Oct 06 2008
Power of the Smile
Depression weakens our will and decreases our body’s efficiency. Emotion is energy and has a direct effect on our body, including the brain. Negative emotion rooted in fear causes the brain to contract and decreases efficiency, while positive emotion increases efficiency.
We smile, on a physical level, by contracting fifteen separate muscles on our face. Smiling moves 230 of a total of 630 muscles in our body. Smiling is simply a great exercise. According to a famous study by Dr. William Fry of Stanford University, smiling stimulates the human brain to naturally release morphine-like chemicals that inhibit infection and lessen pain. Smiling also reduces stress-related hormones and increases heart rate and blood circulation. Three to four minutes ot smiling has the same effect as an upper body workout.
Are You Smiling Because You are Happy? You are Happy Because You Smile!
Doctor Ilchi Lee says that smiling is one of the best brain exercises. A smile does not end with just that smile. One smile can transform your brain, because the brain has to do a great amount of work in order to generate the smile. In order for you to really laugh out loud with vour whole body, your brain must work with areas that it hasn’t worked with before, and move muscles that haven’t been recently used. Smiling and laughing will have oxygen rushing to your brain in no time. Smiling and laughing are the essence of Brain Respiration, stimulating the brain through total body exercise. Five minutes of smiling is better than five hours of working out. Ten seconds of smiling is the same as rowing a boat for three minutes. Smiling is a way of expressing the inner joy in your heart. Everyone smiles when they feel happy. Then, what about smiling for no reason? Would that seem awkward or unnatural? Let us reverse our thinking for a moment. Instead of smiling because we are happy, it is actually possible to become happy by smiling.
Smile o create happiness. Research shows that merely raising the ends of the lips in a mock smile will provoke a positive biological response in the body. On the other hand, during the course of a prolonged tragic role, an actor is more likely to sink into real depression.
Practice smiling everyday and see your face change because smiling is a part of Yoga Exercises. Watch as your health changes for the better. Even your luck will turn around. Let us no longer be stingy with our smiles. Smile even if you are alone. An inner smile is always there, struggling to come to the surface. Joy and happiness are your natural states of being.