The Power Of A Smile
I smile and I feel good, I make someone smile and it makes me happy. When I smile, I feel less stressed. When I smile, I also feel that I can handle the situation better if I’m in some pain. A smile makes me feel more relaxed and distracted.
So is it true that laughing makes life happy? Yes, there is some truth to that… And do you know why? Because if my brain laughs, it releases endorphins. The release of endorphins is present in all positive emotional states and is largely responsible for the feeling of pleasure or for making the brain quickly anesthetize us when we experience setbacks in life.
Also, when we laugh, we reduce the release of cortisol, the stress hormone. To compensate, the brain releases dopamine, a substance associated with positive emotions. With laughter, we can also release negative energies from the body, as Freud told us.
I want to be able to convince you not to let that smile go away, so I’ll tell you that when you activate the facial muscles in charge of smiling, your brain immediately starts releasing dopamine and endorphins, even if the smile isn’t spontaneous. This last point is very important, as it implies that by consciously changing our gestures, we can also change our emotional state.
On the other hand, so what happens when someone makes me laugh? Your brain will receive oxygen and your limbic system will activate and, with that, it will make the memory fixation functions easier. So don’t forget to make someone laugh before you tell them something you want them to remember. Your brain will be better equipped to encode, fix and retrieve this information.
Social Effects of Laughter
Once you’ve seen how the brain works when we’re laughing, let’s see what happens to other people when I offer them my smile. It is certain that the smile makes us more attractive. A smiling person will always be more pleasant to be around than someone who doesn’t smile, or who frowns when meeting someone new.
Laughter projects an image of security and consideration, builds more confidence, and invites others to come closer to you. So when I smile, I feel more optimistic and manage to produce a better version of myself, a version that I will then transfer to – and infect – abroad.
The smile has the power to provoke other smiles in people thanks to our “mirror neurons”. These neurons have the function of naturally imitating what we see on the outside. Therefore, sometimes when we hear or see someone with a fit of laughter, we also start to laugh without knowing why, we get infected with positive energy.
Humor and laughter can give us a new perspective on the situations we find ourselves in, as they activate our prefrontal cortex. This area is responsible for the most developed human functions, such as creativity, perseverance, more flexible thinking and organization. That’s what a 2010 study on laughter and the brain demonstrates.
Have people around you who make you laugh
Knowing all the benefits of laughter, I will look for people who make me laugh, optimistic people with a big smile on their face. I will surround myself with people who give me energy and good humor. I will look for people who know how to laugh at their own problems, who see a funny side in situations and, above all, who know how to laugh at themselves. I want people who give smiles and infect others with their smiles.
I’m also committed to transmitting all of this, making people laugh, breaking down dopamine, reducing cortisol, increasing endorphins, and activating mirror neurons. I commit myself because I want to see you smile, because humor helps to overcome adversity and see a little more light at the end of any tunnel. I want it to be that way because maybe, when I no longer have anything to offer, I’ll be able to provide a good smile session… and if I can help you with that, rest assured that I will.
