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IMlustration The first column shows a zygomatic smile and the zygomaticus muscles that underlie it |
The second shows the risorius and buccinator muscles and their contribution to the smile The third shows the |
sneer and the muscles that contribute to it Try to use more of the first two and less of the third in your smile |
Completely relax the sneer the squint and the eyebrow raise when you practice |
diaphragmatic smiling You want to contract only the muscles needed zygomatic risorius |
and buccinator At first your isolated smile will look and feel uncomfortable and you might |
feel like a kooky weirdo It might also feel sarcastic or counterfeit With time though this will |
Chapter Strengthen and Tone Your Smile |
become your preferred way of smiling In essence the expression youre practicing takes the |
expressionless face we developed in Chapter and places a smile on top of it The longer you |
breathe calmly while holding that isolated smile the more natural and affable it will become |
Reduce the Extent of Squinting When You Smile |
There are many kinds of smiles Most famously midthcentury French neurologist Guillaume |
Duchenne identified two types of smiles The first is a fake smile also called a Pan Am smile |
named for the polite expressions worn by the now defunct airlines flight staff Second he |
described an authentic or Duchenne smile that employs the orbicularis oculi muscles and |
forms crows feet around the eyes Subsequent research has found that the Duchenne smile |
with its associated crinkle of the eyes is more closely associated with positive emotions That |
has led some scientists to assume that to elicit happiness smiles must include heavy squinting |
disagree |
In my experience emotionally damaged people often squint the hardest when they smile |
and emotionally healthy people squint the least Methodically reducing the extent of your |
squinting will reduce eye strain without making your smile any less authentic Work on smiling |
without much squinting without raising your eyebrows and more generally without |
contracting anywhere but in the smiling muscles themselves Using the exercises from the last |
chapter to massage your forehead and the orbits of your eyes will help with this It will also |
help you develop the ability to smile big all the way up the sides of your cheeks without |
squinting much at all If you had been raised in an ideal utopian environment with no threats |
thats how you would smile It might look like the smile of a deranged clown right now But |
thats okay because it will become splendid once you become accustomed to doing it while |
breathing with your diaphragm |
Smiling Exercise Smile without Squinting |
Practice making the biggest smile you can muster You might allow it to pour into your cheeks and |
eyes but do so without squinting To minimize squinting you can monitor your eyelids in the mirror |
or place a finger under each eye To do this make a peace sign with your hand extending the middle |
and forefinger Place them just under each eye on the orbital bone Squint a few times and become |
accustomed to how the muscles move under your fingertips when you squint You will feel a mass of |
tissue bunch up Continue smiling using your fingers to ensure you arent squinting You might want |
to combine this form of smiling with the upsidedown TV watching exercise from Chapter |
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body |
Illustration A Smile with heavy squinting B Using the fingertips to sense squinting contractions C Smile |
without squinting |
In Chapter described my efforts to remain calm while babysitting a twoyearold That |
day sat next to some blocks and pretended to play with them lifting them stacking them |
and passing them to the little girl used a completely isolated wideeyed smile that would |
have looked wacky to anyone over the age of three She saw it she sensed that my breathing |
was calm she liked the way was sharing the blocks in a respectful way and so she |
reciprocated the same smile Within a few minutes lost all concern that she was judgmentally |
inspecting my smile We played for hours with these silly calm little smiles By the time her |
parents came home our smiles had gone from kooky to credible and have been able to utilize |
that same relaxed smile in the company of adults ever since |
It might help you to find a safe situation in which to practice your new smile You might |
work on your calm smile with a stuffed animal a pet or even a friend you have recruited to |
help you After practicing in these situations you can start to generalize this ability to situations |
that feel less safe like running errands or sitting in traffic This is another case in which we can |
benefit from a fake it until you make it approach If you dont create concocted social |
environments where you feel perfectly comfortable smiling carefree you will never do it Like |
Schopenhauer was cynical in my belief that life or other people was not creating these |
optimal scenarios for me It is our responsibility to create them for ourselves and to share them |
with others |
Creating Dimples and Smile Lines Contracting the Risorius and Buccinator |
It is important to incorporate a full contraction of the risorius and buccinator muscles into your |
smile Both pull your lips horizontally The risorius muscles lie about an inch below your |
cheekbone anchoring to the corner of your mouth on one side and the soft tissue of your |
cheek on the other The nearby buccinator muscles aid in the risorius smile as well as in |
whistling puckering and chewing previously used my risorius and buccinator muscles very |
little in my smile When fully contracted them they made my smile look pretentious and |
fraudulent took this as an indication that needed to use them more The muscles were very |
tense and if pressed my knuckle into them it was painful have since rehabilitated them with |
compression and contraction making them much stronger leaner and painless |
Chapter Strengthen and Tone Your Smile |
never had dimples or smile lines in the past as the first photo at the beginning of this |
chapter evinces Genetic testing revealed that do not have the genetic markers associated |
with dimples But exercising the risorius and buccinator muscles has given me somewhat |
pronounced smile linesdimples This surprised me It even surprised my mom was and |
was spending time with her for the first time in months when she said Oh my you have |
dimples now Is that from a specific Program Peace exercise My experience suggests to me |
that everyone can develop them At first your dimple beds the pockets between the |
contracted risorius muscles and the jaw muscles may be completely covered by the fatty tissue |
in your cheeks Contract the risorius and then use your fingers to search for this pocket It may |
be filled in with fat now but as your smiling muscles grow it will slowly come to form a |
depressiona dimple |
Smiling Exercise Risorius Smiling |
Smile in the following ways |
Smile with only the risorius muscle To do this your smile should not be drawn upward |
toward the cheekbone at all Only draw it horizontally Try to contract the muscle fully and to |
exhaustion That contraction will turn into a friendly polite smile that you can use all the |
time You can offer a solemn but polite greeting by accompanying this smile with a slightly |
lifted chin created by contracting the mentalis |
Incorporate the buccinators into your risorius smile To do this squeeze the risorius smile |
as hard as you can forcing the buccinators to contract Youll know youre succeeding when |
you feel the inside of your cheeks pressing against your teeth The more you exercise these |
muscles the leaner your cheeks will become and the more pronounced your smile lines or |
dimples will be |
Creating a Muscular Smile Contracting the Zygomatic Muscle |
The most important smiling muscle is the zygomaticus major It connects the corners of your |
mouth to your cheekbones The muscle is likely to be feeble and feel uncomfortable when |
isolated at first However contracting it firmly will gradually create noticeable lumps of muscle |
under your cheekbones that appear when you smile Many famous actors have welldeveloped |
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