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Smiling comes naturally to us but it can also be practised.
The more we choose to smile and bring our attention to the impact a smile can have on how we can feel, the more likely we are to use it for our mental wellbeing.
Join us on World Smile Day by watching and sharing these videos and resources with your pupils, children, colleagues and family.
Wipe any trace of emotion from your face. Have a ‘blank canvas’.
Now gradually and very slowly introduce a smile. Pay attention to all the parts of your face that ‘feel’ it. The lips, cheeks, eyes, hairline – really notice how the sensations change.
Keep going until you have a broad ‘cheesy’ grin! Notice the tensions and tightness of certain areas now…jaw, cheeks, eyes.
Now, gently and slowly, start to relax and come back to your ‘blank’, ‘no-smile’ face.
Invite the questions:
“How do I feel when I’m not smiling?”
“How do I feel when I have slight smile”
It’s a great thing to get curious about how our facial expressions can alter our mood. By inviting a slight smile, you may feel that your mood lifts.
Why not get playful with this practice and repeat it a few times in your day. You can also play ‘Pass The Smile’ and see how many people you can get smiling back at you by simply smiling at them.
Little things, done daily can make a BIG difference to mental health and wellbeing.
I hope you enjoy this practice and share it with people close to you.
Did you know that exercising our zygomaticus major and orbicularis oculi muscles by holding a pencil with our teeth makes us feel better.
What?
Well before you start running around sterilising piles of pencils, there is an alternative exercise that is even easier to perform.
For that, all you need to do is SMILE.
Use the download link to find out more about the science of smiling and it can help you and others today…