The power of S.M.I.L.E.

...... much more about this most human of facial expressions.....


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It's 7 AM, and Susan Jenks, a mother of two, would love more sleep, but she can hear her five-month-old son, Angus, rousing in the next room. "I'm hardly able to drag myself out of bed," says Jenks, who, with both an infant and an oldre son age two, is no stranger to fatigue. "But when I look into his crib, and he gives me a big smile, it fills me with joy - and then everything is fine."

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Such is the power of a simple smile. In fact, research over the last two decades has been proving scientifically what aphorisms and popular song lyrics have espoused for eons: Smile, and the whole world smiles with you, and grey skies really will clear up if you put on a happy face.

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"A smile is central to our evolution and one of the most powerful tools of human behaviour," says Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, who has studied the importance of facial expression - including the variety and impact of smiles.

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Anyone who has been around a smiling baby knows how a spontaneous grin helps build kinship, strengthen social bonds and release positive brain chemicals that help us feel good. Standing at a grocery checkout with her sparkly Angus, Jenks is apt to hear a chorus of oohs and aahs as her baby uses his new-found power of smiling to elicit smiles from others.

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CHILD-DEVELOPMENT experts call that positive exchange between infant and adult the "interactional dance," which emerges as the baby's brain develops higher functioning. "A mother and baby exchange smiles in a rhythmic and synchronized way that is important for the development of attachment and intellectual development," says Ulrich Mueller, a professor of psychology specializing in child development. Mueller says studies have found that if a parent responds to a baby's smile with an expressionless face, the infant gets upset. "This indicates how important the caregiver's smile is for the infant," says Mueller, adding that infants of depressed mothers show fewer signs of happiness and smile less often than infants of nondepressed mothers.

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In 1872 Charles Darwin proposed in his book, The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals, that facial expressions are biologically based and universal among humans and therefore must provide an evolutionary advantage such as building kinship bonds, improving co-operation and helping increase the survival of the species. However, the celebrated anthropologist Margaret Mead thought the smile was a cultural behaviour that varied between societies.

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It wasn't until the 1960s that psychologist Paul Ekman decided to settle the argument. He travelled the world, showing pictures of facial expressions to people of different cultures and found that, even in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, expressions like a joyful smile had the same emotional meaning. Ekman and a colleague, Wallace Friesen, then spent eight years creating a reliable way to describe and replicate facial movements so researchers could more scientifically study facial expression and emotion. They systematically categorized 43 separate muscle movements of the face and their more than 3000 meaningful combinations, calling their system the Facial Action Coding System, or FACS.

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"FACS revolutionized the study of facial expression and human emotion,: says Keltner, who did his postgraduate work in Ekman's lab. "It gave researchers an objective language to answer how emotions are mapped onto our face and our nervous systems." Now, with FACS as the base, 18 types of smiles have been identified, such as shy, embarrassed, sarcastic and loving. But the two types that have received the most research attention are the spontaneous joyful smile and the fake smile. The first, also called the Duchenne smile after the 19th-century. French neurologist who first described it, involves two sets of muscles. One pulls back the corners of the mouth and raises the cheeks high, and the other make the eyes crinke. Scientists have discovered that a genuine Duchenne smile is a marker of real happiness. The fake smile - sometimes called the fight-attendant smile-uses only the frist muscle set and is generally used as a form of courtesy.

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In one of his most famous studies, Keltner and colleague LeeAnne Harker coded the smiles of 114 women who posed for their college yearbook photo in 1958 and 1960. All but three smiled, but 61 did the fake courtesy smile, and 50 had Duchenne smiles. Keltner's study found that over 30 years of follow-up, the women who displayed Duchenne smiles were more apt to get married and remain married, and scored higher on tests of emotional and physical well-being. Other Keltner studies have found that people who display spontaneous, real smiles are better able to overcome stressful events such as the death of a spouse, and that couples who show loving smiles when talking about each other release oxytocin-called the caring hormone and association with bonding and reproduction-into the blood.

