Couples in a relationship want to be happy, and you want the other person to be as happy as possible. One of the best ways to tell if someone is happy is by how often they smile. This week our correspondent EBI KESIENA examines how our facial expression can affect our relationship.
Research has shown that dissatisfied couples in the relationship commonly exhibit facial expressions of contempt in interactions and communications. How often do you smile in a day, If you are an average adult, it is expected that you smile about 20 times a day. If you are an exceptionally happy adult, your teeth may show 40-50 times a day.
Due to the pressures around us and in an environment like Nigeria with a lot of lacks, many adults have forgotten how to smile. In fact, their muscles have been trained towards a frown or just an expressionless look. Train your muscles. Stand in front of a mirror and smile at yourself. Get used to how it feels. Show some teeth, or at least curl your lips and cheeks upward. Connect your face to your emotions.
The Bible says that “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart” (Proverbs 15:30). Your face has the ability to inject hope and happiness into you’re your partners life without saying a word. A gentle look or a quick playful grin are sometimes all your spouse needs from you.
According to researchers, the key to making new friends is all in the mouth. Show your shiny whites, and friendships are easier to come by. The reason smiling is key to new and healthy relationships is that people are more attune to positive emotions when they’re forming new relationships.
Bearing in mind this friendship quote one smile can start a friendship. One word, can end a fight, one look, can save a relationship, it is important to know that couples who smile together, stay together. Smiling is contagious, when you give a warm and friendly smile, often your spouse will smile back and naturally increase the bond between both of you. You get a moment of feeling connected and accepted, and you spread happiness in your home.
Smiling can help reduce stress. When you smile, your heart rate slows and other stress indicators go away faster than if you don’t smile. Smiling can lengthen your lifespan. People who smile appear more youthful and are more attractive to others. The muscles you use to smile lift your face. Try it. Instant face lift.
When you smile, you send a signal to your partner that you share a common goal, you are in a good mood and likable and not a threat. You create better impression of you on your spouse and they will want to be around you which will in the long run make both of you more productive and creative.
Smiling can help you develop stronger paths in your brain for positive thinking. The more you smile the more you move to a positive place. Your brain creates a happiness loop that encourages more positive-thinking patterns and then you can achieve more in your life goals as a couple.
Smiles may strengthen the body on a cellular level. When you smile you reduce the rigidness of your cells and this relaxation can help reduce the risk of stress-induced cell mutations that can lead to the development or persistence of various cancers.
Relationships cannot continue in an endless smile. It would be fake. True intimacy is seen through all of life–the smiles, tears, and frustrations. As intimacy is increased we allow the one we love to see us in every aspect of life.
Some women smile less because men tend to connect smiling and sex, and the truth is, men can’t help but connect the two. If a smile communicates an open, safe, playfulness then to a man a smile communicates sex. Some women begin to smile less because they want to turn their husbands off. It may not be a conscious decision, but they learn to look less happy so they don’t have to add one more chore to the to-do list. It’s a habit that needs to be changed.
So, men need to learn that not every smile is an invitation for sex and wives need to accept that your husband being attracted to your smile is a compliment. Whatever the case, women need to smile more. It’s a powerful act in the concept of marriage. It’s one of the easiest ways to connect with your husband. And while it doesn’t always work, the most common response to a smile is a smile.
In conclusion it is important for both spouse to regularly smile at one another
