442-How Smiling Forces You to be Happy

Did you know that the very act of smiling will make you happier? The brain is a funny thing; learn more about how it works in this episode of Everyday Happiness!   

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and I invite you to smile more.  Not because you have to.  And certainly not because someone told you to.  But because you want to.  It’s good for your own personal happiness.  

 

I learned this hack.  If you take a pencil, put it in your mouth so your back molars are gently touching the pencil and you smile a big smile - that action, you know, the one that gives you crows feet around your eyes.  That action triggers your brain to think you are happy, even if you are feeling blah.   

 

Friends, that’s incredible.  

 

Also, I heard that you cannot hold two opposite emotions at the exact same time.  So, if you turn up your lips and give a little smile, your anger, your annoyance, your frustration starts to dissipate.  Now, we can have a lot of emotions in the day, in the hour, believe me I’m feeling all kinds of emotions as I record this episode and the world feels turned upside down.   But I am trusting the science that we can hack our emotions, because feeling anxious and out of control sucks.    

 

So let’s smile those big smiles.  Try it.  Let me know if it worked for you?  Send me your smile selfie at the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #EverydayHappinessWithKatie tag me in your stories @everydayhappinesswithkatie and we’ll share happiness together. 

 

And remember, kindness is contagious, so go out there and spread kindness into the world. 

 

Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness

 

And, let’s connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram

 

Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/