How can I learn to smile?
Before my most recent round of braces (plus jaw surgery to fix my bite), I was self-conscious about my smile/appearance too — not to the extent that I never showed my teeth when I smiled, but I certainly had developed a certain “set” to my mouth and face to try to hide my perceived imperfections. What I realized was that I had basically been clenching my teeth and jaw/facial muscles for years, and that it was both mentally and physically hard to “let go” of the old way of setting my face. So for me, conciously letting my jaw/face/neck relax (especially while doing yoga) helped me a lot to unlearn my old clenchy/lip-pressed/teeth-gritting habits. Of course, you don’t need to practice yoga to relax your facial muscles. You can just let your jaw drop open, gently roll your neck, and breathe deeply. Also, pressing your tongue to the top front of the roof of your mouth is useful for helping yourself let go of the tension in the jaw. Finally, when your mouth is closed (just as you’re going
You are handsome, which does not answer the question but is part of an answer because a lot of why people smile is to communicate with other people. People who are less conventionally attractive, I find, sometimes have to try harder in whatever way (makeup, facial expression, haircut, body language, who knows) sometimes to appear engaged and you don’t have that problem. I am a person that many people who don’t know me well sometimes say “you don’t smile” My resting face is ever so slightly frowny. I don’t like to smile in pictures because I think my grin looks weird a lot of times, especially if I freeze it while someone screws with their camera. When I’m trying to make a pleasant face — which is super-important working in a public service profession where having an open and welcoming face is really necessary to do it well — I concentrate on other parts of my face and let the smile come from that. Slightly raised eyebrows, eyes open, chin slightly up, eye contact, push out upper jaw
I learned from glorious personal experience that good veneers can make a beautiful smile come out of hiding. I had terrible looking teeth for most of my life due to a bike accident. From 3rd grade until the year after I graduated from college, I had temporary half-teeth on the bottom of my 3 front teeth that broke off in the accident. I pretty much always felt self conscious about those temporaries, esepcially as the years discolored them, and I learned to cover my smile a bit. However, as soon as I got the veneers done, you can’t get me to stop smiling! It’s a wonderfully uplifting and emotional experience – seeing, for the first time, those perfect news-caster teeth. It may just make you want to show them to everyone! Also want to second the advice of thinking about what your face does when you’re in the midst of a good laugh. Keep a mirror near by, just in case someone says something funny and watch how you react.
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- How can I learn to smile?
