When I was work ing on the tiny house, back in 2017, I had to drive a lot. Or at least a lot for me. The trip from the property to the house I had in Seattle was between 40-50 miles one way, depending on the route I would take. (Frequently, the longer route would be the shortest amount of time due to traffic.)
Getting into a car is stressful for me. It doesn’t matter if I’m driving or riding. It’s just stressful.
So I started practicing smile therapy. There’s actually some science behind this. If you make yourself smile, even if you aren’t feel particularly happy and jovial, and if your brain is capable of making endorphins and other happy chemicals, it will. There’s also been studies that shows it lowers cortisol and reduces stress.
I used to get in the car, and the first thing I’d do once I was actually out on the street, would be to look at the time and then make myself smile for five minutes. It’s harder to do than you think it is. But I always thought it helped, and that I was less stressed on that long drive.
I stopped consciously doing smile therapy when I stopped regularly having to make long trips. Just forgot about it, I suppose.
Yesterday, not only did I have a 30-45 minute drive, I was going back to the dentist’s office. As the last time I went was so traumatic, I was really stressed.
I suddenly remembered the smile therapy I used to do, and so for the first five minutes of the trip, I smiled.
It was weirdly easy.
Before, I would have to remind myself to smile. I would have to force it. Five minutes seemed like forever.
This time I felt as though I could do five minutes without thinking about it. So I did it for another five minutes. My cheeks started getting sore around the four minute mark the second time, but again, not too difficult.
As someone who’s fascinated by her own internal workings, I started thinking about it. I realized that I practice smile therapy all the damned time. When I’m stressed, I automatically smile, trying to make myself feel better. I also smile a lot in general. Plus, I am a lot happier, and a lot less stressed, than I used to be.
The good news about the dentist’s visit was that they were able to adhere the new crown without numbing me up. The bad news is that I’m still really sore. I did get to the mat this morning. I did do a light bodyweight workout, as well as stretching. But inverting doesn’t really work today, not with tooth and jaw pain. Will have a smoothie for lunch, and mushy food for dinner.
ION – I’m still behind on my emails. I know I owe people stuff. Need to do that today. Will go to Starbucks or the library this afternoon so I can email files off.
And I should stop rambling now and get to the writing!
Have you ever tried smile therapy? Did it work for you?