Smile breathing
The benefits of smiling
When I smile, a cocktail of mood-enhancing hormones trickles into my bloodstream. These hormones work very much like a natural tranquilizer or a painkiller. So, when I smile, I become calmer. Likewise, a reduced shot of these relaxing hormones is released into my bloodstream when I watch another person smiling. That is why I like to be in the company of smiling people. I get a shot of these hormones as I shift from another facial expression into a smile. The tranquilizing effect gradually decreases when I freeze my smile for a while. It’s the transition into the smile that triggers the shot.
There are many different types of smiles, some positive and some negative. Examples of negative smiles are sarcastic, sadistic, dominating, and dishonest. On the other hand, there are different positive ones like a grin, social, courteous, joyous, and hearty smiles. People who often smile have it easier in life. Smiling people come across as confident, competent, trustworthy, successful, relaxed, sincere, and even physically attractive.
Healthy children smile a few hundred times daily, whereas cheerful adults decorate their faces with a few dozen daily smiles. Sadly, less fortunate people smile only a few times during the day, if at all. Some people smile easily, and others struggle to shift into smiling gear. There are different reasons why people don’t smile so much. Some have to do with upbringing, some are cultural conventions, and some are because people feel they didn’t get opportunities to smile.
With all the tasks and ambitions in modern societies, many discard smiling in favor of seriousness. When smiling muscles are not activated frequently, like other muscles, they may lose functionality. Smiling muscle workout requires effort, particularly for those with a smiling deficiency.
When we are happy, we tend to smile spontaneously. But it also works the other way around; smiling creates happiness; it’s bidirectional. So even if I fake or force a smile on my face, it still relaxes me and brings many of the benefits that spontaneous smiling does.
So, I was out to find what sort of smile would produce the most relaxing effect when I faked it. After investigating and reading on the subject of smiles, I found it. In the mid-19th century, a French neurologist named Duchenne researched the characteristics of an authentic positive smile and what differentiates it from other smiles. He observed that when people express genuine joy, they activate their facial muscles in such a way that two things happen:
- Corners of the lips curl up towards the ears.
- Eyes get slightly narrower and squint, so the natural wrinkles at the outer eye corners, known as ‘crow’s feet,’ become accentuated.
Subtle facial muscle variations can change the message a smile projects and the calming effect it creates. For example, a ‘Duchenne smile’ is symmetric. So when mainly one side of the mouth curls up, it may turn the smile from relaxing into being dominant. Furthermore, smiling with one component of the ‘Duchenne smile’ may produce a negative effect. The following story will demonstrate why. The airline Pan American World Airways, shortened to ‘Pan Am,’ went bankrupt, but the term ‘Pan Am Smile’ still exists. Pan Am flight attendants got instructions to smile whenever interacting with customers. No matter what, even when passengers misbehaved, they were required to smile! Unfortunately, these company rules caused personnel a smiling overload. As a result, they didn’t engage their eye muscles when smiling and used only the muscles around the mouth. Their forced courtesy smile became obviously fake and produced the opposite effect than the one intended. Both components of a ‘Duchenne smile’ are required when faking smiles effectively.
To further improve the calming effect a ‘Duchenne smile’ has on me, I have added a third component. Smiles can be open or closed. For example, smiling with closed lips may project the will to cover, hold back or hide, whereas smiling with an open mouth projects the opposite. Furthermore, people are perceived as more honest and open when they smile and expose their teeth.
Combining all three actions when forcing a smile on my face,
sides of my lips curling up, narrowing my eyes, and exposing my upper set of teeth, yielded a fine result.
Smile breathing
Knowing that the transition into a smile is what counts and the characteristics of the smile that relaxes me well, I decided to use my breathing as a clock for smile transitioning. Coupling smiles with breathing sequences in a particular synchronization is powerful and synergetic. I like to call it SmileBreathing. I start by faking a ‘Duchenne smile’ on the inhale. Then, while exhaling, I gradually shift out of the smile. Finally, while breath holding, I force a neutral expression.
The diaphragm plays an essential role when SmileBreathing. I synchronize my shifting in and out of the smile with my diaphragm movement so that it is in maximum amplitude when I complete the ‘Duchenne smile’ and fully expose my teeth.
I have good reasons to smile when I inhale. Getting a breath of fresh air is like getting a present. My exhales are guaranteed, but my inhales aren’t. One day, I will exhale and never inhale again. So if I manage to inhale, I’m sure to complete another breathing cycle, a good excuse to smile.
The way I SmileBreathe diaphragmatically
- I sit on a chair with a straight back.
- Inhale and partially inflate my belly to half diaphragm amplitude while smiling with my mouth closed so that the corners of my lips curl up toward my ears. 1Xbeat.
- Further, inhale to maximum diaphragm amplitude while exposing my teeth and shift into ‘Duchenne smile.’ 1Xbeat.
- Exhale, shifting gradually out of the smile, slowly closing my lips, deflating to about half diaphragm amplitude. 2Xunits.
- Continue to exhale with my lips closed until my diaphragm reaches minimum amplitude. 2Xunits.
- Hold my breath while keeping a neutral expression, relaxing my facial muscles until I gently reach the point of ‘air hunger start.’
The way I SmileBreathe in 3-parts
- I sit on a chair with a straight back.
- Inhale and partially inflate my belly to maximum diaphragm amplitude while smiling with my mouth closed so that the corners of my lips curl up toward my ears. 2Xunits.
- Further, inhale, inflating my ribcage and chest to maximum amplitude while exposing my teeth and shifting into a ‘Duchenne smile.’ 2Xunits.
- Exhale, shifting gradually out of the smile, slowly closing my lips, and deflating my chest. 2Xunits.
- Further, exhale while keeping a neutral facial expression, deflating my ribcage. 2Xunits.
- Further, exhale while keeping my lips closed until I reach half diaphragm amplitude. 2Xunits.
- Further, exhale while keeping my lips closed until I reach the minimum diaphragm amplitude. 2Xunits.
- Hold my breath while keeping a neutral expression, relaxing my facial muscles until I gently reach the point of ‘air hunger start.’
Remarks
Generally, when I SmileBreathe, my exhale time is twice as long as my inhale, and the holding lasts until I reach the point of ‘air hunger star.’
When I start to exhale, my lips seal gradually like a drawer with a ‘soft close,’ shutting slowly and smoothly.
Visualizing pleasant images or thinking of something that uplifts my feeling is another optional addition to the exercise.
The added breath hold following the exhale secures that I don’t clear Carbon-diOxide excessively when repeating the exercise.
I can feel the positive effects that SmileBreathing has on my well-being. For me, it’s a ‘mood vaccination.’