One of the best gifts you can give to someone and yourself is your presence and a big genuine smile.

Ask yourself, are you aware? Are you present? This is usually enough to bring yourself into the present.

It is so simple to smile, but we forget and get caught up in the habit of being busy.

It takes more muscles to frown than to smile.

When we smile we move more lightly and easily.

When we smile this releases stress.

When we smile it sends a positive ripple out into those around us and beyond.

Smiling is contagious – most people smile back. This spreads the health benefits throughout those around you and it comes back to you several times as well.

When we smile we look more attractive.

Lightness is a real indicator of health.

Smiling is such a simple expression which costs nothing but is often received as a gift, which brings a sense of warmth and ease to most situations.

Charles Garfield, the author of Peak Performance, once coached the Russian Olympic weight-lifting team. Garfield noticed that when team members lifted to exhaustion, they would invariably grimace at the painful effort. In an experiment, he encouraged the athletes to smile when they got to that point of exhaustion. This seemingly minor difference enabled them to add 2-3 more reps to their performance.

No matter what the task, when you grimace or frown while doing it, you are sending your brain the message, “This is really difficult. I should stop.”  The brain then responds by sending stress chemicals into your bloodstream. And this creates a vicious circle: the more stressed you are, the more difficult the task becomes.

When you smile, your brain gets the message, “It’s not so bad. I can do this!”

Remember to smile it’s good for the mind, body, soul and the world.