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Keltner notes that while some people are born with happier temperaments, which set them up for success, others can become happier by being taught how to cultivate a genuine smile. "In the happiness literature," says Keltner, "the greatest association with happiness is connection to others. Teaching smiling is important because it helps us connect."

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Putting on a happy face not only helps us make friends, it translates into altered brain chemistry that makes us feel better. Ekman and University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson used brain scans to show that the Duchenne smile activates some parts of the brain associated with pleasure and happiness, though it does not activate the full pattern associated with these emotions. They found that if people learned how to activate the muscles of the Duchenne smile, even artificially, they could produce similar brain activity.

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Since smiling is so imporant to happiness and social connection, losing one's smile is devastating. Twice in his adult life Ross Main, who operates a guest house in Canada, has had half his face paralyzed by Bell's palsy, a disorder in which the seventh cranial nerve becomes inflamed, probably from a viral infection. " I could only smile with half my face, and the result was this weird grimace," says Main, an outgoing person who became self-conscious and reluctant to go out or meet people. "You don't realize how essential a smile is until you can't do it."

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Main was lucky: Both times his smile returned within three or four weeks. But about 15 percent of those with Bell's palsy never get their smiles back fully. Others lose their smiles through cancer, stroke or injury. Some people, such as those with a facial disorder called Moebius syndrome, are born without a normal smile.

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"My patients have taught me the value of smiling," says Dr Ralph Manktelow, a plastic surgeon. "They say, 'Because I can't smile, people think I am unfriendly, sad, angry or depressed, and I can't show them what I am really like." A smile is a powerful part of our conversation capability. If you can't smile, you are very limited in your ability to pass on information and relate to other people."

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Manktelow and paediatric plastic surgeon Dr Ronald Zuker, co-head world-renowned Facial Paralysis Team in Toronto, Canada, which specializes in the reconstruction of missing or paralyzed smiles. About 150 patients a year, some 50 of them children, come from around the world with facial paralysis. About of these patients are suitable for the microsurgical procedure, in which surgeons transfer a piece of muscle from the leg to the face. The surgeons attach a nerve to the muscle to make it contract and provide a smile movement. The nerve comes from either the facial nerve on the opposite side of the face or a nerve that normally controls biting. After up to a year of nerve growth, patients develop a smile. If the biting nerve was used, patients first learn to smile by biting.

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"With time and practice most learn to smile without biting, and many smile without biting, and many smile without even thinking about it," says Manktelow. "The smile is so important it appears that the brain learns to control the movement of the muscles, and the smile centre takes over to create a spontaneous smile."

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For Zuker, one of the great rewards of his work is to get a thank-you letter - with a picture. "There is nothing better than to see a child you've operated on-holding a bat on his shoulder or in a family photo - with a great big smile on his face."

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YOGA....be a sport, try yoga

Yoga can be a great sport. Practising yoga not only provides you with a supple body, with regular practice, one can achieve an optimum benefit recommended by sports experts which is the four aspects of fitness: cardio respiratory fitness (fitness of the heart, lungs and blood vessels and the maximal oxygen intake), muscle fitness (strength and endurance of your muscles), flexibility fitness (range of motion) and body composition (percentage of fat). Hence, it is an ideal sport that would benefit both the young as well as the old.

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Studies show that an eight week training in yoga helps to increase cardio fitness by eight percent, strength by as much as 30 per cent, muscle endurance by 55 per cent, and flexibility by as much as 180 per cent.

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A Yoga practitioner will find that this art can be gentle on the joints, ligaments and tendons, which act as a complement to other sports activity. It also helps to maximise one's sports performance and helps avoid sports related injuries.

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Yoga by itself is a great sport. You will enjoy the flowing movements of asanas combined with powerful yogic breathing techniques which make it all the more an interesting and challenging sport.

