Reasons to smile
August 6, 2006 | 12:00am
No matter how grouchy you’re feeling, you’ll find a smile more than less healing."
Rainy days are here, and don’t you feel gloomy? When it rains, all people think of is just staying at home, longing for something hot to eat and sleeping in the warmth of their bed. Speaking of warmth, I can only think of a smile to brighten up a day and keep the gloom at bay.
This is the kind of weather that welcomes uninvited guests, Mr. Cold and Ma’am Flu. Umbrellas, coats, jackets and shawls have appeared like mud puddles and swollen rivers. Just today, I saw a family in Tarlac on a makeshift boat, heading to the market. And… they were smiling! "Pinoys talaga ’yan."
Studies show that a smile a day keeps the doctor away. In fact, one study measured emotions, and arrived at the conclusion that those with positive emotions were less likely to catch a cold.
The set of volunteers was asked by neurologists to think of something happy while being given a flu vaccine, and the other half asked to think of something sad. After six months, the happy, smiling group had more antibodies in their system than the sad folks.
Feelings transmitted from person to person can easily infect others. That is why my stress-free advice is to keep yourself away from people with negative emotions because you tend to imbibe their unhappy outlook. Therefore, keep as company people with positive emotions who are always ready with a smile.
Physiologists have identified 43 different facial muscles that are needed to frown, while it takes only 17 to smile. A smile could mean a number of things: devoted love, luscious desire, interest versus boredom, an angelic smile on a baby’s face, a smile of open friendliness, and reassuring smiles from humor. Obviously, most people have a collection of smiles that they use in different situations, and smiles worldwide are varied – from toothless to black, gold-rimmed to pearly white.
Did you know that Japanese girls in large supermarkets smile and bow to each customer at the entrance? That’s an average of 2,500 smiles and bows each day! On the other hand, the Russians consider it useless to smile without sufficient reason, and then only to people they know.
Studies have also found gender differences. Men smile less than women in public, but it has also been proven that we all practice our smiles secretly in front of a mirror, given the opportunity. In fact, even the portrait "Mona Lisa" – perhaps the most famous smile in the world – has been subjected to different interpretations by researchers who judge the subject’s smile differently. The explanations range from scientific theories about human vision to curious assumptions regarding Mona Lisa’s feelings because that painting by Leonardo da Vinci wouldn’t be absolutely famous if not for that enigmatic smile. Sigmund Freud interpreted the enigmatic smile as Leonardo’s attraction to his mother. A computer software was even developed to analyze the "Mona Lisa smile" as 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, 2 percent angry, less than 1 percent neutral, to not surprised at all.
With their country touted as the "Land of Smiles," the Thais perceive the smile (yim in Thai) as the most appropriate reaction to any possible situation. They have identified 13 kinds of smile: yim tak tai (a polite smile used for strangers); feun yim (when forced to smile); yim cheuat cheuan (a smile given by the winner to the losing rival); yim tang nam dtah (really happy); yim tak tan (the sorry-you’re-wrong-I’m-right smile); yim sao (to hide sadness); yim mee lay-nai (to conceal evil ideas); yim cheun chom (admiration); yim yor (to mock); yim mai ork (you want to, but can’t); yim yair-yair (to apologize); yim hairing (nervous and apologetic smile); yim soo ("my situation is so bad I might as well smile").
You don’t have to be right in front of the person you are communicating with to flaunt your smile. Smiling while conversing on the phone can get a more positive response than the caller who scowls. Smiling is also a part of our day-to-day communication as when viewing a screen through a text or an e-mail. Who isn’t familiar with the different forms of smileys on the phone? :) or a J and their variations. Aren’t these symbols enough to elicit a smile?
It is also said that "a laugh is a smile that bursts." Smiling is an innate reaction. Stare at newborn babies even when they sleep, and they smile, making us believe angels are playing with them. Children laugh an average of 400 times a day, but the average adult older than 35 laughs 15 times a day. If we all recognized that laughing and smiling lower blood pressure, reduces stress, increases muscle flexion, we’d have a healthier populace.
Rainy days are here, and don’t you feel gloomy? When it rains, all people think of is just staying at home, longing for something hot to eat and sleeping in the warmth of their bed. Speaking of warmth, I can only think of a smile to brighten up a day and keep the gloom at bay.
Studies show that a smile a day keeps the doctor away. In fact, one study measured emotions, and arrived at the conclusion that those with positive emotions were less likely to catch a cold.
The set of volunteers was asked by neurologists to think of something happy while being given a flu vaccine, and the other half asked to think of something sad. After six months, the happy, smiling group had more antibodies in their system than the sad folks.
Feelings transmitted from person to person can easily infect others. That is why my stress-free advice is to keep yourself away from people with negative emotions because you tend to imbibe their unhappy outlook. Therefore, keep as company people with positive emotions who are always ready with a smile.
Studies have also found gender differences. Men smile less than women in public, but it has also been proven that we all practice our smiles secretly in front of a mirror, given the opportunity. In fact, even the portrait "Mona Lisa" – perhaps the most famous smile in the world – has been subjected to different interpretations by researchers who judge the subject’s smile differently. The explanations range from scientific theories about human vision to curious assumptions regarding Mona Lisa’s feelings because that painting by Leonardo da Vinci wouldn’t be absolutely famous if not for that enigmatic smile. Sigmund Freud interpreted the enigmatic smile as Leonardo’s attraction to his mother. A computer software was even developed to analyze the "Mona Lisa smile" as 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, 2 percent angry, less than 1 percent neutral, to not surprised at all.
With their country touted as the "Land of Smiles," the Thais perceive the smile (yim in Thai) as the most appropriate reaction to any possible situation. They have identified 13 kinds of smile: yim tak tai (a polite smile used for strangers); feun yim (when forced to smile); yim cheuat cheuan (a smile given by the winner to the losing rival); yim tang nam dtah (really happy); yim tak tan (the sorry-you’re-wrong-I’m-right smile); yim sao (to hide sadness); yim mee lay-nai (to conceal evil ideas); yim cheun chom (admiration); yim yor (to mock); yim mai ork (you want to, but can’t); yim yair-yair (to apologize); yim hairing (nervous and apologetic smile); yim soo ("my situation is so bad I might as well smile").
It is also said that "a laugh is a smile that bursts." Smiling is an innate reaction. Stare at newborn babies even when they sleep, and they smile, making us believe angels are playing with them. Children laugh an average of 400 times a day, but the average adult older than 35 laughs 15 times a day. If we all recognized that laughing and smiling lower blood pressure, reduces stress, increases muscle flexion, we’d have a healthier populace.
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