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Smile!

Scrambling to make end of year targets? Flattened by the festive rush? No wonder you’re wearing a seasonal scowl! Turn that frown upside down to release endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin, the ‘feel-good’ chemicals that lift your mood; reduce stress, and raise your pain threshold. Put simply: smile, and work will hurt less (for you and everyone around you!)

Try this Experiment

Score your happiness at the start of the day. Then spend the day consciously smiling at everyone you meet: eye contact, full beam, no Zoom screen big enough to contain your grin. At the end of the day, mark your happiness score. If it’s upped your feel-good factor, imagine what it’s done for those you smiled at!

Why this works

Nothing beats the positive impact of smiling – on both smiler and smileeeee 😊. And for the grinches out there: if you’re not feeling it, fake it! The physical act of smiling  creates a positive feedback loop in the brain. Turn up the corners of your mouth and you automatically turn up your happy dial. Even better, you trigger ‘happy’ chemicals in the person you’re smiling at: mirror neurones in our brains make smiling physically contagious.

Smiling actually makes you live longer! Check out this TED talk for more amazing science: