Can Smiling Really Reduce Stress?
Can Smiling Reduce Stress? Yes, smiling can reduce stress. Smiling has also been proven to be extremely beneficial in many areas of whole-body health. Not feeling like smiling? Even faking a smile can be helpful in improving your mood, reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, and lowering heart rate.
The Mechanics of the Smile
Most people don’t really worry about how a smile works. They aren’t concerned about how many muscles it takes to smile or why some people have dimples. But in order to understand how a smile reduces stress, we are going to start with the muscles involved in smiling because it all ties together.
There are 43 facial muscles that move in various ways to create our myriad of facial expressions. The main “smile muscle” is the zygomaticus major. This is a matched set that travels from the hinge area of the jaw to the corner of the mouth on each side of the face.
Although each side is one single muscle, it can have a split in some people. The split is what creates dimples. Some people only have one dimple, which means that their “matched” set isn’t really matched. When the zygomaticus major is activated, the corners of our mouth curve in an upward manner.
The muscle movement unleashes a chemical hailstorm in our brain. Just kidding. But it does activate a series of neurotransmitters that do create chemical reactions.
Neurotransmitters in Your Brain
The muscles in the face start a chemical reaction when you smile. This releases neurotransmitters called endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. Each of these little messengers creates a beneficial effect:
Endorphins create feelings of happiness and help the body relax. They also act as a natural pain reliever. This is why, if we fall, the pain eases as we laugh about our spectacular landing.
Dopamine and serotonin lift our mood. They perform like an antidepressant. In some people, the brain doesn’t release enough of these “feel good” chemicals. There are pharmaceutical substitutes that provide assistance when necessary.
How Can Smiling Reduce Stress?
The simple act of smiling releases anti-stress chemicals (dopamine and serotonin) in your brain. These “feel good” transmitters travel throughout the body to relax muscles, lower blood pressure, slow the heartbeat, ease tension, and relieve stress.
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Stress, anxiety, or just slight nervousness can all be eased with a smile. Serotonin, in particular, is a great mood-lifter. The next time you are feeling kind of down or slow-starting, try forcing a smile. Hold the smile for at least 10 seconds. Pay attention to your mood.
When you’re under a deadline at work or the world seems to be caving in on you — try smiling. While not a cure-all for everything that ails us, the slight mood-lift from a 10-second smile could offer you enough relief to keep moving forward.
The Health Benefits of Smiling
In addition to reducing stress, smiling can help you create better overall health. Among some of the many health benefits available from smiling are:
- Lower blood pressure
- Pain relief
- Improved mood
- Better immune system response
- Improve relationships
- Look younger
Although all that may seem like a huge accomplishment for something as small as a smile, our bodies are all tied together. With the current COVID-19 pandemic going on, who doesn’t want to figure out ways to stay healthy?
Smile to Reduce Stress at Home or in the Workplace
At home or in the workplace, you can use smiles to reduce stress. We all have that one person who never seems to be in a good mood. Imagine if every time they grumped at you, you returned the grumpy greeting with a pleasant smile? They may still be grumpy, but you won’t!
Smiles are contagious, meaning that they spread easily from one person to the next. Unlike a virus, a smile is something we would enjoy having spread around. It is a natural reaction when someone smiles at us for us to smile back. Think about the person who politely held open the door going into the grocery store. They smiled and you smiled back.
When someone is having a rotten day, a smile can brighten their outlook. You don’t have to wait for someone to smile your way. You can help yourself “catch” an extra grin. Find a mirror and flash yourself a smile. If your reflection smiled back at you, you did it right!
The Magic of Fake Smiles
We’ve all heard the phrase “Fake it till you make it.” Surprisingly, that works with smiles too. Your brain reacts to the muscle movement of smiling. When the zygomaticus major lifts the corners of your mouth into a smile, your brain releases “feel good” chemicals. Your brain can’t differentiate between a genuine, real smile and a fake smile.
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If you’re really having a wretched day, try to smile and hold it for 10 seconds. Repeat the process several times each day. Happiness, even fake happiness is linked to better health.
The phenomenon of laughter is growing. Doctors are actually prescribing smile and laugh therapy to help people suffering from depression. Laugh yoga and group laugh sessions are springing up all over because they work. Helping people to retrain their brain from doom and gloom to laugh and bloom can work to reduce stress, promote better health, and improve lives.
Pratice the contagion of smiles. Smile at a random stranger. You might just turn someone’s whole day around!
Shy About Sharing Your Smile?
If you are shy about sharing your smile because of misaligned teeth, maybe it is time to find your dream smile. The orthodontists at Hanson Place Orthodontics are experts at braces and Invisalign®. Hanson Place Orthodontics is a Diamond+ Invisalign provider, placing them in the top one percent of all Invisalign providers.
Hanson Place Orthodontics also offers SureSmile® braces. These precision braces are robotically created and can move teeth up to 40 percent faster than traditional braces!
If you are ready to find out how to make your smile perfect so you can reduce stress by smiling more, contact Hanson Place Orthodontics at (917) 423-7630. Speak with our Appointment Coordinator to arrange your Complimentary Consultation.
