Dr. Michelle Kmiec – The ability to smile not only changes the direction of your day but can also increase your immune system and the overall state of well-being.
We all know how infectious a smile can be, and how it can immediately brighten someone’s day!
But what is behind the power of the smile?
Recall (if you will) a few days ago, or perhaps even yesterday. You know the day I’m talking about. You slept through your alarm (which must be broken) and are now late for work.
(Darn it!)
You finally race down the stairs and run into the kitchen where you grab a yogurt from the fridge. And without missing a step, you continue like a gazelle, out of the kitchen – when suddenly the yogurt slips out of your hands and explodes all over the floor! NO, not on the kitchen floor mind you…a mere six inches beyond the kitchen door of course…on the living-room carpet!
(Oh, great!)
Well, after cleaning the mess, you’re almost at the front door when your keys drop from your hand, and as you attempt to pick them up you trip over your shoes propelling you forward only to slam your head on the doorknob!
(Ooooouchhhh…instant headache!)
Well now making your way outside as you fumble down the “thousand” flights of stairs toward your car, all the while rubbing your head where a bump the size of an egg is now growing, you realize you forgot your phone. Oh no! This is awful! Because you desperately need your phone so you can text your friends and also Facebook at the red lights, which naturally means every light!
So you make the “monumental” climb back up the stairs to retrieve your phone, which intentionally was hidden from you by the dark forces that may be! But, you do finally find your phone…so…
Okay! Finally! On the road, and then…predictably…there it is…
(THAT car!)
Which car do you ask? The one with that invisible driver that without a doubt was put on the road with only one purpose – to drive you completely nuts!
When you finally get the chance, you “floor it” to get around him and as you pass, you feel the need to express your “displeasure” by granting him one of your “teach-driver-etiquette-looks” only to feel dissatisfied when you realize he isn’t paying the slightest bit of attention to you!
(What?)
But just to make sure, you keep an eye on him in your rear-view mirror and then…BAM! You see it! You notice the biggest black speck smack in the middle of your front tooth!
(Crap!)
Oh why did you make such a fuss over your wrong Starbucks order! How you must have looked yelling at that poor barista with that black speck the size of a small house waving at her!
(No wonder she was smirking at me!)
Now that little headache has grown into a full-fledged pain in the…
…well…HEAD!
All of this and it’s only 7 AM! Yikes!
So does any of this sound familiar? Well, this is exactly what happened to me! And who hasn’t had days that begin with one stumbling block after another!
To make matters worse, doesn’t it seem that with each little thing that goes wrong, at least ten more blunders follow? And now you just await the bad mood that will no doubt set in and remain with you throughout the rest of the day.
And you are certain that none of this was your fault because, because without a shadow of a doubt, you were not the cause of any of these small incidents. All of this happened TO you! Right?
Is it possible though, that we have the power to change an
excruciatingly bad day to a day that is amazingly wonderful?
Hmmmmm… yeah, yeah, yeah we have all heard this before…positive thinking, peace, love, etc.
But what if we think about this in a slightly different way?
If you break the day (so far) down step by step, and look at it from the perspective that you are NOT in control, it might look something like this:
The “broken” alarm clock, which made you oversleep
The yogurt, which flew out of your hand on its own
The carpet for being where it was
The keys for dropping; don’t they know you are in a hurry?
The shoes for intentionally tripping you
The door for being open and in your way
The phone for hiding itself
The steps for being “monumental”
That car and driver for being on the road for the sole purpose of driving you nuts
The barista who purposely screwed up your coffee
…and lastly,
The monstrous black speck that appeared on your tooth while you were yelling at the barista!
Of course, when you break the day down like this, it just seems silly doesn’t it? Even funny!
But, nonetheless, it contributed to your mood going south, and that is your perspective and you’re sticking to it!
“Is it possible to save this day?”
