7 Scientific Ways Reading Can Actually Help Improve Your Life

You won’t know how true the saying “reading opens doors and makes life easier” is until you cultivate the habit of reading atleast 2 or 3 books every week. When you cultivate this habit, you will be pleasantly surprised to find out that reading has numerous positive effects on both your emotional, intellectual and even your psychological state of mind. That said, here are 7 scientific ways reading books can actually Help improve your life.


1. You’re more likely to learn something new every day

Reading frequently does actually make you smarter. It does this by stocking your brain with new information(s), information(s) you never know when it may come in handy later in life…

2. Reading has therapeutic benefits

According to Cristel Russell, a behavioral researcher, reading a previously read book is not merely a nostalgic attempt to retrieve the past, but rather an active search for new meaning, and one that has great emotional value. It offers a way to look at oneself through the same lens but with different eyes. It also helps with with any stress or turmoil occurring in your life.

See also: 7 facts about music and the psychological effects it has on us

3. Reading improves your memory

According to Maryanne Wolf, a director at the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University, reading gives you more time to think, it also gives you a unique pause button for comprehension and insight.

The benefits of all this mental activity include keeping your memory sharp, your learning capacity nimble, and your mind basically hardier as you age.

4. Reading helps to boost your analytical thinking

The more books you read, the better you become at recognizing various patterns, which helps build your analytical thinking skills.

5. Reading expands your vocabulary

The only scientifically proven way you can expand your vacabulary is by reading books… This is because you come across a plethora of words as you read books. Words which will eventually find a place in your own vocabulary.

See also: 7 sure and tested ways to stay awake when studying

6. Reading, reduces stress and puts you in a better mood

It really doesn’t matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the world of the author’s imagination.

A study found that reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels up to 68%.

Psychologists believe this is because the human mind has to concentrate on reading and the distraction of being taken into a literary world eases the tensions in muscles and the heart.

7. Reading a book makes you a better writer

No good writing is possible without reading.

When you’re exposed to a good book, the writing of that author will inexorably rub off on your own writing skills.. How you may ask. well, it does this by helping you find inspiration, providing you with a wider vocabulary, it also helps you learn from real gurus of writing etc.

Put simply, the same way that listening to music can influence your own style, so does a good book.

Uzonna Anele
Uzonna Anele
Anele is a web developer and a Pan-Africanist who believes bad leadership is the only thing keeping Africa from taking its rightful place in the modern world.

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