Do you spend more of your life with a frown or with a smile?

It’s an interesting question to ponder and to note how often each hour you smile or laugh.   You may think of yourself as a person with a sunny disposition, and yet you still may find yourself going for hours a day without a smile.  I’m starting to watch day by day how much I smile and feel positive, and how often I feel the opposite.

I think smiling is so important! I recently had the pleasure of this reminder, reading this blog post:  15 Fascinating Facts about Smiling

I love teaching the new moms classes – babies smile very early on, and no, it’s not just gas!   Babies imitate what they see, and that’s why we all act so bizarrely around babies – we’ll do anything to get a positive reaction from them, but all we really need to do is smile at them to receive one back.   And the great thing is, YOU feel better by letting your guard down and oohing and ahhing to the baby.

It’s hard to feel down when you’re smiling!   So I sometimes say: Fake it til you Make it.  That’s right.  Smile even if you don’t *feel* smiley.   It’s one of the best ways to pull yourself out of a bad mood.   It will help you become unstuck and move towards doing something positive.    Something that will help you start to *genuinely* smile.

I notice if I’m in a bad mood, or even just a lethargic mood, the best thing I can do is teach or practice.   Why?   Well, when you go to a class,  everyone is really positive and happy generally.   At first maybe I have to make myself smile when everyone is filing through the door.  But eventually, the smile becomes genuine, and I’m really enjoying myself.   I fake it til I make it.   (Don’t worry, I’m not faking on you all very often).

I’ve started to make a list of natural mood lifters for me.   Some of my go-to happy sources are obvious – call a friend, get on my mat to practice, put on some energizing music and dance or sing.   Some are more personal and zany – watch some funny scenes from the Big Lebowski, dab some peppermint essential oil on my wrists and neck.   It’s good to have these tools, because I want to go through life with a lot more smiles than frowns.

These tricks may not work for you.   You may need to find your own way to fake it til you make it.   But finding something to smile about every day is important!  Here’s a quick YouTube clip to keep ya smiling!

Not faking it,

Barrett