There's no doubt that a smile is meant to represent happy moments in our lives. Whether you're flashing your pearly whites for the camera or breaking into a huge grin because someone has made you laugh, smiling is undoubtedly a great way to express joy.
But some say that smiles are not just for expressing a feeling; they can also be used to prompt an emotion. Further, the lack of one could turn your mood sour. Does grinning really impact how you feel, or are our little face muscles only good for making a statement about our current emotion?
A Smile Means More Than You Think
In 1872, Charles Darwin posed the idea that our emotional responses actually had an impact on our feelings. In the same century, William James, an esteemed psychologist, went further to say that a person who does not express an emotion doesn't feel it.
I can say with certainty that, even though I wear my emotions on my sleeve, there are times that the expression on my face does not match my inner emotion. But there are also times that my ability to put a smile on my face has impacted how I feel inside.
Researchers say this shift in emotion based on a facial expression is no mistake. But here's the real kicker. While smiling make you happier, not being able to frown can work the same magic.
In Feb. 2019, psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that individuals who lost their ability to frown after receiving cosmetic botox injections were, on average, happier than people who able to frown.
What was interesting about the study is that the individuals with injections didn't feel more attractive, just happier.
Try Smiling to Improve Your Day
So is it true that smiling or frowning dictate, to an extent at least, whether you feel happy or sad?
Well, maybe it's my imagination, or I'm now the victim of the "sugar pill syndrome," but voluntarily choosing to make this facial expression encourages me to think of happier moments in my life that then give me reasons to smile genuinely.
That alone makes me think the researchers are on to something.
There's no doubt that turning lemons into lemonade, also known as giving a situation deemed negative a positive spin, works wonders in improving your opinion regarding it. So why couldn't faking it 'till you make it work with smiling too?
If our brains have been trained to assign a good mood to our smile, it certainly doesn't hurt to give it a try. If for no other reason, experts also say that smiling slows the aging process, so what do you have to lose?
You just made me smile right away.👍😆
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