August Views of the Vis from WellSpring Naturopathic

Are you a glass half full person? Do you always look on the bright side? When you get lemons, do you make lemonade? When you hear all these old sayings, does it make you think of 37 more, or do you groan, plead for mercy from the Pollyannas of the world and threaten to stomp all over those rose-colored glasses? If you are one of the latter, you may not enjoy this Of The Month topic - Smiling!
   Awhile back a 2nd Tuesday topic was Laughter. Laughter is good for our health in a number of ways. Besides the studies and anecdotal evidence about laughter and health, there's the direct experience most of us have with laughter leaving us feeling lighter, with a little less physical and emotional pain, and an increased sense of wellbeing. Laughter is to be encouraged for all of us on a daily basis!
   But this is just about smiling. Some of us have trouble just laughing out loud - it seems too contrived, or it might not be socially acceptable or we hate our laugh - who knows why! Some days there's not much to laugh out loud about. But a simple smile can have a significant impact - no laughing required.
How Much? Smiling is a universal response - it is found in all cultures. But how much we smile varies a lot. In general, children are the most frequent smilers - up to 400 times a day! Once we get to the serious land of adulthood that number plummets. Still, over one third of us smile more than 20 times a day and only less than 14% of us smile less than 5 times a day. Perhaps we should do an informal survey and see how often readers of the Vis smile each day. Hopefully you'll need more than your fingers and toes to keep track.
What Kind? People who study such things discuss two types of smiles. The Duchenne smile is an authentic smile that uses not only the facial muscles to curl up the corners of the mouth, but also the muscles that crinkle the corners of our eyes. Yes, the ones that give us "crows' feet," which should be seen as a badge of honor for a mirthful life! Apparently these muscles are difficult to voluntarily control and are the give-away between this authentic smile and the second type - the PanAmerican smile. The PanAm smile (named for the now defunct airline) represents an obligatory, courtesy smile. It is considered inauthentic, not representing inner joy.
How Does it Work? There is ongoing research about how smiling actually impacts us. MRIs and other brain imaging show various areas of the brain that are triggered with smiles. Labwork shows changes in hormone and neurotransmitter levels when we smile as opposed to when we frown. A number of psychological tests lend clues to anxiety, depression, happiness and life satisfaction related to smile frequency. It appears that while we may think that we smile as a response to happiness, it is equally possible for it to work in reverse - that we can create happiness by smiling. It seems that we have body responses, especially facial responses, that reinforce our emotions and feelings. One study looked at people who'd had Botox injections that inhibited the ability to frown. After controlling for other factors, these people reliably were happier than people who still could frown. Another found that people who frowned during a painful stimulus experienced more pain than those who did not frown during the same stimulus. Smiling decreases stress hormones and increases our natural endorphins - known to relieve pain and elevate mood.
Predictive Smiling! There are two studies that have interesting outcomes based on smiles. In a 30-year study done at UC-Berkeley, smiles in photos taken for a yearbook were used to predict length and satisfaction in marriage, overall wellbeing and inspiration to others. Wayne State University recently did a study using 1952 baseball cards and found that players' life span was related to how much they smiled in those pictures! The non-smilers lived 72.9 years, a mid-smiler 75 years, and the big smilers lived 79.9 years. Although I didn't find any studies supporting mid-life onset of smiling, if you weren't smiling in your high school yearbook picture, I still firmly believe that you can increase your overall quality of life anyway by starting to smile today!
Other Benefits. Smiling is contagious and so, then, is happiness. It's hard to look at someone who is smiling and not smile yourself. It's quite a cycle, you see someone smile, you smile too, which increases your sense of wellbeing, your attractive to others (and your appearance of competence!), which makes you smile more and triggers others to smile back at you, which sets their own feedback loop rolling and so it goes. According to a study in the British Medical Journal, if you become happy, a friend who lives nearby has a 25% higher chance of becoming happy too! And so, if you know people who are happy, your odds of being happy also increase. I consider it a great benefit to have a community - a world - of happier people!
Contraindications. Are there any reasons to not foster smiling and an increased sense of happiness? Well, certainly it is not healthy to suppress other emotions. Unhappy situations are around us every day and ALL emotions are valid and need appropriate expression. But even unhappy situations have seeds of opportunity for awareness, growth, healing and empowerment. With so many things that we cannot control, why not take charge of our face? A little smile - or a big one - can set our bodies on a healthier, happier path and make that path easier for others to join in. And it's FREE!!! If you can't think of a reason to smile, find a picture or quote that makes you smile and put it on your computer screen, or rearview mirror, or refrigerator - somewhere you're going to see it frequently. Make it a habit to smile to yourself and smile at everyone you meet. Try it right now - SMILE! Really, right now! SMILE! Do it! All day!

SMILE!
I'll bet you feel better already!