A Surprisingly Simple Way to Boost Your Mood

Use deliberate smiling to release tension in your face, your mind, your body — and in everyone around you.

Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash

Thich Nhat Hanh was a Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and peace activist.

He was also a prolific author, and in his writing, he often emphasized the importance of smiling.

Here’s an example from his book Peace is Every Step(1):

Mona Lisa’s smile is light, just a hint of a smile. Yet even a smile like that is enough to relax all the muscles in our face, to banish all worries and fatigue. A tiny bud of a smile on our lips nourishes awareness and calms us miraculously. It returns to us the peace we thought we had lost.

Interestingly, there’s plenty of research that supports this idea. Smiling can indeed influence our emotions in a positive way.

The Science of Smiling

In a clever study conducted in the 80s(2), researchers had their participants hold a pen in their mouths in one of two ways:

• Group 1 held a pen…