Reduce Your Stress: Read A Book
Oct 24th, 2006 Posted in General | no comment »It will take you to faraway places with white sandy beaches and
clear azure skies in the blink of an eye. It will take you back
in time to the days of prehistoric monsters or thrust you forward
to the Big Brother world of tomorrow. It can even fill your eyes
with tears one moment and make you laugh out loud the next.
Reading a good novel or story will open a window to the world and
give you a vision of things you never dreamed possible. And the
side benefit is, reading is one of the best ways to reduce your
stress level and can even help you solve whatever problem is
ailing you.
Reading is the great escape and it also works well as a way to
relax. When you curl up with a good book, you put the rest of the
world and all its troubles out of your mind as you are taken to
distant places to learn about different time periods, and to
expose yourself to new ideas and philosophies. You are
essentially taking a vacation of the mind — but one that can be
virtually cost-free, especially if you live near a library.
Of course, reading is also a great way to reduce stress by
gaining the knowledge you need to solve problems. For example,
let’s say you’re overweight and this is causing you stress. You
find that the more weight you gain, the more stressed you become,
which just causes you to eat more. Instead of getting stressed
out, why not read a good book about nutrition that will teach you
how to plan meals better, so they’re low-cal and low-fat. This
could very well result in reducing your weight problem and it
could even disappear altogether along with the stress that is
bringing you down.
Reading can also be a source of great hope, giving you ideas and
inspiration that will relieve your stress. Biographies and
rags-to-riches stories about famous people will teach how they
overcame their struggles. These stories of triumph might even
inspire you to seek ways to overcome the challenges in your
life.
Of course, there are also times when reading can increase your
stress level. For instance, if you are studying for a test, or
reading about tragedies in your local newspaper, you might find
your stress levels skyrocketing. That’s why it’s important to
choose your reading material carefully. If you’re feeling
stressed, why not pick up a book that will relax you. A good
travel book, or cookbook, or book of poetry are far better
choices than news magazines filled with stories about all the
things that are wrong in the world.
Self-help books are also a very effective way to help reduce
stress. They encourage you to explore your feelings and they
recommend such techniques as listening to soothing music,
learning how to play a musical instrument, or just engaging in
deep breathing in order to deal with stressful situations.
One of the best stress reliever is reading a good novel. It’s the
best medicine there is without the side effects of drugs. When
you read a good story, whether it be a historical fiction or a
mystery thriller or a comic novel, it almost always transports
you away from anxieties and frustrations. It allows your
imagination to run free and then leaves you feeling refreshed and
invigorated. When you are reading it forces you to concentrate,
to exercise your mind in a way that passively watching TV or a
movie can never match.
In the long run, it doesn’t matter what you read but how much you
read. Try reading while standing in the grocery line, or at the
bank, or while pedaling your stationary bike. The more you read,
the more you will want to read because you will quickly discover
its short and long term stress reducing benefits.
