As many of you know I am a HUGE advocate for reading. I teach my children to love books from a young age and we read together as a family almost daily! I have seen so many great benefits of reading in my own life! I am excited to have Alek share with us this guest post about the man benefits of reading!!
The Many Benefits of Reading
By Alek M.
Reading, sadly, is something that too few people do, nowadays. At least reading that is fulfilling and invigorating. In fact, some studies state that the majority of college grads never read a book for fun after graduating. Not once!
As parents, we also know that reading is an important contributor to a child’s development. While daily reading isn’t something that’s for everyone, many people would benefit from setting aside some time in the day to enjoy some reading, especially with their children. Here are some of the many benefits that reading provides…
Keeps the brain active
Our brains are muscles. Like other muscles in our body, our brains need to be actively trained and kept in shape to remain strong and sharp. Active and engaging reading uses pathways in the brain that improve our cognitive and problem-solving skills. Because of this fact, daily reading has also been shown to have benefits in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Builds empathy
There was a study conducted by the New School in 2013 that showed how reading literary fiction was able to build empathy in a person. The study showed that literary fiction improved something that is referred to as “theory of mind,” which is a skill that allows us to think through situations from another person’s perspectives and gain an idea of what’s going on in their head. This isn’t all that surprising, since fictional stories often require getting into a character’s head to understand specific motivations. Either way, if we accept that empathy makes better people, then reading also makes us better people.
Knowledge is power
There is great power in knowledge. Arguably, it is always better to know something than to be ignorant of it, even if that truth brings great pain. Books, whether fictional or not, are full of information and ideas that invigorate the mind and fill it with a library of resources that you can apply in real life. Building knowledge is basically an investment in yourself, and can improve your abilities in a variety of different situations and challenges.
Helps you communicate
Language is one of the most powerful creations in human civilization. It is what has allowed us to build our societies and transcribe science and history. Being able to harness language is a great skill that allows you to communicate very precise ideas. Reading inherently improves your understanding of how language works, and improves your vocabulary so that you are able to be more specific in your communication. As your vocabulary expands and you see connections between different words, you are able to become wittier, as well.
Helps the brain focus
The times we live in are full of distractions. Young people today have never known a time when they weren’t constantly barraged with an armada of advertisements and media that are all vying for control of their attention. It can be hard for a book, which contains merely words on a page, to compete with all the explosions of color and sound that exist, today. However, when we read every day, even if it is only for half an hour or so, it teaches our minds to focus when we want to, and can help us concentrate on things that take more effort than complacency.
Therapeutic benefits
When you are able to lose yourself in a good book, your body is at peace while your mind races through the emotions of the story you are reading. In this way, reading is exceptionally therapeutic, and even has applications in the field of psychology. For example, bibliotherapy is a type of therapy in which patients read certain books to help treat certain mental disorders. Reading is also a great way to mitigate stress in your day to day life.
Reading is super entertaining
At the end of the day, reading is still an excellent form of entertainment. Nothing can throw you into a story like a good book. While we wouldn’t venture to suggest that one form of storytelling is better than any other, it is safe to say that nothing else can replicate the feeling of getting into a book grabbed by a particular character or situation, since a good book is symbiotic in its imagery, requiring your own imagination to fill in the blanks.
