Did you know that smiling has been scientifically shown to reduce stress and help tip you to happiness?

It might seems silly at first glance, but our body is a truly amazing instrument and everything really is connected.

When we smile, especially with our eyes and mouth (also known as Duchenne smiles), this triggers activities in our brain that are associated with happiness.

One study, a meta-analysis of 138 studies testing more than 11,000 participants, found that our facial expressions do have a small impact on our emotions.

In another study by scientists Tara Kraft and Sarah Pressman from the University of Kansas, they found that if participants smiled during the stressful activity this helped reduce intensity of the body's stress response. They also discovered that smiling helped participants have lower heart rate levels after recovery from the stressful situations.

So what? You may be asking me.

It means that while smiling doesn’t exactly cause happiness, it can definitely give us a good push towards it. Even with just a small shift in our facial expressions we can alter the way we respond physically and mentally to stressful moments in our life. It means that while we may not always be able to change the situation we're living, we very well can change its overall affect on our physical and mental well-being.

If you're interested in learning more about how to manage and relieve your stress, come join me in the Yoga for Stress Busting series, October 20th - December 15th!

Sign up to Yoga for Stress Busting