We all know that smiling is the most positive thing you can do in most social situations but did you know that smiling can have a big impact on your health and my actually extend your life ?
Research into the science of smiling has found some amazing facts about smiling:
- Smiling is one of the most basic expression that is common to all humans
- A smile can generate the same level of good feelings through brain stimulation as up to 2000 bars of chocolate – even if the smile is not genuine as the smiles used signal a good feeling in the brain.
- Smiling reduces stress-enhancing hormones and increases the level of mood-enhancing hormones, as well as reduce blood pressure.
- A smiling expression makes you appear more competent in the eyes of others.
There are many different sorts of smiles from the fake smile you give a boss you don’t like to Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile to the warm, genuine smile of a best friend.
Smiling Decoded
According to psychologist and recognised smile expert, Paul Ekman, only one muscle is required to smile yet it is a highly complex form of human expression. In fact he has identified 18 distinct types of smiles including:
- The felt smile – results from genuine positive feelings and is usually long in duration
- The fear/contempt smile – results from emotions that are not positive yet can result in a mouth that is ostensibly smiling
- The dampened smile – a smile that suppresses or hides the extent of the positive emotion
- The miserable smile – the “grin and bear it” smile that covers negative emotions
- The flirtatious smile – results partially from shyness or embarrassment is usually links with someone looking away from the cause of the emotion.
Smile Your Way to Business Success
Smiling can also have an impact on success in business. To compete in a global economy against countries with lower labour costs Australia must simply do things better. An important part of that is customer service excellence. People will be doing business online more and more. That means when they do actually meet a real person face-to-face it needs to make an impact.
That’s where the smile comes into play. It’s been found that smiling makes a big difference to the customer experience. In a survey of Australian businesses 30 percent were found to be lacking in customer service.
Another study showed that people who smiled appeared more likeable and to be therefore more competent than those who didn’t.
Smiling can help everyone, not just businesspeople. By smiling more you can introduce a lot more positive energy into your everyday life.
The smile is free and can break down barriers between people.
What’s it’s been shown more smiling that even if not heartfelt can make YOU feel good and that can have a big impact on your health, long term.
Here are some ways you can introduce more smiling into your life:
- Build connections – by smiling you can fast-track connection with people. A sincere smile goes a long way even before any words are spoken you are already connecting.
- Break down barriers – when you smile you flag that you are open and approachable. This breaks down any preconceived ideas that you may have generated in others people’s minds.
- Affect positive outcomes – a smile can turn a potentially negative encounter or situation into a positive one. Not only does it brighten your own mood but it causes others to join and smile with you.
- Spread goodwill – smile generate positive energy. If you walk through life frowning life will frown back at you in many ways.
- Give hope – by showing someone in need a sympathetic smile you are showing your compassion and humanity.
- Show strength of character – when you smile in the face of adversity you are showing yourself to be a strong, confident character that can rise above setbacks.
Mosman Fine Dental is dedicated to helping people achieve the smile they want. With a full range of advanced dental procedures they can help you to maximise the power of your smile.
