There is scientific research that shows that smiling improves the quality of life. Studies on the Science of Smiles indicate that a good daily dose of smiles and laughter is very good for your health and can help reduce stress, bring several benefits to your body and mind, in addition to positively altering your emotional state, improving your well- being. be.
Check out the many benefits of smiling in your daily life:
Helps reduce anxiety
By smiling, we increase the production of some hormones, such as endorphin and serotonin, known to be some of the hormones of happiness. With them, we alleviate the symptoms of stress and anxiety on a daily basis.
There is still a study done in 2007 by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), which shows that, when smiling, approximately 17 muscles are worked at the same time, relaxing the body from tensions.
Stimulates blood circulation
Smiling makes us relax, which helps the immune system to function more efficiently. One of these advantages is the increase in blood flow, pumping our blood with more energy, lowering blood pressure and helping to prevent heart attacks and other types of heart disease.
Tones facial muscles
When we smile and laugh, we move the musculature of our face, improving the elasticity of our skin. According to studies, when we have a good laugh, we move about 12 muscles and activate facial blood circulation, this makes our skin firmer and prevents the appearance of wrinkles.
Improves brain function
Laughter makes the lungs breathe in and out more quickly, bringing oxygen to our entire body. A good laugh can help us develop our thoughts more clearly, as well as providing us with a more effective creative process.
Smiling makes us happy
Charles Darwin was one of the first to suggest that how we physically react to an emotion also influences our mood. That is, the simple act of smiling, instead of just being a consequence of the fact that we are happy, is also something that makes us happier in itself.
He’s our business card
The smile is proven to be one of the most efficient ways to communicate. Also according to a survey conducted in 2007 by IBGE, communication between human beings happens 93% non-verbally and only 7% verbal.
Have you ever heard the phrase that says a smile opens doors? It helps us to minimize stress in the work environment, creates a cycle of positivity with the people around us, in addition to stimulating cooperation, creativity and productivity on a daily basis.
The smile has the power not only to change your mood, but the mood of everyone around you as well. In a waiting room or on a crowded public transport, for example, we tend to sit next to those people who, at the first contact, smile at us. In the business world, on the other hand, we can say that a smiling salesperson has his negotiations facilitated through this bond, in a way affective and contagious, created and consequently ends up selling more.
Smiling improves quality of life
Experts say that smiling brings benefits to the mind and body, helping the proper functioning of facial and abdominal muscles, in addition to the respiratory, cardiovascular and immune systems, as mentioned above.
Smiling also makes things lighter. From the moment we face the adversities of everyday life with positivity and a smile on our face, our days become easier and more pleasurable, improving our quality of life, in addition to helping us with our self-esteem – because we will start to see everything from different and positive way, including ourselves.
According to professionals at Hospital Albert Einsten, laughter is even beneficial during the treatment of some diseases, as it alters the emotional state, causing well-being in patients. A study released in 2006 by the School of Medicine at Loma Linda University, in California (USA), points out that laughter increases the production and activity in the body of NK cells ( natural killers ), responsible for destroying viruses and even tumors present in the body. Therefore, the smile has been used as a humanization resource in the care of patients in hospitals around the world.
Smile Therapy
Even – and even more so – when you find yourself in difficult times, smiling can give you good feelings, such as happiness and relief.
With that in mind, check out a list of activities that can help you make smiling a daily practice:
The alarm
When your alarm goes off in the morning, try to take time to smile and be grateful for the good things that are happening in your life. We know that everything is a big rush, so you can take that time while on your way to work or college, for example. Even though in bad times it is difficult to think on the positive side, you would be surprised to see the amount of good things that happen to us daily and – just because we are focusing only on the negative – we fail to notice. So be grateful daily foranother day in the world and for the daily opportunity to make that moment worthwhile.
Meditation
Meditation and breathing exercises are also a great alternative to reduce stress levels and improve your quality of life. In addition to taking time to practice these exercises, always try to do them with a smile on your face.
The smile walk
When you go out on the street to walk, try to do it in a happy, relaxed and contemplating the world with your smile. Greet people with whom you feel comfortable in a happy way, this will surely make their day better too.
On the phone
We know that, especially when working with this, we are not always able to answer the phone cheerfully. However, try to practice this exercise in your daily life. When the phone rings, try to smile genuinely and remember something in your life that makes you happy, it will make the conversation flow in a better way.
Check out the article Stress at work: 8 tips for you to learn how to reduce it
At home
We know that not every day is easy and we are not always able to get home in a smiling and happy way and there is no problem about that. Above all, we need to understand that life is not just about joy and that, in the comfort of our homes, it is where we feel most comfortable to be ourselves and let off steam about how we feel.
However, it is important to remember that this place should not be used only for outbursts and moments of sadness. So whenever possible, come home and greet your family and pets with a big smile on your face, tell us how your day was and all the amazing things that happened on it – remember that you should never do this forcedly and with in order to mask any feeling, it is just an exercise to make the home environment the best possible place, in addition to making your life and the life of the one you love more pleasant too.
Good night smiling
Try to spend the last minutes of your day smiling too. Think about what happened and the special things that day was able to provide you. Be grateful and fall asleep with a smile on your face daily.
Hobbies
Another very effective opportunity to smile more is to find something you love to do and make time for it. Be it reading, writing, drawing, dancing, singing, knitting, there are several activities that you can do, you just have to look and see what makes you genuinely happy.
Take time for fun
In addition to hobbies, going to comedy shows, movies, watching something funny on TV or the internet, being with your friends, playing with children and pets etc., are also great ways that can make you have fun and laugh a lot more.
Finally, we emphasize that, due to daily difficulties, not always smiling is the first thing that comes to mind. But it is more than proven that smiling, yes, it can be the best medicine.
