Staying relaxed and self-aware is vital to our wellbeing but the fast pace of modern life means this is often not easy. Reading for pleasure has been found to have a profound impact on wellbeing. It doesn’t matter what you read, only that it is something you find enjoyable.
Escaping into a good book and reading for pleasure for just six minutes has been shown to reduce stress levels by two-thirds, an effect greater even than the second best-known stressbuster, listening to music. Losing yourself in a book has been described as the ultimate relaxation, comparable to an altered state of consciousness.
“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.”
Voltaire
Reading for pleasure is good for you
Reading for pleasure for just 30 minutes a week is associated with increased life satisfaction, higher self-esteem, better sleep, more creativity and increased happiness. Reading can help you rediscover all of who you are, as you recognise feelings and situations faced by characters, reminding you of your common humanity and helping you remember and reconnect to all that you are and not just those aspects of yourself you might feel reduced to by the doubts and anxieties of the moment.
Reading also helps people socialise more effectively. With a broader vocabulary, more practice empathising with characters in fiction or biographies and more interesting things to talk about, reading can help you connect more easily and deeply with others.
Click here for tips on finding fun things to read, from graphic novels to conventional fiction.