Can changes in our body change how we feel in our hearts and mind?
Yes, according to Fritz Strack who showed back in 1988 that physically smiling can actually make us happier, or at least find things funnier. When participants were asked to look at and rate cartoons, those with a pen in their mouths causing them to physically ‘smile’ found the cartoons funnier than those whose pen position caused them to frown.
The finding was thrown into doubt in a replication attempt in 2016 that found no difference between participants (Strack, Martin, & Stepper). Until someone else spotted a different difference…in 2016 the participants were videoed during the experiment, which they hadn’t been in 1988. Fast forward to 2018 and another study (Noah, T., Schul, Y., & Mayo, R) that ran with and without videoing, and the effect was back, ‘smiling’ made people feel ‘happier’, as long as the participants didn’t feel observed…
So what does all this mean? I am certainly not telling you to just ‘put on a happy face’ when things feel low, but if thoughts are hard I would encourage you to think about whether you could do something physical to change how you feel mentally..?
Take a walk outside, and physically connect with anything you can touch 🌳 🌆
Give your body an all over shake 🕺
Take a cold shower, as long and as cool as you dare! 🥶
Or dance… especially when nobody’s watching 😉 💃
Gabi - Moments Of Space