What a smile can bring

I had to renew my driver’s license this year, and I was pleasantly surprised by how my new photo looked. Instead of eyes halfway opened and an awkward, pursed-lip grin, I’ve got a warm and pleasant smile that conveys, “I’m feeling good”, and, “It’s nice to see you.”

We hear about superfoods, adaptogens, ice bath plunges, and infrared saunas for their effects on health markers and mood-boosting properties. Fortunately, studies show the act of smiling can reduce stress, improve immune function, and brighten a person’s spirit, not to mention it's highly cost-effective.

In an article about the power of the smile, meditation instructor Jamie Pfeffer says, “Smiling absolutely changes how I think and feel. My husband and I purposely spend 60 seconds every morning smiling to supercharge our moods. If something goes awry during the day, I usually use smiling to quickly shift my mood.”

Intrigued by this, I tried the smiling experiment a few times each day, not by walking down the street with a big grin on my face, but at home and in the car while being mindful of what I experienced. I noticed tension relaxing in my muscles and a feeling of calm and contentment. Adding a positive statement like, “I’m grateful for the abundance of love in my life”, added even more impact.

Author A.R. Lucas writes, “Love is universal. An energy. A contagious force. A gift. To smile at a stranger is love.” We’ve all experienced that nice feeling when someone gives us a warm smile, even a stranger. However, many of us don’t feel comfortable smiling at someone we don’t know. Feeling somewhat guarded around strangers is common, especially since Covid. If we do smile at someone and it’s not returned, we may feel slighted.

By making the smiling practice a habit, my aim is to feel more open and comfortable in sharing it with others. How? By appreciating the fact that smiling is self-care as well as a small act of kindness that may give the recipient a “positivity hit.”

How about you? Do you smile frequently and naturally, like you’ve got plenty of them to go around, or are you on the more reserved and reluctant side like I’ve been? I encourage you to try the smile experiment for a few days, take in how it leaves you feeling, and of course, I'd love to hear about it.