Did you know that fake smiling has the potential to increases your happiness..?
When we smile naturally, it is essentially one part of a greater "feedback loop," which is often initiated by our emotions. Typically, the internal feeling of "happiness" registers on a physical level (such as laughter or smiling) and in that, the feeling becomes amplified through physical gesture. Another example of this would be jumping up and down or throwing your hands in the air when you get excited or have just one first place!
So if an emotional feeling can cause a physical reaction... Could inducing a smile when we are feeling negative help to initiate a positive internal feeling as well?
Why don't you give it a try right now? When you smile do you feel "good" or "bad?"
If you think about it, many of us can probably recall times when we smiled to mask a feeling of embarrassment or pain, or even sadness. In these instances, were we in fact smiling to alleviate or dilute the "bad" or undesirable feeling we were experiencing?
MY THOUGHTS:
I personally believe that smiling can help a person to overcome negative feelings.
For example: If I stub my toe or fall down, I often feel pain (often associated with a negative feeling). Within a few seconds, I try to smile and then I start to laugh about it. I'd say 80% of the time, barring a serious injury I am able to convert my frustration and negative feeling about something into a much lighter emotional state.
I have also experimented with instances when I was feeling "down" or unmotivated or even sorry for myself. As soon as I would catch myself feeling any type of self-loathing or self deprecation (say: oh I can't play this drum part, my singing isn't good, oh whoa is me), I'd immediately smile and realize that from my perspective "my life/world" is pretty dam good and for the most part, feeling sorry for myself isn't going to help me overcome these obstacles anyway. The fake smile (which perhaps becomes a real smile) helps me to snap out of negative feedback loops.
IN CONCLUSION:
Yes! Smiling even when you don't feel like smiling has the potential to make you happier/change your emotional state. You as the individual have to initiate the smile and honestly that just might be the hardest part.
Try it out and let me know what your experience is.
jaybird ~