The simple act of smiling has profound consequences. Scientists say a smile causes your brain to release neuropeptides that can help you handle stress. Your smile charges your body with dopamine, endorphin, and serotonin, chemicals shown to lower your blood pressure, decreases your heart rate, and even ease your pain. Smiling elevates your mood and boosts your immune system. Studies show when we smile, others perceive us as looking younger, thinner and more intelligent. Yep, that’s right, smiling makes people think you are smart. And thin.
But those wonderful benefits are only the beginning. When your friends see you smile, they smile back. They receive those same feel-good chemicals, predisposing them to smile at the next person they see. Your beaming face can start an epidemic, the good kind.
Remember that when you sign in to your next Zoom, GoToMeeting, Facetime, or Slack meeting. Smile when you send a text or connect the old-fashioned way — on the phone. Seriously. Smiling when you talk causes a physiological change and helps your voice to sound friendly, warm, and receptive.
Whose day will you brighten?
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Keep on writing.
Jo Hawk The Writer