Reminding yourself to smile often can not only make more friendships but it can also make you feel better.

And rather than wait for a reason to smile, just making the physical change of literally turning that frown upside down could impact emotions, according to experts. Research backs up the fact that smiling goes a long way.

Some older research has focused on this “facial feedback hypothesis,” according to Jeanne Tsai, a longtime psychology professor at Stanford University who runs the Culture and Emotion Lab. In one classic study in the late 1980s, researchers would have subjects put a pencil between their lips and adopt a smile or a frown while viewing a positive movie clip like a cartoon. Some subjects who smiled would feel the sensation of the smile more and be more amused.