Prompt 24: Smile
Smiling is a superpower.
This morning I read several articles on the power of smiling according to science -and was going to summarise them here.
But just before I started writing, I found this short TED talk by Ron Gutman, who did a brilliant job of doing just that in just 7 minutes.
This week's prompt is to smile.
I'm not a big believer in faking it til you make it (although some scientists believe even a fake smile can trick our brains into being happier) so my encouragement is to go for the genuine article if you can!
The challenge, of course, is that studies seem to show that we smile less as we get older - so while the following tips might seem a little obvious - perhaps some of us need a bit of a refresher 😁.
- Spend some time with someone who makes you smile - smiles are contagious, so it makes sense to spend time with a smiley friend or someone you always have a laugh with.
- Spend time with children (as Ron suggests - they smile a lot more than most of us - hopefully, it'll rub off).
- Watch a comedy movie
- Go to a stand-up comedy show (or watch one online)
- Listen to a funny podcast
- Remember or tell a funny story
- Do an activity that you enjoy.
OK - those were super obvious – you've got this!
Don't forget to let us know how you went in our Facebook Group!
Further reading - check out this article by Leo Widrich on some of the science of smiling.
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Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse
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