Let’s see…
Continuing with your day…you decide to regroup by taking an exercise class. After all, you have heard that group classes are wonderful stress relievers! So forgetting about work, you head to the nearest gym.
Within a few minutes of arriving at a group fitness class (which happens to be an aerobic dance class) , you see a bouncy, energetic, smiling, ridiculously happy instructor who introduces herself; and then just as quickly, she starts the music!
You are focused on the instructor’s feet trying to get those steps right, thinking all the while that you’ll never be able to move like that! But you decide, “What the heck!”, and start to simply enjoy the moment.
As the class continues, your focus starts to shift from the instructor’s feet to her face – you notice an amazing smile!
You look around the room, and you notice that happy smile on everybody!
And that’s when it happens…who is THAT person with THAT smile? Why it’s YOU!
(It’s ME!)
How can that be after such a horrible start to the day? But not only has that smile wiped away the memory of how the day began, it also kicked-out that intrusive headache!
(Amazing!)
After class, on your drive home (or to work), your perspective is now quite different! Now you can laugh at the series of events that occurred only hours earlier.
And now you feel like you’re in control of your day!
Why? All because of a smile!
A simple infectious smile!
Can smiling have a positive effect on your health as well as your mood?
Absolutely! And the changes that occur are immense!
Studies have shown that the simple act of smiling can increase your body’s immune system!
Smiling also has a therapeutic effect on the circulatory system, which can reduce blood pressure, one of the nasty side effects of stress.
And what about the muscles it takes to create that smile? Did you know that they outnumber the muscles needed to create that unsightly frown despite what some people may think?
What does this mean? It means that when you smile and use those muscles, it makes you look and feel younger!
Imagine how you would look and feel if you smiled more often than you frowned!
(Interesting!)
So when thinking about the benefits of exercising, make sure that you remember the importance of the smile as well!
You never know whose day you may change! Including YOURS!
Now let’s begin this Two Part activity!
Power Smile Activity Part One
As the saying goes, “Smile and make people wonder what you are up to!”
In this part of the activity, you are going to try to maintain a minimal smile. Basically, your face should be relaxed with only the hint of a smile.
When you do this, notice how your eyebrows naturally relax as well. It is nearly impossible to smile and has “mean” eyebrows at the same time (go ahead and try it!)
Now, remember, this is only a small smile giving others the impression that you are in a friendly mood and approachable.
This type of smile should be easily maintained all day because it is more of a feeling than an actual mechanical smile.
Then, at the end of the day answer the following questions:
• Did you notice a change in your day as you were consciously smiling?
• Did your little smile ever grow into a bigger smile or lead to laughter during the day?
• How many people returned your smile?
• How many comments about your “good mood” did you receive?
• Overall, how did you feel at the end of the day?
• Did you experience less stress than usual, or find that the stress you encountered was more easily handled?
Power Smile Activity Part Two
So how did Part One go? Was your day any different once you implemented your smile? Part Two is going to build upon Part One.
This time, using all of your smile muscles, you will consciously show your smile to at least 20 people. Now we all know how a smile appears when it is obviously forced and fake. And this is the basis of your challenge. Your smile must come across as genuine so that it immediately generates a return smile from the recipient.
Of course, it is difficult to spawn a genuine smile out-of-the-blue and that is where Part One of this activity comes into play.
Repeating Part One will put you in a position that allows for a more genuine smile.
More than likely, it will only be a matter of time before a bona fide smile naturally takes over.
At the end of the day answer the following questions:
• Did you notice a change in your day as you were consciously smiling?
• Did your smile ever grow in size or lead to laughter during the day?
• How many people returned your smile?
• How many comments about your “good mood” did you receive?
• Overall, how did you feel at the end of the day?
• Did you experience less stress than usual, or find that the stress you encountered was more easily handled?
It’s time to move on to your Journal for more questions to ponder and to record more of what you observed when you simply…smiled!
SF Source Wake Up World Dec 2022