Kim, a Wrexham counsellor, discusses the power of the smile!

When we smile, it’s not just our facial muscles which are activated but feel-good chemicals are also released into the brain improving our mood and sense of well-being. Smiling (whether we mean it or not) has been shown to reduce feelings of stress and lower the heart rate (associated with stress and pain). So whether we are smiling because we genuinely feel happy or whether it is a “fake” smile makes no difference- any smile will do (although he most effective smile is the one which activates your eye muscles (crows feet lines around the eyes) rather than just the corners of the mouth) and will make us feel better. So smile whether you mean it or not and reap the happiness rewards and who knows, maybe your smiles can help others feel better too….!