Smile!

We all have something called mirror neurons, that fire (react) exactly the same way when we see someone else, as if we were performing that action ourselves.

Brain scans demonstrate that when a person smiles to us, mirror neurons in our brain activate exactly as if we would be smiling, releasing dopamine (neurotransmitter responsible for positive pleasurable emotions) increasing our happiness and motivation.

Unfortunately, mirror neurons also activate under negative perceptions like anger, stress, or anxiety, making us to increase adrenaline while suppressing dopamine and serotonin. This means that when we are in a negative mood, we are spreading negativity, impacting other people around us.

Through mirror neurons we have a WI-FI connection one to the other and this demonstrates the importance of controlling our behaviors acknowledging our impact on others, especially being parents, teachers or leaders. We can impact other people positively or negatively even not perceiving it, in other words, our mood is contagious.

So, the call is to smile more. That simple act will contribute not only for you to prompt some instant joy and make you feel better, but also to make your smile to mirror in people around you.