I’m sure we will all agree that reading allows us to experience many benefits. Through reading we can acquire new knowledge or improve our existing range of knowledge, we can stretch our imaginations and enhance our memories. Reading also helps us to relax. This is the benefit I wanted to explore today and in particular the benefits of reading a ‘book at bedtime’ to help you to achieve quality sleep.
There are many studies undertaken to prove the efficacy of reading as a successful stress reducing activity. Cognitive neuropsychologist, Dr David Lewis, concluded from one piece of research that reading for just six minutes can reduce stress by 68 percent. Based on the results of one study done by the University of Sussex it was found that reading works better and faster than some other activities we might associate with relaxing such as listening to music, going for a walk and sitting down with a nice cup of tea.
It is believed that reading is so effective because it firstly reduces the senses we are employing; slowing us down physically also slows us down mentally. We usually start by sitting down or lying down to read; we most often will get comfortable with a view to being still for at least a while. As well as reducing our physical movement we will also reduce the movement of our eyes, being that we are focussing on the text; the beginning of each line, and the short space in-between that and the end of each line. Reducing the movement of your eyes is known to slow down our thinking and slow down our brain activity, quietening our minds. If we reduce our thinking, we reduce the capacity to focus on stress or the feelings of anxiety. We will begin to detach from the day’s activities as we drift into ‘another’ reality, the imagined reality presented by the text on the page or within the story before our eyes.
Psychologists believe that reading distracts our minds from whatever is causing us stress, therefore helping us to relax and unwind; allowing any tensions in our muscles, in our head and in our heart to dissipate. The stresses of our daily lives move to the edge of our awareness and we become more conscious of the words on the page, and the context or the narrative before us. This is particularly true of stories and fiction, as we step into another’s life – becoming the characters on the page, or their shadow as we follow them through their adventure – we invest emotionally into their world.
I can tell you this and throw facts and figures at you, but the only way to truly know these benefits is through personal experience. If you haven’t read a physical book for a while can I encourage you to explore this as a way to relax before bedtime. I say physical book because these definitely have a more relaxing quality about them; the pictures (if there are any), the feel and the smell of the paper. Real books are very tactile, although a kindle is fine, as long as they are appropriately back lit to ensure not to stimulate brain activity in the frontal cortex which is known to be triggered by certain screen and screen lighting…remembering that the idea is to relax the brain and get some sleep, not to wake it up.
Try reading a positive story before bedtime to help you unwind and rebalance your mind before you snooze… see for yourself.
