If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

by Reena Daruwalla, guest writer for Nancy Hayssen.com

I used to hate all the passport photos or driver’s license photos that I ever posed for; I always thought I looked awful in them. Then I realized that I could look great in those photos by the simple expedient of smiling! And sure enough this last picture I posed for, I was fully satisfied with, simply because I was smiling in the picture.

I really think that a smile is something that makes anyone instantly sexier and more attractive. It is like a secret sexy weapon that you can use at will to floor just about anyone. Truly, the power of a smile cannot be stressed enough, it can be used to convey so many things: liking, attraction, self confidence, friendliness, acceptance, happiness, approval, the list goes on!

As Chanakya, the ancient Indian economist said “when you can do with a smile, why use a sword?”

A smile is something that transcends barriers of language, race, geography, everything. A smile is the same in every tongue and it sends out the same happy signal in all languages. You know what they say: A smile is a curve that sets a lot of things straight. I read somewhere that it takes forty-three muscles to frown and only seventeen to smile, so why make the effort to frown when you can simply smile?

According to spiritual mentor and artistic yoga teacher Bharat Thakur, “Every other problem today is a relationship problem and only a smile can make another person smile and minimize any misunderstanding .Even when doing yoga or meditating, flash that smile and all the muscles and nerves in your face will relax,” Bharat, who has about 50 yoga centers in Europe, Asia and Australia knows what he is talking about!

There are different kinds of smiles: the superficial one where you smile only with your lips, the genuine one where you smile with your eyes as well and the whole hearted one where your entire face is suffused with light: the eyes twinkle, the corners of the mouth seem to reach for the ears and the whole face seems happy! This kind of smile can be quite irresistible, try it and see if the recipient of this smile can resist the attraction of such a smile.

So the next time you are dressed up to go somewhere, especially where you want to make an impact, remember: You’re never fully dressed without a smile!