The power of a smile

I smile and feel good, it makes me smile and it makes me happy. When I smile I may feel less stressed. When I smile I also feel that if I was in some pain, I can bear it better now. A smile makes me feel relaxed and distracted.

Is it true then that they say that laughing lengthens life? Yes, there is some truth in that… And do you know why? Because If my brain laughs, it releases endorphins. The release of endorphins is present in all positive moods and is one of the most important responsible for the feeling of pleasure, or for the brain to quickly anesthetize us when we suffer damage.

Additionally, when we laugh we reduce the release of cortisol, the stress hormone; To compensate, the brain releases dopamine, a substance that is associated with positive emotions. With laughter we also manage to release negative energy from the body.just as Freud told us.

What else can a smile do?

I want to continue convincing you not to lose your smile, so I will tell you that when you activate the facial muscles responsible for laughter, your brain immediately releases dopamine and endorphins, even if the smile is not spontaneous. This last nuance is important, since it implies that By consciously changing our gestures we can also change our mood.

On the other hand, what will happen if they make me laugh? Well then Your brain will be oxygenated and your limbic system will be activated, thereby facilitating memory retention functions. So, don’t forget to make people laugh before telling something you want someone to remember. Your brain will be better prepared to encode, retain and retrieve that information.

Social effects of laughter

After having seen how my brain works when I am laughing, let’s see what happens in others when I give them my smile. The truth is that a smile makes us more attractive; Someone who smiles will always offer more desirable company than someone who doesn’t smile. or who frowns upon meeting another person.

Laughter projects a self-image of security and esteem, generates more confidence and invites others to approach you. Thus, when I smile I feel more optimistic and I can generate a better version of myself, a version that I will then transfer – and infect – abroad.

Smiling has the power to generate smiles in others thanks to our “mirror neurons.”“. These neurons are responsible for innately imitating what we see from the outside. That’s why sometimes when we hear or see someone having a fit of laughter, we start doing the same thing without knowing why, we become infected with their positive energy.

Humor and laughter can give us a new approach to the situations we find ourselves in., since they activate our prefrontal cortex. This area is responsible for the most developed human functions, such as creativity, perseverance, more flexible thinking and organization. This is demonstrated by a study carried out in 2010 on laughter and the brain.

Surround yourself with people who make you laugh

Knowing now all the benefits of laughter, I will look for people who make me laugh, I will look for optimistic people with a smile on their face. I am going to surround myself with people who transmit energy and good humor to me.. I’m going to look for people who know how to laugh at their problems, who see a funny side to situations and, above all, who know how to laugh at themselves. I want people who give off smiles and who spread them.

I also commit to transmit all this, to make people laugh, to distribute dopamine, to reduce cortisol, to increase endorphins and to activate your mirror neurons. I commit because I want to see you laugh, because humor helps overcome adversity and see a little more light at the end of any tunnel.

I want it to be like this, because Maybe when I have nothing left to contribute, I’ll give you a good laugh session…and if I can help you with this, rest assured I will.

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