When most people think of their health, their mind automatically jumps to their weight, their physical appearance and how active they are daily.
However, as crucial as physical activity is, there are also a number of hobbies, pastimes and ‘extracurricular’ activities which can also serve to boost your health, one of the main examples being reading.
With this in mind, here is an article dedicated to the importance of reading for people of any age.
Reading to Your Children
A child’s mind is full of amazement and wonder at the world around them, and reading a variety of different children’s stories to them is a fantastic way of engaging their imagination and allowing them to start thinking for themselves.
Just a selection of amazing benefits to reading books to your children regularly include:
- Reading expands their vocabulary
- Reading helps them to develop their critical thinking
- Reading helps enrich their imagination
- Reading improves their listening skills
- Reading helps them to become a better problem solver
Reading Helps to Ward Off Cognitive Decline
Even though it would be a gross inaccuracy to state that as long as you always have the latest thriller to hand, you will avoid developing any memory-based issues in the future, The American National Institute of Aging encourages older adults and the elderly to make reading part of their daily life.
Furthermore, numerous research studies have indicated, time and time again, that people who have been reading throughout their lives are less likely to develop the beginning signs of early dementia, which are lesions and plaques in the brain.
Sharpen Your Reading Tools!
If you are already obsessed with reading, whether that be fictional novels set in a bygone era, or factual biographies of your favorite A-List celebrities, yet simply cannot be bothered navigating a real book with your glasses, there is a solution.
Look into laser eye surgery and reading vision treatment Harrisburg and find out just how simple it would be to never have to wear your glasses for reading again.
Reading Helps You to Become a More Empathetic Person
Part and parcel of a full and varied life is the mixture of people you have formed close connections and bonds with over time.
Long-term readers, specifically of fictional stories from across the spectrum of history, from Shakespeare’s plays to modern crime thrillers, are much more likely to have strong levels of emotional intelligence and will be able to empathize with others more easily.
Other Key Benefits of Reading
In addition to the points discussed in detail above, there are also numerous other impressive benefits of flexing your creative muscles and expanding your imagination by reading.
Such benefits include allowing your speech and conversations to be more interesting and more varied in terms of the information you draw upon to make your point and the words you use and the simple fact that reading a book allows you to shut yourself off from real life and will enable you to slip into your own imagination.