Weekly Wellbeing: Sharing a smile :)
Sharing a smile
This week's wellbeing activity is all about smiling. It's one of the first things we learn to do as a baby to express our emotions and feelings. Every time you flash those pearly whites, your brain releases endorphins and serotonin, both of which help to relieve stress and lift your mood.
Smiling is a also a powerful way of connecting with others. It's a simple gesture which can really lift another person's mood, and make them feel loved and valued. If, like me, you struggle with words, a smile can be a great way of spreading love and positivity to others.
This week's activity:
Make a conscious effort to smile at someone you don't know (or wouldn't normally smile at). Let us know how it went, and how you felt afterwards if you like. 🙂
Comments
These weekly activities are always so great!
Every time I go out to eat I always try to make a habit of smiling to waiters and other service staff at restaurants since I know sometimes their jobs can be tough and stressful. Today at a restaurant, even though I was a bit annoyed about the bureaucracy of applying for a visa, I managed to smile and thank the waitress who brought me my meal. She smiled back and told me to enjoy the meal and after that I actually did feel less annoyed about everything that occurred beforehand. Just smiling and reacting positively to someone else really can bring up your own mood! 
Such a top activity.
I have found this to be super helpful when someone is grumpy or agitated.
I throw a smile their way, at first they are shocked, then they relax and smile back.
The end result is that we both feel good 🙂
super cute idea @mrmusic 
will report back on my endeavours 😛
@drpenguin i love that smiling at someone made you feel less stressed and happier! Such a win-win 😄
@Claire-RO haha love it! that's so funny, but also such a positive thing to do as well!
Reporting back on smiling!
I stopped to let someone get by in the supermarket whilst giving them a smile and got the biggest grin back in return. It was just a really nice social interaction, a really warm feeling for something so small 😄
😄 😄 😄 smiles for you all!
I love this activity! This is something I need to make a conscious effort to do more of- you never know when a kind smile may make someone else's day a little bit brighter, or even create a flow on effect!
Today I drove to my local coffee shop at lunch and there was an elderly couple sitting at the table out the front having a pie. I smiled at them both, and they smiled back. It made me feel warm, particularly to see that my smile was reciprocated 
