Every study shows that reading books should be habit in everyone’s life but let alone that cannot convince our Indian parents. There is this misconception that reading books out of their curriculum could distract their children from studies. Which is why most of the Indian youth do not read books especially south side.
This happens because people aren’t aware about benefits that you would get reading books.
So here are the 12 benefits that you will benefit from reading.
- Builds vocabulary
- Reduces stress
- Aids sleep
- Increases Empathy
- Alleviates depression
- Increases Knowledge
- Better writing skills
- Improves focus
- Increases creativity and imagination
- Increases desire towards achieving goals
- Builds connection between the spoken and written word
- Provides enjoyment
BUILDS VOCABULARY
The easiest way to build your vocabulary is through reading books. Every book you read comes with a set of words that you don’t understand, just jotting them down or underlining for later to search for the meaning, can help you build vocabulary and also can you understand the book effectively.
Since I do not like to mess the book with underlines, I simply jot them down on a piece of paper and write the meaning next to the word after search.
REDUCES STRESS
Reading works better and faster than any other relaxation methods. Reading fiction helps relax your body lowering the heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. A 2009 study at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%.
AIDS SLEEP
Getting relaxed so you can go to sleep can be difficult especially if you have had a stressful day. Reading can help you sleep better, just like how going on run makes your body feel good, reading gives your brain a healthy boost. When your brain is happy it’s better able to do the things it needs to do, to give you a good night sleep. Opening a book before you go to bed can help you cope with insomnia. Just 6 minutes of deep reading reduces stress clearing the mind and preparing the body for sleep.
INCREASES EMPATHY
Reading fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind and critical thinking. Readers have greater emotional intelligence and empathy that they can put themselves into someone else’s shoes. Reading fiction helps our brain into thinking that we are part of the story, the empathy we feel for characters wires our brain to have the same sensitivity towards real people.
ALLEVIATES DEPRESSION
Reading books can alleviate depression symptoms. Reading fiction can allow you to temporarily escape your own world and become swept up in the imagined experiences of the characters and reading self-help books can teach you the strategies to control the symptoms. Reading puts our brain in a state that’s similar to meditation bringing the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm.
INCREASES KNOWLEDGE
Whatever you learn is knowledge, I mean anything. You can learn much through reading, one such thing is that you learn about the author’s native culture, because whatever the story author writes will always show the people’s culture in his words. You also learn about how to behave and talk to people etc. With non-fiction readings you’ll discover more about yourself
BETTER WRITING SKILLS
The second largest communication system. We write all the time, the reports we write, the texts we text will carry most of the messages we usually don’t even talk about. Whatever we read affects how we write. One of the greatest ways reading helps writing is in content creation. Readers understand thoughts and learn how to structure those thoughts into sentences, basically reading lets you observe good writing at first hand. Because they understand the connection between thoughts and words. By reading you observe and analyze the many choices that writers make, for example, the different ways they organize information, structure paragraphs etc.
IMPROVES FOCUS
We read for various reasons picking a genre according to our mood. It doesn’t matter what genre we pick but one thing is certain that we give our best to understand whatever we read. Which means whenever we pick a book we do not pick just to read words but to understand words. When you read a book you try to consume content and totally forget about the outer world which means all your focus is on the story. Try to read for 15-20 minutes before you begin your day and see the results for yourself.
INCREASES CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION
Fiction reads can help you with improving your creativity and imagination. Fiction is created with a series of characters where you are required to remember every single character and put your creativity and imagine the story while reading it, basically that’s what the stories are.
In other words reading helps you practice imagination by letting the words describe a certain image while that manipulates the picture in the mind.
INCREASES DESIRE TOWARDS ACHIEVING GOALS
Almost every self-help book out there in the market is to motivate a person to reach their potential. But choosing the right book makes a whole difference. With that said, fiction books can also motivate you. We aren’t reading fiction for a story purpose to only remember, every story ends with a moral, extracting moral from a fiction novel/ story is entirely upon us.
BUILDS CONNECTION BETWEEN THE SPOKEN AND WRITTEN WORD
The way we talk is different from the way we write. Verbal language involves speaking and listening skills where as written language involves reading and writing skills. The difference is that written language is more formal and complex than spoken language. We always try to simplify the language we use verbally.
PROVIDES ENJOYMENT
Above all reading makes you happy with its stories and helps you at every step you take in your life. Reading books motivates you when you have lost motivation, they teach you different skills to stand out of crowd, books will be there with you to read when everyone leaves you in the darkest times and so many other.
“There is no friend as loyal as a book”
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH READING AS A BIGINNER
If you are new to reading, do not step back because you are on a right path. I promise you there are way more benefits that these mentioned above. I know it will be hard at the very beginning but still the results will be so fruitful. Okayyy!
But how do I get started?
Follow the instructions carefully to start with a positive note.
Step-1: While getting started know that you going to read for yourself not for others (understand whether you are reading with your own interest or just because somebody suggested you to read)
Step-2: Start with a physical book instead of a digital copy (use digital copy only in times you cannot carry a physical book along with you)
Step-3: Pick a beginner friendly book from the genre you like (something that is easy to read and understand)
Step-4: Make sure you pick a thin book (fat book sometimes demotivate you, because you cannot complete it on time you’ve given for yourself)
Step-5: Do not force yourself to complete it within a day (you can, though, until and unless you don’t force yourself to complete it)
Step-6: Set a page-goal for everyday (something like this: read 5 pages everyday)
Step-7: Try to exceed the limit (do not stop your daily streak, this can toll on your motivation to read. If book cannot come with you to certain places, your phone can)
Step-8: As you progress, move to big numbers and instead of novellas read novels
Step-9: There you go, Happy reading!
What are some of the beginner-friendly books?
- Unhurried Tales by Ruskin Bond
- Black Beauty by Ana Swell
- A little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Letters from a father to his daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru
- The Nine Chambered Heart by Janice Pariat
