Has work stress been taking over lately? Smile anyway. Not enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to get done? Smile anyway. Fender bender leave your car with a new blemish? Smile anyway. Your five year old decided to use your fire-engine red nail polish to paint a Picasso on your new dresser? Smile anyway. “Grin and bear it” may seem a cliché’ thing to say, but there are actually health benefits associated with smiling… even if it’s through clenched teeth!

1. Slow that heart down - Smiling helps to slow your heart rate and can even help lower your blood pressure. Studies have also shown people who smile and laugh a lot are less likely to develop heart disease!
2. Check your Stress  - Smiling releases endorphins which can help lower stress levels. There’s a lot you can get through in the course of a day if you just smile your way through it too.
3. Give that immune system a boost – Because smiling helps your body relax, it allows your immune system to react quicker to “unwanted visitors”.
4. Smile even if it hurts – This goes back to that endorphin thing. When endorphins are released, not only does it help with your stress levels, but it helps to lessen pain too.
5. Whistle while you work – Believe it or not, studies have shown that smiling increases productivity. Happier staff are a more productive staff, so don’t put the kibosh on those inter-office jokes. If anything you should be encouraging it!
6. Pay it forward – When people see you smiling, they have a tendency to smile back… so spread the love around.
7. Trust me, I’m a smiler – Studies have shown that we tend to trust someone more when they are smiling, and not fake smiling or Cheshire Cat smiling, but true, genuine smiling. Trust is an important part of social and mental health, too. People want to surround themselves with people they trust.
8. Attention! Attention! – Stress sucks the attention right out of us, and because smiling can directly impact stress, it can also sharpen your attention. When we stress, our “fight or flight” instinct kicks in, and we tend to only be able to focus on one task at a time. How many times at work have you sat back to take a deep breath in an effort to realign your focus? Next time, sit back and read a joke!
9. Fake it till it’s real – Just as smiling is contagious to the people around you, it can be contagious to yourself too. If you’re feeling blah, keep smiling. Eventually you’ll not only feel it on the outside but the inside as well.
10. Smile through retirement – Nobody wants to end up being the cranky old person growling at the kids to get off their lawn. People who smile and laugh live an average of seven years longer.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and break out that smile. Just don’t forget to brush your teeth first!

Source Url: http://gobelmont.ca/smile-anyway/