In moments of lightheartedness and joy, smiles come naturally. Whether you’re alone or socialized in a group, those naturally-occurring smiles feel contagious (spoiler alert: they are). When your mood isn’t so great, smiling can feel nearly impossible.
From stressful traffic to a strained relationship, putting a smile on your face during the tough times is no easy task. In the end, smiling is something that can directly benefit you, your mood, and those around you. So, read on for motivation to turn that frown upside down!
Smiling Improves Your Mood
While we don’t recommend this strategy for everything, sometimes it’s okay to fake it until you make it. In fact, studies suggest that smiling goes both ways: it both reflects your emotional state and influences it.
This means there is a correlation between smiling and a positive emotional state, even if you’re faking. Unsurprisingly, the ability to manipulate your internal state by changing the external contributes to the next benefit of smiling.
Smiling Helps Your Health
While it’s easy to dismiss the adages of smiling through struggles or staying positive through pain, it turns out that there’s actually solid truth behind them. According to a recent study, genuine smiles (also known as Duchenne smiles) that activate the muscles both around the mouth and eyes help reduce stress and lower heart rates in stressful situations.
The ability of genuine smiles to act on your physical state will not only improve your mood, but also contribute to a healthier, happier body.
Smiling Creates Connections
Humans share their emotions and make interpersonal connections in a variety of ways, but few are as strong or as effective as a smile. In fact, smiles have more functions than simply showcasing happiness.
Smiles make people seem more approachable and more trustworthy. Whether you’re working in a service business, going on a date, or simply trying to give yourself a more welcoming aura, smiling is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success. People appreciate the friendliness and invitational nature of a smile, so let your smile shine!
The benefits of smiling extend to social situations in another way—you can pass on or receive them. While the idea of smiles being contagious may sound silly, humans actually have something called mirror neurons that cause them to respond to smiling by—you guessed it—smiling. Not only does this help foster a spirit of community when you’re surrounded by friends, it helps the positive benefits of smiling be shared as well!
Our Final Thoughts
While we’ve touched on some of the primary benefits of smiling, there are several more to be explored. In short, allowing (and even forcing) yourself to smile can make your life better on the surface, but on a deeper, more meaningful level as well.
It’s unfortunate that so many people actively work to hide their smiles. A lack of confidence associated with one’s teeth is extremely prevalent in a society where teeth are expected to be perfectly straight, pearly white, and all-around aesthetically pleasing.
We believe that every individual should have the confidence to let their smile show in the good times and the bad. Whether it’s sharing laughter with friends or reaping the health benefits of smiling through the tough times, our smiles are our portal to not only displaying our internal joy, but to developing that joy in the first place.