Lifting Spirits with Nature and Smiles

There is something magical about the great outdoors and for me it’s even more magical in the mountains or on the beach. I don’t know what it is but I’m sure scientists have an explanation for what nature does to our brains that lifts and jumpstarts our spirits to a much higher level. If you don’t believe me, the next time you are a bit down in the dumps, just take a walk outside, preferably in the mountains, on the beach, or at least out in the countryside, and see if you don’t find your mood changed.

For me there is an extra boost to my mind, mood, and spirit when I hike trails where others are hiking. I especially love to drop $2 dollar bills on the trail when I see a father or mother hiking with small children, ideally in that 6 to 10 age range. If you give a 3 year old a $2 dollar bill they don’t know what it is and often drop it a little while later. They need to be old enough to understand what they’ve found.

My normal routine is to say to the parents as they are approaching, “Hey, have you taught your kids to pick up litter when they see it on the ground?” and then I drop the money and keep walking. I hear the kids shouting out in delight and then they almost always scream out a big “Thank you!”

Wow. Does that ever warm my heart! The kids love it, but I think I love it more and get more out of it than they do.

I also love to meet people when I am out on a hikes. I have some standard lines that I use over and over because they usually work to start a short conversation or a quick exchange of pleasantries. For instance, as I am approaching couples, whether young or old, with the guy in front and the gal behind, I say to the guy as I pass, “Hey, don’t look now but there’s a beautiful lady following you.” That always brings big smiles and an exchange of upbeat comments. They love it and so do I.

With these few words and small gestures, spirits are lifted, and the hike becomes something special for all of us. Plus, it sometimes leads both parties to stop and have a short upbeat chat.

I have another line I like to use when I’m going uphill on a particularly steep part of the hike and others are passing by coming back down. I simply ask “Hey, how much further to the 7-11?” It usually brings a big laugh, but I remember one time when it led to a conversation and a big coincidence.

Some years back, I used this line on two ladies coming downhill. I noticed, as they laughed at my comment, that the younger woman had a French accent so I asked her where she was from. After telling me she lived a couple hundred kilometers north of Paris, I told her how my wife and I love France and have a very, very good friend from Normandy by the name of Franchoise who is married to the skiing legend Stein Eriksen.

When I mentioned this, the older lady said “Hey, I know who you are. You’re Mark Haroldsen, the author. And I know Franchoise. Her son plays tennis with my son.” What a great surprise! That brief encounter resulted in a really nice conversation and a fun coincidence, and we all walked away with big smiles on our faces.

The world seems so divided in many ways these days and maybe it’s because we just haven’t gotten to know each other. The more people we get to know, the more we’ll see that we are all just human beings who want to smile and enjoy life, the same as we ourselves do. And being out in the beautiful, calming natural world is the perfect place to do more of that.

So, all of us should get out in nature as much as we can as well as going out of our way to meet other human beings.  It’s a win-win and, as I preach this to you, believe me, I am preaching it to myself as well!

The Smile-Mind Connection

I had such a great response from last week’s blog on the power and confidence that is generated from ‘power posing’ that it motivated me to dig deeper to try to find other body-mind and mind-body connections that can help and improve people’s lives. The two that caught my attention were smiling and breathing. Let’s start by checking out that Smile-Mind connection this week.

There are some fascinating conclusions that come from several studies behind what the human smile can do for the body and the mind. Research has shown over and over again that the simple act of smiling reduces stress and, just like power posing, smiling releases endorphins in your brain which make you feel happy in addition to relieving stress.

Additionally, I was quite surprised to learn that studies have also shown that even if you force a smile your brain can’t tell it’s a fake and it will release the same good endorphins and reduces the harmful levels of cortisol in your body.  So hey, why not start forcing a smile even when you don’t feel like smiling at all? You should soon find your smile is no longer forced!

We can all learn a lesson or two about smiling from kids.  Watch them at play.  How much do they smile?  Even if they are only playing with a card board box that delivered a toy for their sibling, you will no doubt observe lots of laughing and smiling.  Kids usually smile about 400 times a day whereas even happy adults have been found to smile only 40 or 50 times a day. Worse yet, the average of all adults is only 20 smiles a day. That is little more than one smile an hour while we are awake.

So, okay … let’s all start smiling more, even when we don’t feel like it. I started doing the smile thing while power posing and it seems to be working. Besides, there is certainly much to smile about in your life. If you don’t think so now, try smiling more often and I bet it will be easier to see as well as feel the joy in your life.

Next week we’ll get to that other connection I found so interested—breathing and how it can change things in our bodies.