Smiling more is one of the points that many have adopted on their goal list; However, its application may be more difficult than we think. Sometimes we have to do it inadvertently, based on a hypothesis: being happy makes us smile, how smiling makes us happier.
The theory on which this premise is based determines that the way we communicate with our bodies affects us emotionally, if we take a despondent and melancholy position, it is very likely that we will also adopt that mentality, so we can say that our verbal communication has side effects on us.
Smiling more makes us feel better
Smiling is a universal gesture, which means it is shared by all mankind. The funny thing is, it’s not just about showing that we’re happy or satisfied. Actually, there are three types of smile:
Although it is hard to believe, adopting a relaxed and happy posture makes us feel precisely relaxed and happy, so smiling more helps us demonstrate happiness. There is a study, conducted in the 1980s by Fritz Strack, showing this:
In the study, two groups of people were exposed to comics that they were supposed to read with a pencil in their mouths, which stimulated the larger cigomatic muscle, causing the characteristic cheek lift of the smile.
The pencil group was more sensitive to humorous content than the penless group, so it was concluded that reproducing the smile gesture physiologically promotes a positive mood.
With this developed a very influential theory in psychology, which argued that the gesture led to emotion, in the same way, we know, emotion produces the gesture.
However, after this first study, others were developed that tried to replicate the result. Unfortunately, none of them achieved such clear results, so the idea is currently being questioned. There is no modern experience that strongly supports the results of the Strack study.
Indeed, if you reproduce the experience at home, in front of a mirror, another known phenomenon is likely to intervene, this time frequently tested: the placebo effect, with this curious effect we can experiment with processes, drugs or treatments that lack active. ingredients or real effectiveness.
Faced with this situation, it is up to us to ask ourselves if there are really exercises to smile more and be happier, as evidenced by Professor Laurie Santos of Yale University with the most popular course in the history of the university, in her course How to be happy. , describes 5 actions daily if we want to increase our subjective state of happiness:
Several times a week, or even every night, we will write in a notebook or notebook for what we are grateful for, this we can do by answering the following questions: what do we have to make us happy and/or thank us for being present in our lives?
It’s not about sleeping much, it’s about sleeping efficiently, with age sleeping eight hours a day it becomes practically a utopia, it seems that with age we need fewer hours of sleep and we also have more problems that make it difficult to fall asleep.
However, we all know the benefits of a good rest, which contributes to the proper functioning of our hormonal system, which in turn affects vital functions, such as metabolism, digestion and concentration.
With only 10 minutes of daily meditation, our mood will improve, the effectiveness of this practice is more than proven Plus, it has incredible quality: it improves mindfulness.
Spending time with the people we love helps us relax, forget our obligations and finally be happier It will be because social relationships and interpersonal relationships are linked to moments of happiness: holidays, parties, celebrations, games?
Inevitably, spending more time with the people you love means spending less time on other forms of communication. An example: when we exchange messages through screens.
It is true that social networks have given us many advantages, but not without the “real relationships”. Pay a price. Let us think that in terms of subjective perception of our quality of life, real relationships are much more important, because a smile of happiness is worth not much more than sharing it besides an emoticon.
And finally, don’t forget to smile anymore!