I recently travelled to Sri Lanka. Since my return, friends and family are asking me what I preferred during my trip and without hesitation, I can say it was the people of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan are absolutely lovely, so keen to be of help and always smiling. They smile when they greet you, they smile when you make eye contact with them, they smile when they talk with you, they smile. On a daily basis, and repeated all through the day, this has a huge impact on your general wellbeing: you just feel so good!
I recently posted on my social media about this but through this blog, I want to thank all the Sri Lankan people I came across, those I spoke with and those I didn’t, those I met and those I didn’t. You reminded me of a very important lesson: that a smile has the power to change you inside and thus boost your health and wellbeing.
The benefits of smiling
When we smile, our body releases endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. These mood-enhacing hormones trigger positive feelings, improving our mood and relaxing our body. Endorphins also help relieve pain so smiling is anti-inflammatory. At the same time, smiling decreases cortisol and adrenaline thus reducing our levels of stress. Smiling can lower blood pressure and heart rate and boost our immune system, making us stronger to fight infections and many other diseases.
As smiling is contagious, when we smile, we also lift the moods of those around us (this is exactly what I experienced in Sri Lanka!), and shared laughter can strenghten relationships.
Smiling also makes us more approachable and trustworthy, so can help making people interact with us more. This in turn leads to less isolation which is known to be a risk factor for many illnesses.
Smiling is therefore essential for both our physical and mental health so may well be the all-important “pill” we need for our wellbeing. In the West, we are blessed with many things but often complain or moan. We rarely smile at others and often, when we do, we get puzzled looks in response: is she weird? Is she mad? Why is she looking at me? What does she want? …. We are often suspicious of a smile instead of welcoming it for what it is: a gift. A gift of love. And in Sri Lanka, this love was shared by ordinary people with complete strangers, for no reason, just as is. I was really humbled by this. To me, this is where true spirituality lies and these people who had nothing just had it in abundance.
When we see the amazing health benefits smiling has on us, let’s add it without delay to our medicine’s prescription and practice it as often as we can. With our loved ones but also with strangers, in the street, at the bank, at our local store, with the cashier at the supermarket…basically all through our daily interactions with others. This will boost our hormones and make us feel good and this will in turn strengthen our health and wellbeing.
Let’s go for it: if it was in pill form, we would rush to buy it! As a Health & Nutrition Coach, I can only recommend it – both for myself and for you!
Have you had similar experiences?
If you are interested in exploring other ways to improve your health, feel free to get in touch with me on +44 (0)7788 444 199 / +33 (0)6 52 76 95 67 or info@biovitalnutrition.com or https://biovitalnutrition.com/contact/.
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