‘Smiling is contagious not just because of how a smile looks from the outside, but also because of the intention and the feeling that is put behind a smile’
By Interchange Australia Marketing Coordinator Kelly Taylor.
Smiling, it is good for your soul | Keeping a positive mind with Day Options participant, Michael.
Anyone who knows Michael, knows he is famous at Interchange Australia for his positive energy and his never ending smile. Have you ever known anyone to be so contagiously happy?
Science has shown that a smile spurs a powerful chemical reaction in the brain that releases certain hormones including dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine increases feelings of happiness and serotonin helps lift your mood as well as lower stress. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression and aggression.
It has been scientifically proven that depression weakens your immune system and that happiness helps boost our body’s resistance to illness.
Just the physical act alone of smiling can make a difference, when you smile the brain sees the muscle activity and assumes that you are happy and the chemical reaction begins.
Michael is proof that smiling creates happiness, not just for him, but for everyone around him. There is a certain joy when you are greeted by Michael each day, his smile contributes to a positive energy throughout the house. This is because we have mirror neurons which enable us to subconsciously copy or reflect the behaviour we observe in others, but there is also the idea that when we see a smile we want to reciprocate because we feel endeared.
Smiling is contagious not just because of how a smile looks from the outside, but also because of the intention and the feeling that is put behind a smile. When someone smiles at you, you feel good vibes from them, which makes you want to pass a smile on the next person, and so on and so forth.
We should make a conscious effort not to take smiles from our loved ones for granted and try smiling more ourselves, smile next time you pass someone in the street, what is there to lose?
Think positive, stay positive, make others feel good – with a smile.
