What is a smile? It would seem, well, what is a smile? Teaching your child to smile in the morning

Facial muscles (), or eyes, showing location towards or expressing greeting, or ridicule (smirk).

Congenital or acquired?

The German scientist Eibl-Eibesfeldt found that the ability to smile in children who are deaf or blind from birth is manifested without any training or copying. However, the habit of smiling or the tendency to have a closed (without a smile) facial expression is not only an innate tendency, but also a consequence of upbringing.

In China and Japan, the habit of smiling is a long-standing cultural tradition. In addition, the skill and habit of smiling is recognized there as an important element of business success. As the Chinese say: “If you can’t smile, you shouldn’t open a store.” Watch the video "Teaching to smile."

Teaching your child to smile in the morning

It is quite possible to teach 80 percent of children that the first reaction as soon as the child wakes up is a smile.

Learning to be Sunshine

From the report: “Smiling... It’s as easy as shelling pears! I’m just the queen of smiling – that’s what I thought. Until I started to watch myself very carefully, and it turned out that it was only in public, in familiar companies. At home there was a black cloud. the street is no better - I’m a serious sausage, not a trick for you. I rolled up my sleeves, set a task and - another shock: it’s impossible to smile at my family - This is how my daily honest work on the exercise began: I recently caught myself thinking that while I was there. alone in the room - I SMILE. And I smiled even wider when I caught it!”

Or expressing pleasure, greeting, goodwill or irony, mockery (smirk).

How many times a day do we smile? It all depends on the person and the circumstances. But do we always smile to express pleasure? A smile is complex and can reveal a lot to us. However, unlike laughter, which has occupied scientists for twenty years, smiling - the subtlest manifestation of human feelings - has been studied little.

We smile for the first time between the 30th and 45th day of life, at the latest at three months. The baby smiles to express joy at the sight of a familiar person, at a melodious sound, or after eating. Then, imitating the facial expression of an adult, he learns to put different emotions into a smile. American psychologist Paul Ekman identified 19 smiles, including grimaces of fear, contempt or irony.

Smiling is primarily a brain process. It all starts with stimulation of the anterior zone of the hypothalamus (and stimulation of the posterior zone of the hypothalamus causes a reverse reaction of dissatisfaction). From there, the flow of nerve impulses is transmitted to the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotions. Muscle tone weakens, a satisfied facial expression appears.

To laugh, we use 15 muscles; to smile, you need no less of them. However, different smiles use different muscles. For example, with a polite smile - a simple stretching of the lips - the zygomatic major muscle contracts, and a wide and joyful smile uses the orbicularis muscle, which is responsible for the movements of the eyelids. Moreover, the muscles around the eyes can only contract involuntarily when we really experience pleasant feelings. And therefore it is impossible to confuse a forced grimace and a smile of happiness.

A smile is another language, a way to express what we do not say in words. A smile is not at all a weak semblance of laughter; it opens up different worlds to us: the happy smile of a lover, the embarrassed smile of a timid person, the insinuating smile of a seducer or the detached smile of Buddha...

Friendly smile

A smile of greeting, or a smile of politeness, which simultaneously brings closer and maintains distance, can make us suddenly feel at ease, even if nothing connects us with the person who smiles at us. Such a smile is not addressed directly to our inner world; it is addressed not to the person we are, but to that common and universal whose image unites us all. “A sincere smile touches something very important in us - our innate sensitivity to kindness,” the Dalai Lama emphasizes in the book “Ethics in the New Millennium” (Sofia, 2004).

Embarrassed smile

A smile does not always express pleasure; sometimes it can indicate our desire to distance ourselves. An embarrassed smile may appear on our lips when we have made some mistake and are overcome by a feeling of shame. This is a smile-comment that speaks of our confusion.

Brave Smile

By forcing ourselves to smile, we remember our successes, not our failures.

Protective smile

In a situation of uncertainty, a smile is our first weapon, a way to relax, which helps to restrain our own aggressive impulses and neutralize the aggression that another person may experience towards us. This sign of stress relief is used in all cultures.

Seductive smile

German ethologist Irenaus Eibl-Eibsfeldt proved that smiling is part of the ritual of seduction throughout the world. Among Europeans, a smile is what women value most in a man (37%); it is even ahead of the eye (13%). A smile is both encouraging and calming.

see also

Gallery

Eduard von Grützner Falstaff.jpg Smiling man

Palestinian girl in Qalqiliya.jpg Girl smile

African girl smile

There are many theories trying to explain how such a mysterious and attractive phenomenon as smile.

Purely physiologically, a smile is a movement of the muscles of the eyes, lips and cheeks. Emotionally, this is a facial expression that demonstrates pleasure and goodwill, a readiness to laugh.

Many people think that in order to smile, you need to have a reason, or be in a good mood. Where can I get it? So people don’t smile that much in life, even among people they like. But a woman who smiles sincerely is able to transform the world around her. Man's open smile always interests people, because you always want to communicate with a smiling person. And if so, he inevitably evokes respect for himself.

