of your photos where you are genuinely smiling and others where you are not and see the difference for yourself.
Botox Vs Smile Yoga!
#Botox, used to fight #FacialWrinkles, temporarily paralyses the muscles that cause creases. When used around the mouth area, it restricts your smile. Researchers have discovered that this inability to smile when you are happy gets transmitted back to the brain, reducing the intensity of happiness. So if your wondering why you don’t feel quite as happy after your Botox shot, this may be the reason. The good news is there is a really good alternative at hand. With no #SideEffects. It’s called #SmileYoga. It just needs ten mins. Can be done anywhere, anytime and the results will leave you smiling!
Types of Smiles
Now that you know so much about your smile, before you go on to unleash it, it’s important to know your “true smile”. Uncomplicated as the act of smiling may seem, hardworking researchers have identified over fifty #TypesOfSmiles! But most of us commonly use only two types. The first is the “fake” or “PanAm” smile. The latter moniker coming from the erstwhile namesake airline which used this to train their cabin crew . A tradition that continues to flourish across airlines even today.
The #FakeSmile is the one where you only use the muscles around the mouth. The top half of your face, especially your cheeks and eyes remain almost unchanged. This is the smile you use most often out of #SocialCourtesy. It’s sort of like an #OnDemand smile, easy to paste on your face irrespective of how you’re feeling within. The bad news is that most people unconsciously recognize the sincerity (or lack of it) of your smile simply looking at the top half of your face. And most people instinctively don’t generate a genuine positive response to a fake smile. Think about how many times #passengers smile back at the #airhostesses greeting them!
Now to the real stuff. The #GenuineSmile, also known as the #DuchenneSmile (named after the neurologist of the same name). This is your jackpot, your trump card. It’s your natural and spontaneous smile. This is what you need to bring about real change internally and externally. It’s not just about your mouth. It involves using all your facial muscles, including your eyes. The easiest way to identify a genuine smile is by noticing the lifting of the cheeks and the crinkling around the eyes, as this is very hard to fake. Unless you’re dealing with Tom Cruise who seems to have mastered the “smile crinkle.,”
Nurturing Your Genuine Smile
Behavioral scientists have been pretty busy for the past few decades trying to figure out what feature makes people likeable, approachable, friendly and attractive. Their hard work finally paid off when they found their answer. The topmost factor is the smile. Yet in some cultures NOT smiling is considered a sign of strength and power. While in others, people simply don’t like to smile. Or perhaps, just find to hard to so. If smiling does not come easy to you, here are some tips that may give you a nudge in the smiley direction.
- Before opening your eyes every morning, visualize a pleasant memory or scenario in your mind. And smile!
- Make eye contact with yourself in the mirror whenever you are alone and smile!
- Put a picture of someone or something that makes you happy in places where you will see it often. On the fridge, the bedside table, work station, laptop and even the phone screensaver. Each time you see this picture, smile!
- Compile a #SmileCD with songs that make you happy and listen to it at least once a day. And smile!
- Cultivate you lighter side. Notice small happy or funny things around you. Watch funny serials. Read funny books. And when you find something to smile about, remember to tell your face that! And smile!
Smile To Be A People Magnet & Attract the Opposite Sex
When you genuinely smile at someone, they tend to naturally smile back and this releases #endorphins in their body. The signal sent to their subconscious mind about you is -- "This person makes me feel good" . The mind memorizes this and it helps break the ice and makes them like you and trust you. Your smile also attracts the #OppositeSex by giving them a feeling of comfort and triggering their pleasure centers (only in their brains!!), so if you want to be a people magnet, start by smiling now!
Smiling & Divorce
A recent research found a direct relation between #smiling and #divorce! Strange as it may sound, apparently you can judge a person’s chances of divorce by looking at their childhood and teen pictures. The more they smile in their pics, the lower their chances getting divorced. So next time you plan to get hitched, it may be worthwhile to dig through your sweetheart’s old picture trunk. And if you’re already married, smile more at your spouse…may help you avoid a divorce!
Smile To Be A Better Parent
Babies are not born knowing how to smile. They learn it my mimicking the people around them. As they grow, they pick expressions and behavior from their surroundings and their state of happiness is often a reflection of this. If they see their parents happy and smiling, they pick the positive signals and this affects their temperament, performance and personality. If you smile a lot at your kids they are #subconsciously assured of your support and love. So don’t get so bogged down in the stresses of #parenting that you forget to smile at them. A smile is worth a lot more than any gadgets or guitar lessons you can get them!
Start Your Smile Distribution Network
Start your own SDN! Remember smiles are the only instantly multipliable asset that you have. They cost you nothing and are easy to distribute. So stop hoarding smiles. Instead, learn to ‘release’ them. It's not only great for others, but also for you.
Start by smiling at more people. Family, staff, co-workers, pets and even strangers. Smile at the shopkeeper, the parking attendant. Find excuses to smile . Consciously remind yourself to smile every few minutes, even by yourself.
Dale Carnegie, in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, best summed up the lasting impacts of a smile: “It costs nothing, but creates much. It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give. It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever. Some people are too tired to give you a smile, may we ask that you leave them one of yours? For nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none left to give!”
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