Can smiling actually make us feel happier?
Andrew Weil, physician, author, educator, says this about smiling:
The "facial feedback" hypothesis holds that physically expressing an emotion sends a biochemical signal from the facial muscles that "loops" back to the brain. It's similar to the way that sound coming from a speaker can be picked up by a microphone and sent back through the speaker as amplified feedback. This has huge significance for those who aim to improve their emotional well-being, because it suggests that we can consciously control our emotional lives much more than we might have suspected.
And its true!
As an undergrad psych major, my research partner and I created a study for a class that looked at the effects of holding a pencil in your hand versus in your mouth (which mimics smiling) while viewing the same comic strip. The people who held the mouth in their pencils rated the comic as more amusing.
Try it out. When you are feeling serious - smile. Feeling grumpy? Make silly faces in the mirror.
Now is this a solution for pervasive depression? Probably not alone. Will it cure illness or make pain go away completely? Not likely. However, it can help to balance us out just a little bit more. Laughter and smiling is one resource we always have with us that can help us become more resilient.
Or watch a funny movie, read a humorous book, have fun - when we remember to enjoy life, we actually enjoy it more!
Rebecca
