It's scientifically proven that reading a good book before you go to bed helps you get a better night's sleep. A lot of the time, people have trouble falling asleep and getting good, quality sleep because they are stressed. Whether it's stress from school, jobs, family issues, or just the stress of a long, busy day—stress is stress, and it will affect you and your sleep. According to a study done in 2009 at the University of Sussex, reading lowers stress levels by 68%. That's far more efficient in relieving stress than that of video games, taking a walk, drinking a cup of tea, or even listening to music. And not only does reading reduce the most stress, it reduces stress the fastest. Reading for just six minutes de-stresses your entire body. The faster you relax, the faster you fall asleep.
Percent of Stress Relief
| |
Video games
|
21%
|
Taking a walk
|
42%
|
Drinking tea
|
54%
|
Listening to music
|
61%
|
Reading
|
68%
|
Now, aside from all the statistics, reading before bed is a great stress reliever. Reading helps take your mind off your life and gives you a chance to focus on someone else's. According to cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis, reading a book "stimulate(s) your creativity and cause(s) you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness." Reading alleviates stress fast and effectively by getting you to take the focus (and the stressing) away from your own life, putting you in the perfect state of mind to fall asleep and get good, quality sleep all night long.
Confession: school books=sleep. My books= me up all night until I finish.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of this statement is unbelievable.
Deletedoes reading a textbook count?! hahaha I'm always up late with homework :-/
ReplyDelete1) I wrote a post about this particular topic because I was really interested to learn if reading helped you fall asleep, and that lead me to finding out that it is a great stress reliever.
ReplyDelete2) I didn't have any difficulty writing this or finding the information. My curiosity really carried this piece, so I wrote about everything I found interesting in my research that I, also, thought my readers might enjoy learning as well.
3) What I want my audience to get from this post is a desire to read before bed, either for the love of reading, helping them distress and fall asleep, or both.
Maybe I will tell my teachers, "I didn't finish my homework because I had to read to get a goodnight sleep!" Mr. Stanley would definitely support this! Haha
ReplyDeleteAs an English teacher I would be in support of your reading at night! :)
DeleteThis makes a lot of sense, if only I wasn't completely exhausted at the end of everyday. In between school, work, swim team, and soccer, I never have any time to read any more and it makes me so upset!
ReplyDeleteThis particular blog, both now and when it was first published, is quite intriguing and well done. You did such a great job of including the study, with the link to the longer article, along with the doctor's perspective, your voice, and further information about what the difference is between reading and looking at a screen. Very well done! I also always read before bed so it is nice to hear that that is supported as an activity, but I am with Kaila on this - I am up till I finish it :)
ReplyDelete