Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Power of a Smile

I learned something interesting last week in yoga.

We were facing the side mirrors in horse pose, a particular kind of torture I remember from my years in karate. Stance wide, knees bent, you know...like you're on a horse. The teacher told us to smile, as they often do in yoga. BE HAPPY. Then she said something really interesting.

"A smile changes the whole makeup of your body. It changes the chemistry. Try it!"

And I did. And she was right.

A big, goofy, sweaty smile actually made the pain lessen, the stress lighten. I was more relaxed, the fire in my legs went out. At least for a minute. And then it was all awful again.

But it got me thinking back to my whole positivity kick and how I was trying not to complain. That kind of fell by the wayside. I should probably get back to that, 'cause just as a smile changes how my body feels, an attitude of positivity changes how my life feels.

When shit gets hard, just smile.




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