Escaping…One Page at a Time – Reducing your Stress Through Reading!

Reading has a power like no other; all it takes is for you to discover that power…

Many people find it pointless to sit still and turn pages and pages of a book, however, what people don’t truly see is that while reading, you are anything but still. Your mind has the opportunity to travel with the characters of the book through the same settings, places, and environments they travel to, and your imagination kicks in. Your body starts feeling emotions for characters that potentially don’t even exist. Isn’t that power?

People take the time to read because it allows them to escape elsewhere, to places they may never be able to visit in real life, and live a life they wished they could, which is why reading has the power to relax the mind, letting it take a break from the stressors and worries of reality.

Widespread research has been conducted on how reading can help individuals relieve and reduce their stress:

• Reading can “reduce stress levels by 60%” due to a reduced hart rate, according to Dr. David Lewis.
• Escapism is a great benefit of reading because it allows individuals to “turn off” the world around them and forget their daily, repetitive routine for a while. This relaxes the brain, allowing the individual to destress and think of something other than their daily stressors.
• Reading cultivates empathy in a person because it makes individuals walk in other people’s shoes. This makes someone more understanding and accepting of others, leading to a healthier social life, hence reducing stress.
• Reading can make us feel less lonely. Many people identify with characters from books, especially when a character has gone through something very similar to the reader. This results in the reader feeling less lonely, and more understood, which leads to an improved mental health.

It’s worth mentioning that one does not need to read a book for hours to experience the above benefits and reduce stress. Studies show that it only takes 6 minutes of reading before starting to feel the effects. Only 6 minutes of reading reduce your stress levels by 68%; much faster than any other activity including walking, drinking tea, or listening to music.

Turning one page at a time and escaping to a world beyond oneself acts as a reminder that whenever we feel stressed, anxious, and worried about our lives, there is always a chance to experience another life for a little while.