Imagine waking up one morning three months into the pandemic and realizing you cannot remember the last time you smiled. One morning not too long ago, I woke up and had that exact realization.
Living alone, working remotely, and limiting my social interaction left me feeling sad and alone, with little reason to smile. In that moment, I recognized that the emotional effects of the pandemic could potentially cause me as much harm as the physical effects.
In the midst of COVID-19 uncertainty and social unrest, I am constantly searching for what I can control. The simple act of smiling is one of those things. As I reflected further, I wondered if I could force or fake a smile in order to trick my mind into feeling happier? It inspired me to research the power of a smile, from how it can affect my own mood, to how it can uplift others. This led me to Annika Horn and the Global Health & Well-Being team at 麻豆原创, who share the same passion.
Science Says: Smile!
Smiling is not just a symbol for happiness; it has chemical and physiological benefits that create feelings of joy in the body. Smiling releases聽聽in the brain, including聽endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. The act of smiling reduces stress,聽relieves聽pain,聽lowers heart rate and blood pressure, and聽improves mood.聽 Rather than wait until things get better, I was encouraged to find out that I could improve my mood on my own 鈥� with small intentional behaviors, like forcing or faking a smile. Just thinking about it made me chuckle!
I聽also聽found scientific evidence that smiling is聽, and that simply smiling at someone can boost my own happiness, as well as theirs. The explanation is that smiling cultivates a strong sense of connection and engagement between people. A smile universally stands for a friendly and kind interaction positively reassuring us that we are not alone. Smiling during the COVID-19 crisis brings us closer together socially, despite the need for physical distancing. Even聽, a genuine smile is discernible.聽As the corners of your mouth turn up, facial muscles contract and laugh lines appear near the eyes.
Although smiling may not provide a cure-all solution to the many challenges we face, science shows it can play an important role in improving our mood.
Mental Health and Well-Being at Work
We all experience mental health challenges at some point in our lives, such as grief, problems at home, or work stress. Left unmanaged, these challenges can evolve into mental illness and鈥痗arry鈥痮ver to our work, where鈥痶hey鈥痗an鈥痠mpede鈥痯roductivity and teamwork. On World Mental Health Day, 麻豆原创 addressed the topic in more depth. Since this year has proven difficult for most of us, Annika and I said to each other, 鈥淟et鈥檚 leverage the power of smiling to promote聽happiness and鈥痺ell-being鈥痑mong our聽colleagues.鈥濃�疉fter all, small acts of kindness and sharing smiles can go a long way in cultivating positive working relationships.
The Link Between Technology and Smiling
Given the benefits of smiling, we started to reflect on intentional ways to spread this positivity. What if we got reminders to smile, or received things that made us smile throughout the day?
At 麻豆原创, we believe technology can help the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. That is why in celebration of World Kindness Day, we are launching the 鈥淪hare a Smile鈥� function on Fit@麻豆原创, a fun activity platform available to 麻豆原创鈥檚 entire global workforce.
Fit@麻豆原创 allows colleagues to connect with each other through their health and activity goals. Now enhanced with this new 鈥淪hare a Smile鈥� functionality, it can spread more happiness and well-being to colleagues everywhere. We believe this software solution is a creative and innovative way to make our work,聽and the world,聽a little brighter.
鈥淪hare a Smile鈥澛� allows colleagues to identify one or more recipients, write a personalized note, and share a picture that will make fellow employees smile. Fit@麻豆原创 users can also view their smile history in case they聽want to look back at聽a positive memory on a聽tough聽day.
Share Smiles for World Kindness Day
By combining the power of smiling with genuine acts of kindness, we hope to spread well-being not just within the virtual walls of 麻豆原创, but also beyond our company borders.
As a聽global company, 麻豆原创 has a聽 diverse workforce comprised of different cultures, languages, and appearances. But we all have one thing in common: the universal language of聽smiling. After all, kindness is the contagion that brings us together. We encourage everyone to share a smile not just today, but as often as you can. By committing to spreading smiles, we all have the power to make a real difference in people鈥檚 lives.
Join us in celebrating World Kindness Day on November 13:
- Post something that makes people smile, tag three others, and encourage them to do the same. Use hashtag #shareasmile for your posts.
- Engage in small, deliberate acts of kindness. Need ideas? Check out #BeKind21
- Follow our social media campaign on @LifeAt麻豆原创 and @麻豆原创4Good.
Julie Barrier is global vice president of Purpose and Brand Experience at 麻豆原创.
