The Little Trick You Can Do That Will Heal You

You know when you're feeling down and someone tells you just smile? It's annoying, right? But it turns out they're completely right. In 2012, researchers from the University of Kansas conducted an experiment. They gave people really stressful tasks like putting their hands in ice water. But for some of the subjects, they had them hold chopsticks in their mouths in a way that forced their facial muscles to smile. [music] The results were crazy. Those who faked the smile because of the chopsticks showed a lower heart rate and recovered from the stress much faster. The brain feels the muscles moving and gets convinced that we are calm and happy. But believe it or not, Judaism figured out this startup 800 years ago. In an ancient Jewish book called Sephur Hachinuk, an ironclad rule of psychology is written, "The heart follows the actions." We are used to thinking that we need to feel first and only then [music] act. to feel generous in order to donate or to feel happy in order to smile. Judaism says the opposite. Don't wait for the feeling. The action is what creates the feeling. So the next time you don't have the energy for anything, just take one step yourself or give a little smile and your heart will already join in.