Is reading your hobby? And how often do you read! Reading is one of the best hobbies anyone can have. Notwithstanding, it’s much more than that, as it is also one of the healthiest – bet you can imagine that!
When we read, we basically improve our memory. It doesn’t matter what you read, be it a newspaper or magazine, a chapter of a book or whole of it, a comprehension and so on, it operates on the same basis.
It comes with a lot of amazing benefits and gives us a reason why we should read every week, no matter how little.
Here are 9 good and comprehensive reasons why you should read, at least one chapter of a book per week
- Reading improves mood
Do you want to improve your mood? If yes, start reading now! Reading is one of the ways you can achieve a greater mood improvement
When you read, you feel relaxed, and then, have the muscle tension eased and your mood better than it was.
Also, when you read, it shifts your attention from the worries and anxieties of the day to better thoughts.
And, you don’t even need to read throughout the whole day to see results. Just a few pages for 5mins reading can go a long way to help your mood.
It has been found that reading can reduce stress by 65%, and when stress is reduced, you are put to better mood.
- It helps your vocabulary
Reading helps more than just improving your vocabulary. When you read, you are helping to boost your learning skills also in regard to other language parts.
It might not be uncommon to notice that when you read, you learn new words, meanings and so on, which leaves you better than you were.
Reading helps boost your writing, thinking, and speaking skills. Also, it mprove spelling, grammar, and vocab as well.
- Improves memory
Our brains need training in order to function better, be alert and help store information. And reading is one of the ways the brain can be trained.
Reading helps to improve the memory capacity of the brain by keeping it busy in thinking and processing what you read.
But not only that, it provides one’s brain with a sharp memory, due to its ability to keep and increase the mental activities.
It is recommended that when we read, it helps to increase the brain’s connectivity and as such regarded as a brain booster.
And it also helps to improve short-term memory and provides the brain with multi-tasking ability, and from research, it has been found to help improve/prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
- Boost knowledge
There is no doubt that reading is one of the ways we can get to know what we don’t know.
When we read, we learn and learning is a part of knowledge. That means that the more we read, the more we are bound to increase in knowledge.
And that simply shows that reading is directly proportional to knowledge acquired.
So when you want to acquire knowledge in whatever aspect, read books. But don’t limit your reading to just one aspect, read wild, in order to expand your knowledge.
It also helps to broaden your mind, increase your intelligence and make you look smarter than your mate.
- Promote better sleep
Do you sometimes find yourself awake at night when others sleep peacefully? If yes, then try reading- it helps.
Reading is one of the self-practices that can help improve sleep, especially when you read before bedtime.
This is because it helps to exercise the brain and makes it work hard by processing, interpreting and storing information.
Just as you work out and rest afterward to replenish your lost energy, so does the brain. It needs rest after been worked up by reading.
When the brain is tired it sends signals to the eye that it needs rest, which makes the eye muscles weak giving you that drowsy look and finally sleep.
But note that its ability to make the eye muscles weak doesn’t affect the eyes negatively, and so does reading.
This is why when you read before bedtime, you can fall asleep easily than when you don’t. So, if you are battling with sleep or have sleeping problems like insomnia, then try reading before bedtime.
- Increases focus
Reading helps to channel our focus to something better, more yielding and beneficial.
Nowadays, most people tend to pay more attention to things that won’t grow them, like spending more time on video games than on books making them lose focus on what is vital.
When we are at work, most times our concentration is divided as we tend to multi-task throughout the whole day to meet up to requirement.
So you see, there are many things that we do daily that make us lose focus.
But when you read, it captivates your mind and makes you lose focus on other things around and within you that doesn’t count and channel it to itself.
This is one of the reasons reading helps to improve focus and curb unnecessary stress associated with poor concentration.
- Makes you write better
Good writers, read. And that is one of their secrets.
Reading doesn’t just help to grow your vocabulary, as mentioned before; it goes a long way in making you better exposed.
It exposes you to better writing styles, as well as teaches you how to build or construct your sentences, create metaphors, and other good writing skills.
If you want to be a good writer, then read what others have written, so that you can be able to experience what you wish to give out.
As John Cheever said, “I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss – you can’t do it alone.
- It provides relaxation
One of the reasons why it is paramount to read is that it makes us feel relaxed.
When you read, just like mindfulness meditation, it helps to keep your attention on the object of focus and make you calm.
Your mind won’t wander from place to place, and even if it does, it can retrace its steps, making your mind at ease and free from worries and distractions.
And relaxation has its way of helping to normalize blood circulation, lowers blood pressure, and even relieves muscle tension.
So when next you need to relax, try reading as it works more than some of the relaxation techniques.
- Boost empathy
Sometimes, when we try to read novels or fiction books, we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the characters.
And this is to have a feeling of whatever it is that we are reading. Because when you do, we can be able to understand the situation better.
This is one of the basic reasons why people who read are apt to understand other people’s feelings. Additionally, they show concern much more than those that don’t read.
And also, this attitude can help to improve one’s social life, as you can easily mingle with people and blend with society.
Reading can improve our lives in so many ways and affects us physically, socially, mentally, emotionally and intellectually.
And for those who might want to experience these benefits but still finding it hard to read or want to improve, maybe the below tips can help you;
- When you read, pay attention. Avoid anything that might cause distraction such as TV, phones, and other gadgets.
Reading needs focus and when there is less attention to what you read, the aim of the reading becomes defeated.
- Take notes when you read. This is very important as it helps you to know if you understand what you have read and acts as a reference point.
You can do this by trying to summarize each chapter when you are through.
- Try to remember what you’ve read. While some might struggle over this, some will find it easier in recalling every detail of what they have read.
But what matters isn’t necessarily how much you read, but how better. So don’t rush your reading so that you can assimilate it and recall it easily.
- When you want to improve your reading skills, it is essential you read various books at a time, though some agree it’s better to take it one step at a time.
But when you read varieties, you won’t be bored easily as they will be complementing each other, and make reading more interesting.
- Finally, you have to read to know how to read. Reading is one of the processes of learning how to read, there is no way else.
So if you want to improve on your reading habits, try reading more, when you practice constantly, you are likely to see improvements.
And while doing this, you can know the areas you are poor in and work on that more.
Bottom Line
Anyone who wants to be better than others, rise above the ordinary and probably be a role model to others, then he/she has to read.
Reading should be a habit, and for those who don’t have it, they should endeavor to develop it. Because reading is a life changer.
