Reading regularly is one of the best things that we can do for our minds and, remarkably, our physical bodies too.
There are countless benefits of reading, from its intellectual benefits to its physiological ones, as people like the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books will understand. However, among the areas where it can be most beneficial is when it pertains to your sleep. Reading before bed can hugely enhance the quality of your sleep, which obviously has a massive knock-on effect on the rest of our daily lives. Reading fiction activates the exact same areas of the brain as dreaming does when we remain in rapid eye motion sleep, the time in our sleep cycle when our physical body and brain heals and restores itself. Activating this area before we drift off by reading before bed assists to ease us into a deep and restful sleep, and there's absolutely nothing more crucial to a healthy brain than a good night's sleep to living a happy and healthy life.
We're told from an extremely young age that it's important that we read. Obviously, that is because reading books is truly crucial, not least because there's absolutely nothing more wonderful than an evening spent reading a book under a tree in the park, or strolling around a bookshop like those run by the founder of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones on your lunch break. Nevertheless, though reading is certainly a satisfying experience that it would be a tragedy for people to lose out on, it is better for you than just the satisfaction you gain from it. Books are the absolute best vessels of history's understanding, and every library and bookshop contains millions of crucial lessons. It does not really matter whether they are fictional or accurate, although one may think that non-fiction is the best sort of book to learn something from. In fact, you can find out a lot more from a good work of fiction in some cases, although it is a really different type of understanding.
Reading is actually good for you, and people in the market such as the CEO of the asset manager with a stake in Amazon books will know that that doesn't simply apply to the brain; there are a whole host of psychological impacts that routine reading has on the physical body too. Perhaps the most powerful is its capability to help individuals empathise with others, whilst simultaneously promoting a sense of self-actualisation. Reading can also help to decrease sensations of tension and nervousness, as well as promoting creativity and other imaginative qualities, making you a better problem solver. In this sense, reading is like a workout for your brain, helping to promote strong and healthy connections that will have a visible effect on your life.