Joy Is Contagious Through A Smile

A wise man who was able to visit and know the innermost corners of the human soul said that “it is easier to get what you want with a smile than with the point of a sword.” His name is William Shakespeare. So, let’s talk about the smile and its ability to transmit joy and good vibrations.

William Shakespeare produced throughout his life an extensive work, capable of provoking a rainbow of emotions that human beings are capable of feeling. From comedy to deepest tragedy, the author’s restless pen is capable of taking a smile from the most tortured mind.

It is no coincidence that we started this dissertation on the joy that a simple smile is capable of transmitting, alluding to one of the most famous authors. His immortal works made us laugh for centuries. Who better than him to introduce us to this unique world?

What is the smile?

A smile is a facial grimace that puts the whole face in check when something looks nice, happy or fun. That is, it could be considered the portrait of an emotion or a pleasant state that causes us a transitory well-being.

The smile has a physical factor, of course, because in order for it to form on anyone’s lips, it needs to launch a mechanism composed of a total of 26 muscles. If we consider that on the face we have a total of 43 and that to get upset 62 are necessary, as other things come into play besides the purely facial ones, it can be concluded that smiling is not complicated, or at least requires less energy than being upset.

If we talk about the smile, we can think of some that have become famous throughout history, especially thanks to culture. Tortured beings like the Joker, Batman’s mortal enemy, or Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa are good examples of the different meaning a smile can have.

According to certain studies,  children are able to smile 400 times a day. This number decreases almost proportionally with age, so that adults, on average, smile only 20 times a day. Of course it’s an average, we all know people who don’t smile or listen to the best joke in the world, or those who find reason to express it in just about anything.

The benefits of a smile to be happier

Therefore, we at Mente é Maravilhosa claim the smile as a determining factor for us to be happier and happier in our daily lives. So let’s comment on a series of benefits that this practice brings to human beings:

• Smiling is interpreted by the brain as a state of joy and even releases substances such as serotonin, which infects the environment. Charles Darwin himself discovered that facial feedback is positive for the organism itself, as it provokes states of optimism.
• A smile provokes a state of positivism in your surroundings. By exercising it, your brain, in addition to sending signals to your body to be more optimistic, it also does it with the people around you, causing an environment of trust and social closeness that is more joyful and relaxed.

• According to some research, the human brain trusts those people who are smiling more. This is due to the fact that our own mind tends to approach those people who give off joy, as they are friendlier.

• It is a proven fact that under stressful conditions a human being reduces his peripheral vision, actually minimizing his ability to find solutions. However, abstract thinking is much more efficient in this pressured state of mind. According to some research, smiling people tend to lose less peripheral vision in the face of stress, with better problem solving results.

• Smiling releases serotonin and endorphins, which are our body’s natural painkillers. Furthermore, it is closely related to the reduction of hormones that cause stress such as dopamine or adrenaline. That is, a smile allows you to live better, happier and happier.

Have you ever noticed how much you get with a smile? Put it into practice right now. It’s really revealing how the world expands before you and everything seems more joyful, colorful and pleasant.