Did you know that you can use facial feedback to deceive your brain and cause a moment of happiness?Yes, happiness is an emotion/emotional state that we can attract, even in seemingly unfavorable circumstances.
We have long known that emotions are accompanied by many changes in our body, such as an increase in heart rate or the flexion of certain facial muscles that give rise to this gesture that we love: smile.
- We recently discovered that this could be a ‘double-sense street’.
- In this way we can deceive the brain by causing physical reactions through emotions and.
- Likewise.
- Through physical reactions to facilitate the appearance of emotion.
Our brain pays attention to what our body does and it affects our emotions, so the simple act of smiling, even if there is no reason, gives the body a moment of happiness that brings great benefits.
The smile is a facial grimace that puts the whole face in check when something looks beautiful, cheerful or fun, that is, it could be seen as a portrait of an emotion or a pleasant state that gives us a temporary well-being. It is often difficult to control our emotions, it is much easier to control our muscles.
Keep in mind that your smile is a powerful tool. Most people think we smile because we feel happy, but it can also be the other way around: we feel happy because we smile.
The easiest way to achieve a moment of happiness, as well as tranquility and confidence, is as simple as smiling.
For many it may seem ridiculous to say that a simple smile can attract an emotion as intense as happiness, however, this is not as ridiculous as science has devoted several experiments and studies to study the hypothesis of facial feedback.
One of the best experiments to demonstrate this hypothesis was conducted in the late 1980s. Researchers didn’t want to influence the results by telling participants what it was, so they invented an ingenious way to get certain facial muscles to bend without needing them to know the ultimate purpose of the study.
Participants were divided into groups and had to hold a pencil in three different ways. The first group held the pencil between their teeth, forcing a smile. The second group held the pencil with their lips so they could not smile; indeed, this stance forced them to frown slightly. The third group held the pencil in their hands.
Study participants looked at some cartoons and rated how fun they were. The smiling group gave the cartoons a higher rating than the group with a frown, while the third group gave intermediate notes.
In a more recent study, participants saw a series of faces with cheerful, neutral or angry expressions, they were told that the study was trying to measure the reaction time of the facial muscles, but they were actually studying emotions. Should people raise their cheeks? (smile) or frown?(sning).
Facial expression influenced how people perceived images, when they smiled, they found images more pleasing than when they frowned, and the effects of the brief smile persisted for 4 minutes.
The facial feedback hypothesis indicates that facial movements can influence the emotional experience.
Facial feedback works because the brain detects the flexion of certain facial muscles (the main and minor cigomatic, which serve to smile) and interprets it as a reason to be happy with something; Similarly, if this muscle is not bent, the brain thinks this is not the time to be happy.
But that’s not all. In addition to the feedback we receive physically at the individual level, there is another problem that influences the emotion of happiness: social feedback, it is a good practice to smile. In fact, even if you don’t feel very happy, if the people around you smile, you end up infected and also smiling.
If we strive to improve that energy that makes us smile, especially when we are with other people, the benefit will be even greater, because we will charge the environment with good vibrations, favoring an environment where it is easier to be happy.
So, if you really want to make the most of facial comments, find something to smile about or just lift the corner of your lips to fool your brain, which, in principle, is a quick forced smile, it will become a real smile. from the first moment your happiness will be real.
Whatever problem you face, this little moment of happiness will make it easier for you.