Where does a person's smile come from?

Some scientists who spent their free time studying the reasons for the appearance of a smile believe that it arose from an aggressive grin, resulting from a just won victory, or from the eaten trunk of a mammoth.

Maybe you are right. However man smile Since those ancient times, it has apparently transformed long ago into a more abstract phenomenon, meaning that a person is simply good that he received at least .

Types of smiles

We should focus on this natural types of smiles, as the most organic. After all, if you start classifying smiles, you can remember:

• fake,
• cunning,
• evil,
• confused.

Remember the smile from Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana that appeared somewhere in the wrong place, like toothpaste from a burst tube.

Well, the smile of the Cheshire Cat is a very special case, it is something subject to decay.

Maybe there is a secret hidden here - a smile is like a moving photograph of a person’s soul?

Meditation “Ulibka” according to Pak

Professor Park, who developed the Smile meditation, argued that the source of a smile is the Spirit of Existence, which creates this world by smiling. And many are mistaken in believing that our world is a world of suffering. It's just the opposite. All Suffering is only from our misunderstanding, which can simply be destroyed with just one smile. A smile is a fragment of some unknown language, which, nevertheless, we all understand, regardless of nationality or race.

Professor Park teaches that a Man must preserve and maintain pride precisely because he is a Man, a chosen being among all beings, and he must do this by maintaining a smile.

Smiling is, first of all, a brain process. It all starts with stimulation of the anterior zone of the hypothalamus (and stimulation of the posterior zone of the hypothalamus causes a reverse reaction of dissatisfaction). From there, the flow of nerve impulses is transmitted to the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotions. Muscle tone weakens, a satisfied facial expression appears.

Ethology of the smile

Observations of gorillas have shown that when they play, they open their mouths and cover their teeth with their hands, as if saying: “I could bite you, but I won’t.” Scientists correlate this grimace with laughter. And sometimes gorillas smile widely, revealing both rows of teeth almost to Hollywood standard. Observations have shown that this “smile” appears when the monkey wants to ask for something else or smooth out awkwardness. If the game drags on or becomes too risky, the gorilla begins to “smile” at his partner - and this serves as an additional peaceful signal that keeps the comic brawl from turning into a real fight. The rougher and sharper the movements, the more active the game, the more often it is necessary to smooth out the awkwardness that arises, the more often confirmation of status and subordination is required, and the more often smiles appear on the faces of gorillas.

see also

Gallery

Palestinian girl in Qalqiliya.jpg

Girl smile

African girl smile

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Notes

Excerpt characterizing Smile

“Princesse, au revoir, [Princess, goodbye," he shouted, tangling with his tongue as well as with his feet.
The princess, picking up her dress, sat down in the darkness of the carriage; her husband was straightening his saber; Prince Ippolit, under the pretext of serving, interfered with everyone.
“Excuse me, sir,” Prince Andrei said dryly and unpleasantly in Russian to Prince Ippolit, who was preventing him from passing.
“I’m waiting for you, Pierre,” said the same voice of Prince Andrei affectionately and tenderly.
The postilion set off, and the carriage rattled its wheels. Prince Hippolyte laughed abruptly, standing on the porch and waiting for the Viscount, whom he promised to take home.

“Eh bien, mon cher, votre petite princesse est tres bien, tres bien,” said the Viscount, getting into the carriage with Hippolyte. – Mais très bien. - He kissed the tips of his fingers. - Et tout a fait francaise. [Well, my dear, your little princess is very sweet! Very sweet and perfect Frenchwoman.]
Hippolytus snorted and laughed.
“Et savez vous que vous etes terrible avec votre petit air innocent,” continued the Viscount. – Je plains le pauvre Mariei, ce petit officier, qui se donne des airs de prince regnant.. [Do you know, you are a terrible person, despite your innocent appearance. I feel sorry for the poor husband, this officer, who pretends to be a sovereign person.]
Ippolit snorted again and said through his laughter:
– Et vous disiez, que les dames russes ne valaient pas les dames francaises. Il faut savoir s"y prendre. [And you said that Russian ladies are worse than French ones. You have to be able to take it on.]
Pierre, having arrived ahead, like a homely man, went into Prince Andrei's office and immediately, out of habit, lay down on the sofa, took the first book he came across from the shelf (it was Caesar's Notes) and began, leaning on his elbow, to read it from the middle.
-What did you do with m lle Scherer? “She’s going to be completely ill now,” said Prince Andrei, entering the office and rubbing his small, white hands.
Pierre turned his whole body so that the sofa creaked, turned his animated face to Prince Andrei, smiled and waved his hand.
- No, this abbot is very interesting, but he just doesn’t understand the matter well... In my opinion, eternal peace is possible, but I don’t know how to say it... But not with political balance...
Prince Andrey was apparently not interested in these abstract conversations.
- You can’t, mon cher, [my dear,] say everything you think everywhere. Well, have you finally decided to do something? Will you be a cavalry guard or a diplomat? – asked Prince Andrei after a moment of silence.
Pierre sat down on the sofa, tucking his legs under him.
– You can imagine, I still don’t know. I don't like either one.
- But you have to decide on something? Your father is waiting.
From the age of ten, Pierre was sent abroad with his tutor, the abbot, where he stayed until he was twenty. When he returned to Moscow, his father released the abbot and said to the young man: “Now you go to St. Petersburg, look around and choose. I agree to everything. Here is a letter for you to Prince Vasily, and here is money for you. Write about everything, I will help you with everything.” Pierre had been choosing a career for three months and had done nothing. Prince Andrey told him about this choice. Pierre rubbed his forehead.

