-Making an emotional face or suppressing one – influence your feelings.
One emotion that is probably nearest and dearest to most people is ‘happiness’, a state of well being and contentment that is much to be desired.
“Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.”
P.S. I Love You.
-Bijjaka Ghimire
Psychologist
What actually happens when you smile?
When we smile, our facial expressions provide feedback to the brain concerning the emotion being expressed, which in turn not only intensifies the emotions but also actually causes the emotions. Called the FACIAL FEEDBACK HYPOTHESIS this explanation assumes not only that the facial expression causes emotion, but also there is evidence that seeing other people’s facial expression can cause people to change their own facial expressions to match. Modern Psychologists have proposed this hypothesis of emotion that is consistent with much of Darwin’s original thinking.
In his (1898) book, The Expressions of the Emotions in Man & Animals, Charles Darwin stated that facial expressions evolved as a way of communicating intention, such as threat or fear, & that these expressions are universal within a species rather than specific to culture.
What if people have facial Paralysis on both sides of the face?
Such people should be unable to experience emotions in a normal way!!
But, a case study conducted by keillor in 2002, revealed that, a process could respond emotionally to slides meant to stimulate emotional reactions, just as anyone else could.
The connection between facial expressions & underlying mental states is still largely unexplored, but some researchers have suggested that smiling could reduce levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone. This study flips our traditional understanding of emotion appearance on its head: Feeling good could sometimes be a consequence of smiling, not just the other way round.
What does this mean for your daily life?
When feeling stressed, try focusing a smile on your face. If you can manage a genuine, Duchenne Smile- what people often refer to as “smiling with your eyes”, not just your mouth – that’s even better.
A good social support just can’t be beat. Take time to nurture friendships & relationships. If people don’t have wealth, they may be in miserable, unhappy circumstances, but the reverse is not necessarily true: Psychiatrists and Clinical Psychologists often have very wealthy successful people clients. Put on a happy face. When people smile, it releases chemicals that make them feel better & when they frown, the opposite occurs.
For whatever reason, forcing yourself to look happier could actually end up helping you feel happier.
“Think happy, talk happy, act happy & you will be happier.”
-The pursuit of happiness, Myers(1993)