To expand on the last blog, as the summer begins, one of our favorite things to do to alleviate stress is to lay by the pool or on the beach with a great book and bliss out. Reading can help lower your heart rate and ease tension in the body. A 2009 study at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%.
Reading helps the mind, body, and spirit:
- Reading provides a healthy escape from reality and gives the mind time to reset. Reading takes us out of this world and into another world. The difference between a TV show or film and a book is that with a show or film, you are already given the visual. With a book, you get to create your own visual, aka your own narrative, which helps make it more powerful because you are involved in the story,
- Reading can help us become more empathetic. Several studies have shown that people who read have a greater capacity to understand and relate to others’ thinking and enhance their cognitive skills. It helps us identify with people in similar circumstances and lifts our spirits. A study during COVID concluded that reading could help people feel less alone because the readers identify with the characters going through similar experiences. This was especially true for young adults who were dealing with bullying, drugs, homelessness, abandonment, and social anxiety.
- Reading combats mental decline as we age. Studies have linked reading to improved brain health and functionality as we age. People who read less frequently and didn’t continue to engage their brains experienced a mental decline rate that was 48 percent faster than those who kept their brain active.
- Reading can help you sleep better and relax your body. Turning off gadgets and mobile phones an hour before bedtime and switching to a book or magazine can help you stay asleep longer and sleep deeper.
Finally, in today’s tech-driven society, where there is always information at our fingertips, holding a book to the point where you actually have to turn the pages allows you to be in the present moment, focusing on ONE thing only and not worrying about anything else. It can bring you joy and help foster deeper connections with people. Besides, that phone or tablet will fry in the sun, literally, and an actual book won’t! So, take that book or magazine and have fun in the sun.
If books are your passion, join us at our next retreat. The Books, Beach, & Bliss Women’s Retreat in November.
https://www.4sretreats.com/retreat/books-beach-bliss-retreat
