What Magic Can Your Smile Ignite?

Exploring the Perks of Smiling

Did you know that you have something so precious that you can flaunt before anyone without the fear of getting it stolen? Just let your lips form an upward curve, there you have the answer, that pretty smile of yours!

Even before this world heard you crying for the first time, your mother’s womb witnessed your smile. With time, that fragile body grew up robustly. The irony? In the attempt of firmly facing the world, facing life, connection with that pure smile somewhere became fragile instead. And now, that smile is trying so hard to claim a place on your face. 

Ever wondered why do your smile need to play this hide and seek with the world? Why does an expression as simple as a smile need a complex reason to be evoked on your face? In my view, every piece of the universe is in itself a reason to smile. But if you’re still hunting those reasons, here are some of the finest ones to lift the impression of your smile in your eyes. Read till the end to fill your pockets with the benefits of your smile and unveil the magic it holds! 

5 Benefits of Smiling

1. Smiling can enhance your overall health.

Research suggests that smiling reduces the level of stress and helps in better stress recovery. It aids in relaxing the mind and body. Smiling helps in lowering blood pressure. It is also beneficial in enhancing heart health as well as strengthening one's immune system. So the next time you want to add more warriors to the defense system of your body, smile more! 

2. Smiling elevates the mood.

Smiling rings the mini celebration alarms in your brain. Every time you smile, your brain releases neuropeptides (chemical messengers that enable communication between neurons) that combat stress.

The brain also releases happy hormones (or feel-good neurotransmitters) such as endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine to rescue you from a bad mood. Serotonin acts as an antidepressant or mood enhancer. And endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers. They relieve pain and promote the feeling of pleasure. So, use that factory of painkillers that comes with no side effects!

Even if it's a fake smile, it can still do wonders. Here’s a secret for you, your brain can be naive sometimes and can be tricked to feel happy. It cannot differentiate clearly between a fake and a natural smile. So when your facial muscles are stretched into a smile, your brain gets the signal to release happy hormones.

Facial expressions, thus, can play the role of a referee in deciding what we feel! If we smile, it’ll make us happier, whereas frowning will lead to feeling sadder. This is called the facial feedback hypothesis. 

So if you’re finding this post boring, just smile, maybe it’ll help you continue. ;) 

3. Smiling changes the perception of people towards you.

Your smile can act as a magnet in attracting people towards you. Smiling makes you appear more attractive and smarter to others. It’s your natural make-up! People perceive you as more approachable, warm, and confident. According to a study by Sing Lau, a smiling person is also perceived as intelligent. Another study reports that smiling makes you look more sincere, sociable, and competent. So flash that beautiful smile at others, as they say, ‘If you have it, flaunt it.’

4. Smiling is contagious.

Just like the Covid 19, a smile has a wide network of viruses that can infect anyone. The only difference is that, unlike Covid, it's healthy and desirable! You can make someone smile back at you with your smile. And if they do not smile back then they are forcing themselves not to. This is indeed backed by many studies. So spread the glitters of your smile, maybe it can lit up some sad faces out there!

5. Smiling increases your longevity.

Smile for a good mood, for better health, for others but moreover for your life! If you smile at your life, for your life, the favor will be returned to you. Yes, the biggest reason to smile is that it can add on to your life span. A happy person lives a long and enriching life.

Smiling can benefit us in more ways than we could think of. Of course, context matters when it comes to smiling. You can’t just smile insensitively if you’re at someone’s funeral. Smiling just to numb your feelings constantly is also not healthy. Smile but not at the cost of avoiding other emotions, acknowledge what you feel! 

Smiling can be the best antidote if you allow it to. There are innumerable reasons to adorn your face with a smile. Look at the morning sun rays shining bright at your face, the stars and moon scattering their warmth, the rains and rainbows singing a euphoric melody, your loved ones’ irreplaceable presence, your little yet remarkable achievements, the breath down your lungs and the rhythm of your beating heart. These are enough to get that pretty face of yours to smile a bit. 

From your mother's womb to the tomb, choose to smile! So, let's tweak the popular slogan a bit from “Muskuraaiye, aap Lucknow me hai” (smile, you’re in Lucknow) to “Muskuraaiye, aap iss zindagi me hai!” (smile, you’re in this life). 

