Written by: Sam Rehan, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
An older adult shared with me that a man smiled at her as she passed him walking home. She failed to smile back. Later that evening, she sat feeling anxious and alone. Her thoughts took her back to earlier that day, and she remembered the beaming smile she received from the stranger. She started to smile, and she felt somewhat better. She told me to let people know that sometimes people cannot smile back for many reasons, but perhaps like me, they can receive the gift of a smile later. The shining smile from a random stranger was a little act of kindness, and it had the power to provide me support in a time of need. Sometimes all it takes to make the day better is a smile, whether it’s one someone gives to you or one you share with another.
Smiling is part of our nature, and it is widely thought to be a universal product of human evolution rather than shaped by one’s culture. The smile has been described as the world’s most powerful gesture. Smile and the world will smile with you. When one person looks at another and smiles, a brief bond is said to be formed. In a world where social media interactions can lessen meaningful connection and perhaps lead to more loneliness, a real-life, real-time human connection with a smile has great power. Putting a smile on your face can help you project confidence even when you are not feeling particularly confident. By raising a smile, you’ll actually begin to feel positive emotions that’ll boost your confidence and help you to overcome shyness and lessen social anxiety.
With a genuine smile, your brain starts to feel more positive emotions. A warm, friendly smile shows you're relaxed and comfortable, which aids relationships and communication. When you smile at someone, they tend to smile back as brain cells (neurons) pick up and mimic the body language and facial expressions of those around them. When you smile, you can activate person’s neurons and gets them smiling too, and they start feeling more positive and feel positive around you – supportive for all relationships.
A genuine smile makes others more receptive, and the more others are receptive to you, the more positive experiences you’ll have with others. More positive experiences lead to less doubt, fear and insecurity. When you smile, you radiate confidence and warmth, and others are more comfortable approaching and engaging with you.
Self-reflection exercise
How much do I smile?
What makes me smile?
In my social group, who smiles a lot?
How does smiling make me feel?
What helps me to smile or makes me feel more comfortable about smiling?
Who do I want to smile more with?
Have I made someone smile today?
The structure of a smile
A smile can begin with your senses. Perhaps someone holds your hand, you hear something pleasant, or a beautiful scent meets you. You may have a thought, an old memory that comes into thought, your children as babies, or a flashback to your party last year. You may want to reward another or others with a smile. You may want to signal that you are not a threat or use a smile to navigate a social group. The brain interprets the information and commands a change in the face… a muscle in the cheek (the zygomatic major) draws the lips upward. Some smiles include another muscle (the orbicularis oculi) which surrounds the eye socket and raises your cheeks, causing the subsequent laugh lines at the outside corners of your eyes. This whole process typically lasts from two-thirds of a second to four seconds.
Smiling aids health
How is it that smiling reduces stress and can even be used to get you relaxed, so you fall asleep more easily? Smiling is health-boosting. When you smile, you tell your brain it feels good, and when your brain feels good, it tells you to smile even more. Information from the muscles in your face influences your emotional state and creates changes in the body. Chemical messengers of the mind that cause emotions are called neurotransmitters.
(DOSE): Dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins are neurotransmitters triggered by smiling
Dopamine is associated with pleasure and need. The right amount of dopamine contributes to feelings of alertness, focus, motivation, and happiness. Aside from its ‘feel good’ function, dopamine is involved in many body functions.
Oxytocin is associated with a feeling of belonging. When we connect with another person through a smiling face, oxytocin is released and associated with feelings of calm, support and nurture. One of the main benefits of oxytocin is that it reduces the stress hormone cortisol, allowing for the slowing of one’s heart rate and lowering of blood pressure.
Serotonin is Associated with feelings of happiness and well-being. The majority of this neurotransmitter is found in the gastrointestinal tract (the central part of the digestive system), working as an antidepressant by controlling your mood, bowel movements, and even sleep activity. This can explain why smiling has been compared to getting a good night’s sleep.
Endorphins help to lower your anxiety levels, promoting greater physical and mental health. Endorphins are released when a person gets hurt, but also during exercise, excitement and laughter. In addition to blocking pain, endorphins can make people happy and produce a feeling of well-being.