What is a smile? It would seem, well, what is a smile?

The most easily recognized human emotion that is reflected on the face. But it turns out that not everything is so simple. So, when you and I start to smile, certain processes are launched in our brain that activate the mutual feedback between the human brain and body. Well, the process of activation itself, or rather, its center, is located in the left frontal lobe, and it is it that is responsible for the emotions of happiness and joy. In other words, when we smile, we feel joy, and when we rejoice, we begin to smile. It is enough to activate one of the feedback connections, and the other one is activated.

Here is such an interesting “chain” between a smile and consciousness...

Scientists, interested in this interesting relationship between a smile and a person’s consciousness, have suggested that this is not the only feature of a smile. And they turned out to be right. Thus, a person’s smile has a number of other properties and features, and more about them:

At the beginning of our publication, we wrote that there is a close relationship between the body and a smile, and not only does a smile reflect our inner state, but it also has the ability to influence it. Therefore, those who want to be happy should smile, and their body will begin to produce endorphins - the hormones of happiness. Scientists assumed that this was just an accident, but in 1980 it was scientifically proven that this was still a fact. In addition, studies have shown that when a person frowns, he always begins to feel unhappy after that, since reverse processes are triggered in the body and consciousness.

A smile infects others with positivity. And indeed it is. It is enough in a room filled with people to start smiling at one person, and all the other people start doing the same. In addition, other people experience a subconscious attraction to such smiling people, because they give them positivity. So, a great way to defuse a conflict situation is to smile a sincere and warm smile at your opponent...

Smiling people always look more attractive than those who are actually more beautiful, but do not smile, but frown. Scientists came to this conclusion after a series of experiments, when participants were given photographs of ordinary people and fashion models. The fashion models in the pictures were gloomy, but ordinary people were smiling. Almost all participants in the experiment said that people who smile in photographs look more attractive than the most titled models.

A smile is a cure for stress. Have you tried to smile to yourself in a stressful situation? No? Oh, in vain! Scientists assure us that the best cure for stress is our smile. Since it triggers relaxing processes in our body, the feeling of anxiety decreases, the breathing and heart rate decreases, high blood pressure normalizes, digestion processes improve and even blood sugar levels normalize. So, the best cure for stress and other diseases is a smile!

Smiling makes us look younger. Yes, yes, so don’t be afraid of facial wrinkles, but smile more often, because the muscles that are activated on our face when we smile “tighten” the skin and help us look younger. Still don't believe me? An experiment was conducted in which participants were given photographs of women who were smiling and with a normal facial expression. Women who smiled looked younger than those who didn't, although in fact they were all the same age.

Like laughter, smiling prolongs life. And, when we smile, a dozen processes are launched in our body that have a beneficial effect on our body as a whole, improve our health and prolong our life.

A smile is a signal of success and by smiling, we attract this success to ourselves. Thus, a smiling person is always perceived by people around him as successful. In addition, subconsciously, people trust those who smile more...

You know - even newborn children can smile, and scientists have counted up to 70 types of such different smiles in young children. True, science gives a slightly different explanation for their smile, leaning towards the fact that up to two months of life the child smiles unconsciously, and from the second month of life, when he begins to recognize the faces of his parents, he thus begins to show his emotions. In addition, a pleasant sound, soft light, or gentle touch can cause a child to smile. Thus, the baby signals to the world around him that he enjoys life, is glad that he exists, and there does not necessarily need to be some more fundamental reason for his smile. Mom and dad are nearby - isn't that enough to make the whole world smile? We, adults, can even envy such a child’s ability, especially in light of what we have learned today about the beneficial properties of a smile.

As a conclusion, it naturally suggests itself to be a reflection that perhaps it is because childhood is such a happy and carefree time that children simply know how to smile and do not look for a special reason for this. Perhaps, if you, serious adults, suddenly just took and smiled at yourself, at your reflection, at your loved ones, our lives would simply change, and we ourselves would become completely different - truly happy people...?!

Shevtsova Olga, World without Harm