Emotions as a Feedback Loop?

Normally, the case seems to be pretty clear: we feel good, we smile, we have a happy facial expression, our shoulders are squared, out body feels light and energetic. Or, in the contrary, we feel bad, our shoulders droop, like the corners of our mouth, our forehead is wrinkled, our body feels heavy and like a burden.

So far so good, nothing special.

But how is it the other way around?

I read not long ago, that psychiatrists found out that patients with severe depression, who had been treated with Botox in the areas where the depression had already carved deep patterns into their skin, reported that they felt better, that they couldn’t access the usual dark feeling places due to their inability to move their face accordingly.

So that means, not only does our body respond to our thoughts and emotions, no, this is a two way street, we can actually influence our thoughts and emotions by embracing a different posture.

Here the “fake it ‘til you make it” approach gets a totally new meaning. Even though we always thought that the clown who makes a laughing face even though he feels rather miserable is a victim of his profession, perhaps it really pays to train our faces into a more cheerful expression.

In German, we have the expression that “Humour is if you laugh anyway”, which means that nearly everything in life has something ridiculous about it, you just have to look for it.

When we look at faces, especially amongst those who already have a few years of life experience under their belts, we very often see traces of negative thoughts remaining in them even in a relaxed state of mind. Some people habitually have their forehead wrinkled or scowl without even noticing it anymore.

If it is true that happiness is a feedback loop that can be set in motion in both ways, it is really worth the effort to smile at the slightest reason or even without a reason. It might very well make you feel better all around.

Try it, make a smiling face and then think about something you feel really bad about. Do you notice that you have to give up the one or the other? Both at the same time – next to impossible.

So when we are relaxed, when we have nothing to do and not much to think about, we should really habitually start to smile without a reason and let this smiling face attract to us other things that make us smile.

When we go into a shop, smiling, friendly, cheerful and look around, the chances that this will be a pleasant and joyful experience are way higher as when we go in there with a grumpy face. A smile always opens up friendly, joyful interactions, so what would actually keep us from smiling?

A smile also always transforms a face. It looks immediately younger, more vibrant and positive.

Next time you catch yourself sitting there with a blank face (or, worse, with a scowl on your face), give this strategy a try, smile without a reason and watch how your world transforms.

Enjoy!

© 2011 Dorothee Geray