Student Blog: Friendly Reminder: Smile!

Smile, simple, but how important is it to smile? How does it affect oneself? How does it impact our environment? Is it important to do it?

A smile brings many benefits, one of them is in our health. How is that possible? Simple, it releases endorphins or the "happiness hormones" which help fight stress, improves oxygenation of the blood as the lungs expand and more air enters, also digestion improves as the diaphragm moves and facilitates the digestive process, and last but not least prolongs life up to 4 more years.

Those were the health benefits of oneself, but how does it influence our environment? It improves the relationship with others, since giving a simple smile inspires confidence, helps to overcome fears, shyness, shame and improves the image. It sounds simple I know, but imagine a situation where there are many young children in a hospital, all with serious illnesses, I don't know, cancer? The things they have to think at such a young age, what can happen to them, what the doctors will tell you, the fear of just thinking about going to the hospital. Later a doctor enters, when he sees them he gives them a friendly smile that gives them confidence, happiness perhaps, later, the doctor puts them in fun activities or makes comments that make the children smile, all this with such a happy smile, clears them up of your negative thoughts. What effect does this have? Children may feel more like going to the hospital and think, "Yeah, that's fun, let's go to the hospital!" or "One more day to go to the hospital and laugh like never before", or some other expression.

Just as that attitude and smile impacts children in serious situations, you can impact other people, perhaps they are in a difficult time and a simple smile can make them forget about their problems, even for a small fraction of the time. Smile, it's free therapy!

Here are some songs that can make your day or can make shake your groove thing (yeah yeah)

• Sing! (A chorus line)
• Time Warp (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
• Piragua (In The Heights)
• Going Back to Hogwarts (A Very Potter Musical)
• Popular (Wicked)
• Sincerely, Me (Dear Evan Hansen)
• 96,000 (In the Heights)
• Don't Rain On My Parade (Funny Girl)
• Dancing Queen (Mamma Mia)
• Le Jazz Hot (Victor/Victoria)
• La Vie Boheme (Rent)
• Shout (The Temptations)