Smiling Makes You Feel Good

Here is an article about the work of Dr. Paul Ekman: You Feel the Way you Look

Dr. Paul Ekman noticed when he did his research on facial muscles and he tried to replicate emotions in other people, he started to feel them, himself. If, for instance, he frowned for a period, he began to feel down.

Explore this. It’s amazing. Make an angry face. Keep in there a couple of minutes. Do you feel anything? Does your heart rate go up? Do you feel angry?

Next time you don’t know what someone is feeling and they make a funny facial expression, try to replicate it. It may give you some insight into how someone else is feeling.

I must say since I read this, I find myself doing gestures, making faces and general trying to physically put myself into other people’s bodies, and the information is often quite revealing. At a minimum, it gives me feedback if I am thinking in the right direction or not.

You can read more in Dr. Paul Ekman’s book “Emotions Revealed”.