What’s in a smile?

“Say cheese.” We’ve all heard that and the result for most of us is
that we have a photo in which we look rather strange. I think I look
like I’m sneering when I say cheese and smile.

Try this little experiment. First, take note of how you feel right
now. Notice how happy you feel. You might even want to quantify it
on a 0 to 10 scale. Now say cheese and smile. Do you notice any
change?

Actors know a secret. Smiling is not the corners of the mouth pulled
upwards. Smiling is in the eyes. You’ve seen those little smile
crinkles in the corner of some people’s eyes. If you smile with your
eyes and let it spread to the rest of your face, the result is very
different.

Facial expressions are hard wired into us differently than other
movements. In fact, under general anesthesia when a person is
completely paralyzed with medication, the face will still register
emotions such as pain. A person who has a stroke or Guilliun Barre’s
Syndrome in which they cannot move anything will still register
emotions on the face. It is called a limbic smile. It is a real
smile that comes directly from the emotional brain and energizes the
face. The limbic smile starts in the eyes and then to the mouth.
What happens if we work this in the other direction? What happens if
we smile with our eyes and let it spread to the rest of our face?
Will it cause us to feel any differently?

Try it. First take not of how you feel right now. Now smile with
your eyes. If you can, let the rest of your face become engaged in
the smile. Now notice how you feel. Any different? Research has
show that most people feel a bit happier when they smile. How about
you?

I wonder what would happen if you made it your habit to smile with
your eyes at everyone you meet. Could it affect how you feel at each
of these meetings? Maybe you’d feel just a bit happier and thus a bit
more self-confident. I wonder what would happen if you smiled at
other times and for no particular reason. Would you begin to train
your brain to be happier? Research suggests that it would.