On:

You’re Not Always What You Think When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Not surprisingly, the image that we see and the image that the world sees are very often in-congruent. Yet when our inner and outer selves are at odds with each other, it’s a recipe for stress and depression. We often say, “I’m my own worst enemy,” and when it comes to self-esteem, it’s too often true. This self-loathing is especially rampant in young people, fighting to live up to the unrealistic physical examples of movie stars and models in our society. Our national obsession with thinness and having theRead More →

On:

“1… 2… 3… CHEESE!” If you’re like most of the Western world, this cue prompts you to turn up the corners of your mouth, “smiling for the camera.” However, this smile says little about our actual feelings or happiness and more about our cultural tendency to “fake it” for memory purposes. But what’s the real difference, other than some abstract difference in feeling and emotion? The difference between an artificial smile and a genuine emotion-driven smile was discovered by French physician Duchenne de Boulogne. While studying the physiology of facial expressions in the mid-19th century, Duchenne discerned two very different types of smiles. The first involvesRead More →