Did this post make you smile? What other benefits of a smile could you think of? Let me know in the comments below!

Keep smiling. :)

References:

1. Kraft, T. L., & Pressman, S. D. (2012). Grin and Bear It. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1372–1378. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612445312

2. Reis, H. T., Wilson, I. M., Monestere, C., Bernstein, S., Clark, K., Seidl, E., Franco, M., Gioioso, E., Freeman, L., & Radoane, K. (1990d). What is smiling is beautiful and good. European Journal of Social Psychology, 20(3), 259–267. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420200307

3. The Effect of Smiling on Person Perception. (n.d.). Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.1982.9713408

4. Wild, B., Erb, M., Eyb, M., Bartels, M., & Grodd, W. (2003). Why are smiles contagious? An fMRI study of the interaction between perception of facial affect and facial movements. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 123(1), 17–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0925-4927(03)00006-4

How Did I End Up in the World of Blogging?

 

Writing has always been my passion. Every time I write something new, I feel like I’m breathing something new. Sometimes I feel oxygen is not what’s keeping me alive but a simple blend of pen and paper is! You think that’s too much, right? Well, what can I say! The more I dive into writing the more depth I uncover within and around me. This depth is what I crave and what drives me to write. I can perceive the world with a newer and wider lens. And I like to share these shades of perspectives with the world. 

Wondering how I ended up here in the “Blogosphere?" To answer this question let me take you through a letter I wrote to myself long back. It goes like this:

A Letter to Myself

To the undiscovered me,

I know you're hiding in the most untraveled parts of me, lost somewhere in the chaos of my thoughts. Struggling somewhere in the quagmire of my messy beliefs, sucked by my prejudices and petty perceptions of the world. But I know you're in there somewhere, feeling an intense urge to be discovered.

I know sometimes you wonder what it would be like to be Cinderella or Rapunzel of a story. Not because of their enchanting beauty, their prince charming, the enigmatic fantasy, the magic, but because of how they bloomed in the melancholy of life. How an angel with a facade of no one got discovered and led to the triumph of goodness. Do you also feel the urge to be discovered like that?

I know in your deepest layers, you've concealed a bag of blues, an unsung melody that you wish you could sing aloud, an unnoticed face you wish someone could recognize the beauty of. I know you fantasize about a plethora of destinations with undefined paths, carrying an abundance of aspirations to be limitless like the sky. I know you've soaked yourself in the rains of reality and the deserts of dreams. So moistened yet so dry, so pleased yet screaming to cry. 

I know you're yearning to be discovered, wishing to be unraveled from these complexities. You hold so much love beneath you and yes, the world needs a piece of it. You'll soon be discovered, darling. I want you to know that you are not the Cinderella nor the Rapunzel of my life because you're so much more. You are YOU and will be discovered most amazingly!

-From your very own discoverer

                                                     

When I wrote this letter to myself, I was bombarded with questions about what really lies within me and how am I going to explore it. I was stuck in the cycle of confusion and finding a way to stand firm on my words seemed difficult. But I believe every question which is born within your mind is because its answer is somewhere yearning to be found.  It’s just a matter of time.  

Starting my blog is a step towards fulfilling the promise I made to myself in the letter. I know writing is not the only medium of self-exploration and I do not intend to confine myself to its boundaries, but every journey starts with a single step and I consider this ‘that’ step. There are many more miles to go on different paths. And this is how I woke up one day and found myself in this fascinating world of blogging!

What to Expect from Sketching Lives?

Sketching Lives is my safe space to express and to explore. It will be my hub for expression, for giving my words a platform that can benefit others. You can expect here content that is worth your time and will somehow add value to your life. Sketching Lives do not just intend on providing something informative but something that makes you feel good and can form a curve of joy on your face. 

I consider myself a closed book which is seeking to open up through this space. So, you can expect a piece of me, my thoughts, and my philosophies here. Through Sketching Lives, I’ll try to sketch various facets of human life (emphasizing psychology and mental health) with the shades of words. 

I wish this is the start of reaching out to the remotest corner of the world and helping people enhance their lives!

I hope you liked reading my first post on Sketching Lives. Even if it makes you feel good in the slightest way possible, I’ll consider my job a success! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. :)