Last update: January 17, 2017
I can be an explorer, a vampire, an elephant, a gazelle, a puppet, a mountain or a star. I just need to read a book to travel and transform myself, books allow me to live a thousand lives and learn from each of them.
In the 30s, two Spanish guys who settled in Cuba decided to open a cigar company. In their factory, the cigar twisters had very long working days and, to pass the time, one of the workers read them novels.
“Let others boast of the pages they have written; I'm proud of what I've read "
-Jorge Luis Borges-
The book they loved most was Alexander Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, which helped workers increase their productivity and create premium cigars. It is for this reason that they decided to call those cigars "Montecristo".
This simple anecdote teaches us that reading gives us a pair of wings, stimulates our imagination and allows us to live a different life, to dream those places we don't know, to feel the most intense emotions, to love people we don't know, to play or fly.
The benefits of reading
When we read, we not only identify with the different characters of the books, but we can understand what the places we do not know are like, the habits we have never seen and this allows us to be more sensitive to the world around us and to the people around us.
Today we will analyze some of the benefits of reading. Reading, in fact, helps to improve empathy, creativity and memory, to fight diseases such as Alzheimer's and stress, to develop intelligence and the ability to converse and listen.
Reading turns us into more empathic people
In 2013, several scholars from Emory University (USA) conducted a study to compare the brains of readers and non-readers. One of the conclusions they came to was that readers, because they use their imaginations to understand the emotions of the characters in the books, are generally more empathetic people.
Reading increases the ability to understand how others feel, which is a fundamental skill for developing in different areas, such as friendship, family, couple relationships and work.
The habit of reading helps improve memory
Several studies have come to the conclusion that if we don't use memory, we end up losing it. For this reason, among other activities, it is advisable to do some crosswords or sudoku puzzles or to read to keep the mental cogs that deal with our memory well lubricated.
"Reading makes a man complete, conversation makes him agile of spirit and writing makes him exact".
-Sir Francis Bacon-
Reading helps us to remember the facts that happened, the situations in which the characters found themselves, the conflicts we read in the novels and the life of the protagonists that each author illustrates to us in his books or texts. This way of exercising our memory helps strengthen our intelligence.
Reading helps reduce stress
According to studies conducted by Dr. Davis Lewis, reading reduces stress levels by 68% and helps us relax because it reduces the heart rate. Six minutes of reading a day are enough to significantly reduce stress.
When we read, our mind transports us to other places. In this way, if, for example, we have had a difficult day at work, reading helps us to detach our minds and distract us, and gives us the relaxation necessary to spend a pleasant moment without having to think about anything else.
Reading reduces the risk of suffering from Alzheimer's
Related to memory loss is, of course, Alzheimer's. Several studies have shown that reading is an excellent tool to reduce the risk of suffering from Alzheimer's since stimulates the brain and helps its cells connect and grow.
In 2001, several researchers showed that older people who read regularly or do mental exercises are less likely to develop this disease. For this reason, we advise you to adopt this simple habit everyday and train your brain a little.
Reading helps you to be better speakers and writers
Reading helps us to be better speakers because, when we read, we acquire new words and learn new vocabulary. This learning it also helps us to write better and converse more fluently, because we are able to make the most of the language to express our thoughts.
A person who reads has not only lived several lives through the characters of the stories, but also knows many topics of conversation and has a great ability to listen to others and to observe carefully.
Contemplate and live a thousand lives
By reading you will be able to live the life of an adventurer in the Amazon rainforest, of a king in an imaginary country, of an orangutan in the jungle. Each page will flood your soul and your love of reading will increase more and more. Why, after all, reading is above all a great pleasure, not at all expensive and easy to access.
You will not only live present lives, but also past and future lives, as a book allows you to travel through time and discover how your ancestors lived or imagine what we will be like in the future. Reading is like daydreaming and opening your eyes to a thousand different realities.
“Reading a good book is like a continuous dialogue in which the book speaks and the soul responds”.
-André Maurois-
