How Smiling Enhances Happiness

A smile is a powerful thing.

Have you ever noticed that when you smile at someone, they almost always smile back at you even if you are complete strangers. Even if they were not smiling before, once you looked into their eyes and smiled, they smiled back.

A smile is a universal way of connecting with one another.

Years ago, I lived in New York City, and the hustle and bustle of city life were at times lonely and alienating. There were times when that bothered me, so I began a little game with myself that was both an experiment in the nature of energy and the power of a smile.

Now, this was just a young woman learning about life, so this was in no way a scientific experiment. Luckily science has since proven some of the things that I discovered in this game.

The Smile Game

When walking down the City sidewalks I noticed that many people did not smile as they hurried by me. The challenge in my little game was to see if I could get them to smile.

As they walked by I would make eye contact, something I noticed people in the City seemed to avoid, and smile.

A smile can be an affirmation of your joy and our unity.
– Genevieve Gerard

Amazingly I noticed that most of them would smile back. At times, I even saw confusion in their eyes as they did so, but they would almost always return my smile. It was a spontaneous response.

I like to think even that brief sense of connection served in a small way to lighten their life and dispel the sense of separation and isolation that can trap people in their loneliness.

Smile Research Studies

Years later I heard about a research study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) that discovered that a smile biochemically released endorphins into the body. In fact, the endorphins released were the same endorphins that are released when people are falling in love.

The study went on to say that the mere act of smiling worked to release those endorphins. It did not matter if the smile had a reason or not. The smile worked as a part of the amazing autonomic nervous system’s stimulus-response mechanism. The smile produced the reason to smile. The smile helped to make the person happy.

Now I understand, based on the research, that my little smile game on the City sidewalks long ago made me feel happier because it released endorphins and dispelled my sense of loneliness and isolation that could sometimes darken my emotions.

Since then, UCLA social scientists have done a great deal more research about this amazing relationship of body language and the autonomic nervous system. They have found that smiling or assuming a posture associated with success, happiness or victory, are the results in the feelings associated with the body language that is being created all around you.

Below, in the related links, I will give you a TED talk I recently heard that spoke of the many ways that you can use this information to have a positive impact on your life. As I often write, “energy follows thought,” but I find it amazing that action also has a dynamic influence on what you experience.

Back when I was a child, there was a song about whistling a happy tune that makes this point. I also think that the immense popularity of the emoticons on smartphones demonstrates this point too.

There is an old folk wisdom saying, “smile and the world smiles with you” that also makes this point.

I invite and encourage you to play with this concept and to create your own experiment. As you walk through your daily life, whenever you see someone, a friend or a stranger, look into their eyes and smile. As you do this, observe. Did they smile back at you? How did that make you feel? Did you notice a change in how you felt just by smiling? Did you observe a little jolt of joy in your heart when they returned your smile?

At the end of this post, there is a place you can comment on your experiment. Also, on my website I have a section called transformation stories where you can share your experience in more detail. I invite you to post there what happened in your life with this test.

You can raise it all up a notch by imagining love flowing from you to them with your smile. A smile is such a simple thing to give and can have such a powerful impact. Or as you make eye contact you can simply greet them with a silent Namaste.

Let my soul smile through my heart and my heart smile through my eyes, that I may scatter rich smiles in sad hearts.
– Yogananda

Real Life Example

I remember a little incident that happened after 9-11.

I was in a bank and saw a woman with a headscarf in line. I looked at her and smiled at her thinking nothing of it. As I was leaving the bank she rushed up to me and thanked me profusely. She said that since 9-11 she had felt such anger from people, and that everyone averted their eyes from her.

My simple smile reassured her and gave her hope. We ended up sharing a brief moment of healing at a terrible time in history, all because of that simple smile. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know her and never saw her again. At that moment, there was a connection.

I invite you to use your smile as an instrument for good in the world and enter into joyful playfulness that will enhance your happiness.

Namaste,

Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

The Hidden Power of Smiling: TED Talk on Smilling
The Happiness Habit
Discover How to Choose Happiness
Bliss is Perfect Happiness: Article with video meditation
Bringing Joy into Your Life
Recommended Meditation

Expressing Your Divine Spark

How Smiling Enhances Happiness Read More »

The Happiness Habit

Genevieve Gerard

The Happiness Habit

So much of our thoughts and our behaviors are habitual that bringing our awareness to what we think, and what we feel is important.

Observing our thoughts, our feelings from an objective, dispassionate perspective is an important task. I call this role, the dispassionate observer.

From the centered place of awareness that is dispassionately observing what you are thinking, what you are feeling and how you are acting, you can become the director of your life rather than a reactive observer.

Observing with awareness, without judgment, is the first step to a level of awareness that enhances your consciousness and gives you the keys to creating the life that you desire.

Your first step is to decide that you choose to be happy. Then you can begin to build into your life what makes you happy. Happiness is something you bring to life more than something that happens to you.

How you react to what happens to you is often much more important than what actually happens to you.
– Genevieve Gerard

In that process of reaction lays the power to choose to create your life or be a victim of your life. In that process of choice, a habit can play a vital role. Becoming aware of your thoughts and your feelings is an essential part of harnessing your power to be who you wish to be and how you wish to be perceived by others.

Biological research and biochemical research shows us that our subtle physical responses impact our body, and our mind and emotions. For example, smiling, releases the biochemical endorphins and hormones that are associated with happiness. Creating a habit of putting on a happy face and smiling begins to create the feelings of happiness.

Old songs such as, “Smile and the World Smiles with You” and the peppy tune Of “Put on a Happy Face” all provide a clue to this “Secret” of happiness that you can use for your wellbeing.

A smile, given to another is most often greeted naturally with a smile, so in this way you are sharing happiness into the world by developing your own happiness.

If you add to your quest to build happiness into a habit in your life, by being consciously aware of your unconscious negative “mind chatter” and choose to monitor and then harness the power of your mind and the power of your thoughts, you are well on your way. Again, using the technique of the dispassionate observer to acknowledge what your mind chatter is spewing out and then, make a conscious decision to edit and correct negative thinking into positive intended thinking you are well on your way to being the creator (not just observer) of your experience and building a habit of happiness.

A brief poem by an old friend of mine, Bernie Gunther says “There’s a positive side and negative side and at each moment you decide.” By deciding to be happy, to be hopeful, and to harness the power of your thoughts you have taken an important and vital step to living a happier and more joyous life.

Using your body in ways that stimulate the biochemistry to work for your conscious choice to be happy, then monitoring and controlling your thoughts to positive and hopeful messages to yourself are ways to bring into your life a mastery of your body-mind relationship that not only increases your happiness but reduces your stress.

These little techniques of the habit of happiness are powerful and life transforming. The more you use them, the easier they become and the happier you become. They are a simple yet effective way to change your life by changing your mind and your habits that use the integration of our mind, our emotions, our body and ultimately our creative higher self to transform our lives. Happiness is a state of mind, you decide.

Namaste,

Genevieve Gerard

The Blessing of Love on All That You Do!

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