Depending on what you do for work or for school, you might spend a lot of time reading – news articles, blogs, reports, instructions, and all kinds of other important items can easily dominate your day-to-day. If that is the case, you may have seen the title of this article and wondered – how does reading a book reduce stress? 

 Reading for Fun or for Work

If you find that you spend a lot of time reading because you have to, try reading because you want to. Think about it: there are books, articles, papers, and webpages on every imaginable topic in the world, stories in every conceivable (broad) genre, and ideas from the minds of some of the most interesting people around. Finding something to suit your interests and make reading fun isn’t so big a challenge as you might think!

The act of reading helps the reader to calm down. Taking things slow and reading one word at a time can make it easier to focus your mind on something other than your anxieties. This is how reading really reduces stress: by expanding your mind, giving you a new object for focus, and offering a solid distraction with something fun.

It’s the fun part that really can’t be stressed enough. If you’re wondering how reading a book can reduce stress, that’s the key. It’s easy to forget, because so much of our everyday reading is reading we’re made to do, but reading can and should be enjoyable, entertaining, and interesting.

Smart Compression and Reading

Sometimes it’s hard to focus on the book in your hands. If your concentration isn’t in a good place – maybe because of stress! – it can take a while to properly immerse yourself in the material you’ve chosen. eSmartr’s smart compression sleeves can make this easier by improving the areas in your brain that control your ability to focus. Reading with an eSmartr sleeve on your arm can heighten all of the benefits of the activity, and remove additional stress!

Reading is a great way to remove stress and enrich both your brain and your day. It’s important to not lose sight of that as you read through reports, presentations, or scholarly articles on topics you’re not that interested in. Read for fun! Read with smart compression. And enjoy a little while of stress-free learning, adventure, or enrichment.