Happiness is a brainwave—smiles directly affect your brain. This is a physiological fact. And the very fact that you can always offer a smile, to yourself or to someone else, celebrates a fundamental freedom that we all possess: the freedom to choose how to respond to a situation.
And here’s how your body celebrates with a smile: it releases the “feel good” neurotransmitters such as dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin. This relaxes your body…which lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. You naturally become more receptive, thanks to your body’s own chemistry.
And when you smile at someone, it activates their orbitofrontal cortex, which is the region of the brain that processes sensory rewards. This is why we naturally appreciate a genuine smile.
And smiling is magnetic. People are more attracted to a smiling face than a neutral or frowning face. We are designed to smile with ease—and it shows. A frown takes effort—and many more facial muscles to execute. It also takes a conscious effort not to smile back when someone offers you a smile; and so smiles put us in direct relation with one another, confirming our innate interconnectedness.
That’s a lot of and’s… and we could go on… instead, try it on for yourself!
Let’s meditate.