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A Kryoga Sun Series is a wonderful experience. You have a goal that starts with Sun Series I and then after a few months of training you move to the next level and so on. Each series is a progression to the next level that is always a little more challenging in terms of flexibility, strength and speed.

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Other special classes would include Moon Series, Vinyasa Yoga and Kryoga Dynamics. Each one is a 60-90 minutes class that is practised by hundreds of people. Although these classes are very challenging, at the end of class one would feel that they have run for two hours or played a four-hour game of tennis, leaving them energetic, rfelaxed and vibrant.

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The benefits of doing yoga as a sport are different from other sports. Yoga is a complete training that trains your mind, muscle, joints, systems, organs, glands etc. Yoga is a balanced workout. Apart from physical and mental benefits it also benefits emotionally. For example, if you choose running or jogging as a sport it means you are working more on just the cardio vascular fitness and less on muscle strength and endurance. If you are just doing weights then you are working more on muscle strength but less on cardiovascular fitness. Apart from that you will need to spend at least an hour to stretch and warm up otherwise it will result in injuries in back, knee and/or shoulder problems in the future. This is not the case with yoga. It is the safest sport with a great goal in life. You work all the four aspects of fitness recommended to be fit and healthy by doing 60 to 90 minutes yoga training. More and more people are realising the benefits of yoga and are turning towards yoga as a sport or to enhance their sport performance.

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STRESS BUSTER

Teenager Priyal Sanghavi talks about the stress that accompanies living abroad away from home and how to deal with it.
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Squealing and crying soon after I was born, disguised the first words I ever spoke. The first words that I spoke every day during my college life were “Sumitra, get the tea.” So when I left for higher studies to London, instead of friends and family, the person I missed the most was my maid, Sumitra. Every aspect of my day reminded me of her. Every morning the nagging sounds of my mom trying to wake up were missing.
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Every morning reminded me of how I’d much rather be back at home with my family. Every morning was a new case study of stress.
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Manage Time
I had to get out of bed and wage daily snoozing battles with the alarm clock. Being late for class resulted in angry glares by the professors, not a good way to create a first impression. The next big thing is breakfast. No more piping hot food ready at the dining table, it’s up to you. Since you are already late, there is no time to prepare food.
Tip
Make a daily schedule. Try to sleep well in time so you get the required hours of sleep. This will come in handy on those days when assignments keep you up all night. For breakfast, cereal is a healthy option on days when you don’t have time to cook. Frozen foods and ready-to-eat packets work well only as a one-off option. Fruits are always a healthy choice and require the least work from your end. Besides it keeps your nutrition in check.
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Clean Up Your Act
After a long day, your messy room welcomes you “home”. No one to do your laundry, pick up the trash, clean and buy groceries. Life suddenly turns into an obstacle course hitherto unheard off especially if you have never done your own dishes or hung clothes out to dry. Mundane housework that you looked down upon occupies most of your day and if you neglect it, it piles up adding to your stress levels.
Tip
Accept that doing housework is a part of the way of life abroad. Well, at least finances leave you with little choice on that front. By piling up the dishes or clearing up the room on a weekly basis, you allow yourself to remain stressed over the nagging feeling of the unfinished task at hand. Spend extra time, get over with the chore and then go relax. There’s nothing worse than a sink full of dishes staring at you when you stumble into the kitchen to make your first cup of coffee.
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Handle roommate woes
University halls of residence ensure you are never alone. This, however means adjusting to students of other nationalities. Complaints of dirty kitchens, using other’s belongs, noise and unclean bathrooms are very common. You already have your own chores to worry about and you suddenly spot your dirty vessels your flat mate used without permission. If you choose to move in with friends, untreated problems may cause dents your relations.
Tip..
The idea of flat mates is a serious test of your adjusting skills. Ensure you demarcate your space well and respect theirs. Realise that they come from different cultures and respect that. Divide the work at home accordingly so that neither feels over burdened.
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Check your accounts
Expenses is one of the biggest headaches. Tantrum-throwing for extra pocket money usually gets you what you want. Here, your expenditure also include house costs, phone bills and transport cost apart from the shopping and partying if you manage to save up for that. No more Daddy dearest to bail you out on emergencies.
Tip..
Bring out your notepad or take Microsoft Excel Seriously. When you’re studying abroad you have to look into the inflow and outflow of money otherwise you will be broke by the third week of the month. Every month make a list of things you want to shop and what they’re worth. Then make a budget of the grocery, phone and travel expenses. Try and save on that and with the money saved you can shop.