The most studied smile
There is only one smile that researchers consider the sole indicator of true enjoyment… a Duchenne (pronounced Doochen) smile is a natural smile of enjoyment. The smile is distinctive, with the mouth turning up, the cheeks lifting and the eye sockets crinkling – it is the latter facial movement that makes this smile different from other types of smiles. The non-Duchenne smile doesn’t reach the eyes but resides only on the lips and possibly the cheeks. When you see someone displaying a Duchenne smile, you naturally feel positive emotions for the person smiling, and this particular type of smile has been studied for over a century. Brain scans revealed that Duchenne smiles produced greater activity in the region, with clear connections to positive affect. A study found that heart rates among the smiling group with a Duchenne smile stayed the lowest during stress recovery. Patients with depression showed more Duchenne smiles on their discharge interviews than during their admissions, and research involving the Duchenne smile has been used to predict marital happiness, personal well-being, and even longevity. Non-Duchenne smiles can reflect a rather wide range of emotions, including pain, embarrassment, deceit, and grief. Alongside the Duchenne smile, other types of smiles have been described. For example, people smile when they’re embarrassed, frightened, flirting, horrified, or mortified. Fewer genuine, Duchenne smiles are found when lying occurs.
Genuine smiles are thought to serve a social purpose, and evidence suggests may be to indicate selfless concern for the well-being of others(altruism) and cooperation.
What about fake smiles?
Most commonly, people smile when they are happy because smiling reflects happiness. But people also smile to mask negative emotions such as unhappiness and embarrassment. Have you been told, ‘Cheer up, it may not happen?’Do you put on a false smile to hide certain feelings? There’s no harm in smiling, but habitually forcing your expression into the shape of a smile can have a negative effect. Research has shown that smiling to hide your negative emotions could make you feel worse. Smiling for the sake of smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and withdrawal, with a worsening of mood. When people are shown photographs of subjects with fake and genuine smiles and are asked to spot the false and the true, the participants normally get around 60% right. There is evidence that substantial minorities of people have the ability to produce a Duchenne smile deliberately and put on convincing (false)emotions in everyday life.
How can I raise a smile when it feels difficult?
If you are faced with a difficult time, it can be very hard to raise a smile. Smiling helps you to find relief from stress and pain and allows you to remember you can still enjoy life despite what you are facing. Firstly, sit down, which helps you access relaxation. Focus on your breath, which helps you to move your attention to your body. Close your eyes if it feels comfortable and picture a positive memory of joy and happiness or think of someone you love, a family member, a friend or a pet, or a teacher.
The second strategy that works well is to move in any way you can that feels good and safe. Movement can help you move towards a smile as it takes you away from your thoughts and back into your body. Choosing to walk around the room or even sway or dance can often help create an inner shift towards feeling better and lead to a genuine smile. If you are unable to stand or walk, shake your hands or shrug your shoulders, or sway as you remainseated. I have worked with clients with very little mobility, and very slight movements moved them away from anxious thoughts to connect with their bodies.
Perhaps a smile is not possible right now, but it is likely that the intention to smile and movement has led to you softening, feeling better, and being open to a smile in the near future.
Smile with your heart, smile with your eyes and fall into life’s joyful surprise – Sam Rehan
Read more or listen: Laugh More: Soar in Your Health, Career and Relationships (Sam Rehan, 2020)
Sam Rehan, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Sam Rehan is a high impact well-being motivator, wellness professional, author and speaker with an exceptional track record. Sam has been a corporate trainer for 21 years and has over 30+ years of expertise working in everything from corporate training and management to health, science, and scientific research, to holistic therapies and cognitive coaching.
Sam’s motto is: Be Well. Work Well. Lead Well. She currently helps teams and individuals in high-pressure environments to reduce anxiety, accelerate thinking, and integrate sustainable self-care techniques into their lives. Sam’s gentle, nurturing, yet highly transformative methods are all backed by real science with a focus on long-term success. She not only teaches these methods to her clients, but lives and models them in her own life as well.
At age 50, Sam continues to teach happy ageing and improved wellness with her trademark approach, utilising the lightness of laughter, powerful relaxation techniques, and her magnetic energy and enthusiasm – all of which are on clear display in her breakthrough book, Laugh More: Soar In Your Health, Career and Relationships.
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