Smiles better: be happy, healthy and successful
National Smile Month encourages benefits and positivity after tough two years
It’s a simple gesture but a sunny smile can completely lift a recipient’s day, and do wonders for your own positivity too, so everyone should make the most of current National Smile Month. They say smiles make the world go round and everyone is urged to grin to the max this month... hopefully it will become a lasting habit.
Launched on May 16, National Smile Month aims to help get the nation looking and feeling happy again after a particularly difficult few years.
Whether it’s a genuine and natural smile, a cute and flirtatious twinkle, or a wide grin from ear to ear, the power of the smile is extremely strong.
It takes 43 muscles to frown, and only 17 muscles to smile, so it’s an ideal time to ‘flip the frown’.
Smiles can make a positive difference, and recent research by SmileDirectClub shows that over two thirds of Brits feel happy and confident when a stranger smiles at them in the street, while a high 84 per cent would choose to smile right back at them.
Smiles are infectious. In the famous words of crooner Frank Sinatra: ‘When you’re smilin’, the whole world smiles with you’.
The physical and psychological benefits of laughter and smiling are well recorded. Research shows that those who smile more, whether consciously or subconsciously, live better and longer.
Smiling and laughter is contagious. People seem much more approachable when smiling, and when you indulge, your positivity will likely be reflected, helping you to form better relationships and cultivate positivity.
Your body releases three hormones that make you feel good when you smile. These include dopamine, endorphins and serotonin, that signal to your body that you’re happy, so in turn you feel happier.
Smiling also releases effective natural painkillers to help us to handle pain, and enhances the immune system.
When your immune system doesn’t function effectively, it will become far easier to get sick or to have an injury become infected.
Smiling helps to increase the presence of infection fighting antibodies, and creates more immune cells, so providing superior protection for your health.
If you’re not a natural smiler, it’s worth cultivating the habit for all the benefits it brings.
It can be difficult to force yourself to smile when you simply don’t feel like it, but it’s an effort that pays, as your brain doesn’t differentiate between genuine smiles and fake smiles.
Your surroundings have a substantial impact on your overall mood too, so make time to be in places and with people you like.
If you surround yourself with positive, cheerful people, you are far more likely to want to smile yourself.