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When you live abroad, you start your whole life from scratch. Right from setting up a home to meeting new people, it’s a brand new experience. There is no family to come home to, just friends you make. Studying abroad doesn’t just educate you, it teaches you how to live independently. The joy of cooking edible meals is equivalent to meeting your idol. These little victories are work all the stress……..

IMPROVE YOUR LANGUAGE

Dangling modifiers, could make your sentences sound slightly queer. For example: Walking to the part on a rainy day, my clothes became wet. This sentence does not make any sense because the words walking to the park on a rainy day modifies the words my clothes. Surely someone must have been walking?
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The correct use would be : When I was walking to the part on a rainy day, my clothes became wet.
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Here are a few more examples.
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Wrong…: Having arrived late for work, a written note was required(The sentense implies that the written note arrive late!)
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Correct…: Having arrived late for work, Seema required a written note
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Now let’s take a look another group of modifiers known as Squinting Modifiers. They are called so because a vaguely placed modifier that appears to modify either the word before it or the word after it - is akin to someone who is squinting!
Here are a few examples…..
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Wrong…: Students who pay attention to their studies most of the time get higher grades.
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Correct…: Most of the time, students who pay attention to their studies get higher grades OR Students who pay attention to their studies get higher grades most of the time.

SPIRITED KIDS NEED CARE

An all too familiar sight at a mall or a supermarket are kids who seem to be fitted with springs. They jump and dash around from one place to another, kicking up a fuss. Some even decide to throw temper tantrums, bang in the middle of a crowd, even as helpless, embarrassed parents look on.
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Parents of such “hyper active” kids who are often subject to unsolicited advice from pitiful onlookers, on how to be a better parent, will be relieved to know that they aren’t bad parents. ‘Spirited’ children is a term used to describe difficult children who need to be handled with more care than others. “A spirited child has high needs and demands,” explains psychologist Dr. Varkha Chulani. “They get overwhelmed by their feelings and often have meltdowns when they can’t handle or understand what is happening to them. In fact, their ability to express themselves loudly is often a sign that they are more in touch with their emotions than other kids. In spite of being extremely moody, spirited children are high artistic, intelligent, intensely logical, compassionate and goal-oriented,” she adds.
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Since some children are genetically and psychologically different from others, their challenging behaviour is often interpreted as willful disobedience.
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Sugatha Memon, a teacher and counsellor says, “People often think that spirited children are “bad kids”. They resort to destructiveness and ill manners, because they can’t differentiate between right and wrong easily. It is difficult for them to learn to be tactful and polite as they are very straightforward with their feelings. For instance if your child is hitting somebody on the playground, he/she needs to be taken aside and given a warning with an explanation as to why such behaviour will not tolerated by anyone.”
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The key to tackle such children is to understand certain patterns in their behaviour feels Dr Varkha Chulani. “Some children may reject food even when they are hungry because they get used to a pattern of always rejecting food just to throw a tantrum. This behaviour is common and can be triggered by various factors. Parents need to be constantly on the look out for potential triggers,” adds Dr. Chulani.
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Getting these children interested in hobbies also helps them keep calm and occupied, feels advertising personality Prahlad Kakkar. “Its normal for most children to be spirited, joyous and active. However if the child is overtly spirited all the time, then he/she could have a hyperactive disorder. They just need a lot of care, love and attention. Find out what interests them. Physical activity and yoga has tremendous benefits on hyperactive kids,” he said.
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