This article is the second in a series that discusses the essential elements of happiness.

Physiology is the second essential element of happiness. Physiology includes smiling, laughter and relaxed body movement. Smiling is a very powerful way to move you into a happy state. Smiling is strongly linked to positive feelings in nearly everyone. A persistent and gentle smile is the key to making yourself happy and sustaining your happiness.

The utility of smiling, or any other physiology technique, is that it can be used as lever to pry you away from thinking about negative thoughts. When you smile at the same time you are thinking negative thoughts you create tension between your negative thinking and your physiology. This is why it seems uncomfortable. If you are persistent in smiling the resulting internal tug-of-war might push you to think more positively.
One often-overlooked benefit of smiling is that when other people see you smile they are more inclined to respond to you positively. A friend’s positive response to your smile will trigger a chain reaction that will get you to smile stronger, and other people who walk by are similarly affected which magnifies the positivity of the whole group.

Laughter is also very effective. A simple vocal expression of ho-ho-ho or even ha-ha-ha is usually enough to get most people to brighten up. Do you need a reason to laugh and smile? Truthfully you do not need a reason. However, if you believe a reason is important then imagine a funny situation in your mind, it is easy.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Elements of Happiness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.