How true is this. those without such access must learn to smile often to improve their health While this city has laughter clubs to improve many people’s health. Everyone likes to see a smiling face. For instance, however annoyed one may be waiting in a long queue at the cashier’s counter, a smiling face behind the counter takes away that annoyance.
MUMBAI: “Smile though your heart is aching, smile even though it’s breaking…” – that gentle 1954 melody of the great Nat King Cole is still embedded in my memory.
In fact, many antidepressants are known to affect the serotonin level. Research shows that smiling people look attractive in photos. A smile is contagious and often reciprocated. A study by Abel & Kruger M in ‘Psychological Science’, a peer-reviewed journal, also informs us that the intensity of smile in photographs predicts longevity which may increase seven years or so in the smiling person. Not only does the act of smiling make you happy, even mimicking a smile produces happy hormones in the body. Smiling may also help you land a job, and when a smile breaks into laughter, it boosts your immune system to help fight infection. Besides lowering heart rate, blood pressure and stress, a smile gets you into a better mood and increases productivity. Additionally, it increases trust, produces a sense of empathy and increases your attention on various objects around you. Similarly, you also look younger, feel more energetic, earn success easily and seem to be more attractive. The question that crosses my mind is this: do animals smile? We do know our closest relatives in the animal world — the chimpanzees — often flash a grin especially when they want humans to pay attention to them. Animal behaviorists believe that what appears as a smile on animals’ faces is a collection of reflexes that move the muscles of the face. Information from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, at Tufts University, suggests that scientists have underestimated the emotional range of animals and that they do express emotions and smile.
