Smile
It’s March. It’s still snowing. We just lost an hour of sleep to day-light savings. It can be very easy this time of year to fall into a negative pattern of thinking. Even though we can’t control the weather in Minnesota we CAN control how we think about it and other challenges that we are faced with.
One way we can change not only our mood but also others around us is to smile. Smiling is almost effortless, you don’t have to work it into your schedule or plan it in your budget, but the impact it can have on your day is massive.
In the body, we produce hormones based on our emotions. Cortisol is the body’s hormone that is related to stress. It leads to excess weight gain, increased blood pressure, and can lead to depression. On the flip side, Serotonin is known as the body’s natural mood stabilizer and can reduce depression and anxiety and is released when we are happy.
A challenge for you, as the reader, is to smile more this month. Smiling can be contagious, and you never know what the impact might be for you or someone else!