THE POWER OF A SMILE
While the Smile is perhaps the best way to display your happiness, convey acceptance and add another pretty face to the world, it’s also one of the best ways to enter the hearts of little children.
Smiling after administering discipline tells a child you forgive them and would like to see them get over it and keep moving and improving.
The shortest distance between two people is their smile!
Your smile is your Great Communicator! It’s how you tell people that you’re friendly and congenial, especially if they can’t speak your language, or can’t hear your language or in the case of little children who don’t necessarily understand your language. Because as you know, the smile is something we all do in the same language!
It’s true. The smile can be a great pain reliever. You have over 6o muscles in your face.
When you frown – give yourself a frown right now. This contracts and tightens most of your face muscles. When your face muscles contract and tighten up this sloooowwwwwssss down the circulation of blood, energy and oxygen going into your brain.
But, when you smile – give me a smile right now. This relaxes your face muscles. When your face muscles are relaxed, then more blood and energy can circulate through your brain. As the brain receives more blood, it also receives more oxygen, and your brain LOVES OXYGEN. It makes you happy, smarter, more alert and much, much better looking. J
How do you feel when you go somewhere and you’re greeted with a smile? How do you think the other person feels when they greet you with a smile? Do people ever make you smile just by smiling at you? Have you ever caused anyone to smile because you smiled at them?
On the other hand, has anyone ever made you frown just by frowning at you? Have you ever made someone frown just by frowning at them?
Children will generally take your frown very personally, thinking that you’re mean, you don’t like them, or you’re giving them the “look” because they did something wrong. Now the “look” is a very valuable and effective form of non verbal discipline. Great teachers can simply give their children the “look” and redirect` a child’s behavior from bad to good. I see it happen all the time. However, how can you give your children the look, if you are always wearing the look?
As a gymnastics instructor I noticed that the children who smiled a lot and displayed a variety of facial expressions would generally progress and learn new movements and skills much quicker than those children who were pretty much expressionless. .
When you think about it, there’s nothing that creates a bond as well as the simple smile. Your smile is your passport into the hearts of your children and all your future friends. It’s what we all do in the same language!
Now I do realize that sometimes we all feel a little bit down, and it’s so much easier to wear a frown or no expression at all. That’s why I developed a variety of Grinnastics activities to release the stress and tension that could be tightening the face and eye muscles. Here is a simple Grinnastics activity to help you smile
The Frown Eraser
- Just put both hands over your head, and then shake your head from side to side and hummmmmm.
- Look up in the air and howl for as long as you can.
- Tap your head with your thumbs. Keep doing this until you realize what a ridiculous thing you’re doing and it makes you smile. As I always say,
“Don’t get angry – Get Ridiculous.”
© Scott Liebler 2017
Scott Liebler has been researching, teaching and developing early childhood development programs for thirty years. He is the creator of Funsical – www.funsical.com - a curriculum of music, movement and language activities that appeal to children’s natural desire to move and have fun while developing essential skills. He is the author of Safegard Classes Online - Music, Movement and Language early childhood courses and How to Take a Chill Pill stress management class. He has served as an adjunct faculty member for Front Range Community College in Denver, CO, a seminar presenter for the Bureau of Education and Research (BER) and administers the Move to Improve program for early childhood communities. For information on Funsical audio CD’s, curriculum materials and training programs please visit www.funsical.com or call 303-902-4985
