I'm smiley, what can I say!
I'm a happy and smiley guy!
But wait, the fact that I'm smiley is helping me to stay happy?
Science is ON THE FACE, er, Case!
Emotions are private affairs, they exist almost completely inside our bodies, but our face
is highly connected to the expressing of these emotions.
Even back in the 1870s, Darwin believed emotions expressed outwardly were more intense than
those held in.
The thing is, it's not a one way street; emotional expression on the face, feeds BACK into the
brain too!
The face is connected to the brain by the seventh cranial nerve.
The nerve runs exits the skull just in front of your ears and splits into five branches
which activate different parts of the face.
Let's all agree to stop telling people it only takes four muscles to smile… or whatever
number of muscles.
There are 43 muscles in the face on average, some people have MORE facial muscles, and
some less.
According to HowStuffWorks, it takes 10 muscles to smile and six to frown… but even though
it's tougher to smile, that work isn't going to waste!!
Smiling is a generally universal expression of happiness; one of the only universal expressions
actually.
Multiple studies have shown even FAKE SMILING will help you find things funnier and feel
happier.
In the 1970s and 80s, psychologists determined faking a smile will help people feel less
stressed and happier overall.
Research from the University of Kansas showed people being forced to smile could endure
mild icewater pain and recover more quickly!
To force a smile, volunteers were told to hold a pen or chopstick in their teeth, like
a dog bone, or with their lips.
One makes a smile, the other a pout…
A new study from Germany mimicked these by forcing people to smile, and then measuring
how they felt.
They were shown Gary Larson's Far Side comics -- Sidebar: Stuff like this is why I love
the Germans.
-- And you know what?
People with the pen in their teeth rated the comics as FUNNIER!
It's not just a feedback loop through your nerves.
Smiling constricts the internal carotid artery which brings blood to your brain.
The constricted vessel lowers the temperature of the blood and thus the brain overall.
A hot brain happens when people are stressed or afraid, cooler brains occur when people
are calm or happy.
Essentially, by fake smiling you may be tricking your brain into making you feel happy.
And finally, as we've said a number of times, humans are social creatures, so when you smile,
others will SEE that and reflect it back to you.
A botox surgeon in Maryland froze the frown lines on a number of patients, making it impossible
for them to LOOK sad.
A published study followed patients who had this done, and believe this resulted in a
facial feedback-loop!
They were unable to express sadness, and they all self-reported lower levels of depression,
anxiety and irritability.
Though, we're not saying go get botox, that's pretty extreme, but It's like Louis Armstrong
said, "when you're smiling, the whole world smiles at you!"
And on top of that, you'll feel happier too!
So go try it!
GET OUT THERE AND SMILE!
People can tell when you're faking your smile, though…
so make sure you watch this video about that.
Do you ever force yourself to put on a happy face?