In my last article, we explored the immense benefits of reading which were direct like how reading helps you grow and evolve. How it is critical for human survival? How does it define the person you are? How does it help you in connecting and understanding the outer world & More!
Have you ever thought how do you define reading as an activity?
Reading is defined as a cognitive process that involves decoding symbols to arrive at meaning. Reading is an active process of constructing the meanings of words. Reading with a purpose helps the reader to direct information towards a goal and focuses their attention.
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go.” – Dr. Seuss
Secondly, why do we say that reading is good for you?
Reading books may have several physical and mental benefits. These include strengthening your brain, increasing your ability to empathize, reducing stress, and building your vocabulary, among others.
Besides it has several other benefits like that it makes us better thinkers by improving our critical thinking and problem-solving skills, boosting our general and specific knowledge, and developing our social and communication skills.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” Stephen King
Now, let us dive a little deeper to better understand the advantages of reading.
- Gain Valuable Knowledge.
- Exercise Your Brain.
- Improve Your Focus.
- Improve Your Memory.
- Enjoy Entertainment.voc
- Improve Your Ability to Empathize.
- Improve Your Communication Skills.
- Reduce Stress.
I would like to share my experience with reading. I loved reading since I started reading. I think reading habit provides solutions to all problems in life. There are books on almost all the subjects in life so you can pick and choose what you want to read. I loved reading story books so much that I used to read all the stories of my textbooks in one go even before the start of the session. So, when the teacher started teaching, I knew all the stories.
My teacher could sense this maybe by my expressions or answers and she did not like this a bit. But in those days, we had limited access to story books so we had to make peace with the stories narrated by my father every night. I remember, in those days’ groceries used to come in paper bags packed in specially made papers of used / old books. After unpacking groceries, I used to collect those packets, neatly open them, and read them for their stories, essays, or grammar inputs. I had made a huge collection of them. Believe me, it was such a treasure trove of knowledge. This was the biggest source of knowledge and pleasure.
Now the times for readers have evolved and so have readers. Today, technology has a big role to play if you want to pursue your passion for reading. Still, reading a book gives you a high of another kind.
“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.” – Napoléon Bonaparte
Besides, direct benefits, reading has some fringe benefits like reading helps in lowering stress. Reading leads you on a journey to another world. People reading literature or novels require a lot of concentration, allowing them to stay away from the distractions in their lives, promoting inner calmness and enhancing overall health.
It also helps in reducing depression. Reading is an essential aspect of learning and has multiple benefits attached to the exercise. Reading is important because it makes you more empathetic, and knowledgeable and stimulates your imagination. A study conducted by the University of Sussex showed that reading reduces stress by 68%. It helps reduce tension and relax muscles which in turn helps people sleep better and stay healthy.
Books are the perfect company at night before you doze off because they allow your body muscles to relax and your mind to destress. It is known that one can have a sound sleep when one’s brain is happy and one is comfortable in their own space. However, it is preferable to grab a printed book than any gadget before you settle in for some dreams.
Reading is not only an essential aspect of learning but has multiple benefits attached to the exercise. Reading is important because it makes you more empathetic, and knowledgeable and stimulates your imagination. A study conducted by the University of Sussex showed that reading reduces stress by 68%. It helps reduce tension and relax muscles which in turn helps people sleep better and stay healthy.
There is something about the exercise of reading that is calming and encouraging. New ideas come to life in your head in a way that video and conferences alone can never achieve.
It does not take much to become a subject matter expert.
Most experts seem to indicate that if you read five books on any one topic you know more than 90% of the world on that topic.
Take time to read anything and everything.
