When I travel around my city these days I have been noticing a sudden mushrooming of Gyms, Fitness Centres and Health Clubs. No wonder this is a direct fallout of the developing and ever growing community of health conscious citizens, which is so good to see. A fit and healthy society is critical for any country to prosper and contribute globally.
Physical training, therefore is important and should be a part of our daily routine for a healthy life. However there is another extremely important part of the body, whose well being and health can never be undermined. The Brain, which is not a muscle but requires exercises too, to keep it healthy, agile and responsive, leading to a big uptick in the overall health of an individual.
Neurogenesis
Reading is an activity which energises language processing and the somatosensory cortex which processes sensory information. As Reading becomes more consistent neurogenesis takes place wherein neurons ( cells which send messages and transmit information to other parts of the brain ) are generated. As reading escalates, the brain becomes more active and ultimately the processing of information accelerates.
Enhanced concentration and Absorption
The accelerated processing in the brain leads to a host of benefits. There is a definite spike in concentration and the level of absorption of the material being read improves vastly. While reading, humans tend to develop a mental map of the written text. This mental map helps in information recall and memory. Therefore, the more people read, the brain is put to much more practice of the mental map, leading to better absorption and memory. Hence people who have a long history of reading, experience a much slower decline in concentration and memory in old age as compared to the ones who do not read.
Arresting Cognitive Decline
Reading undoubtedly enhances attention, concentration and memory which are critical aspects of cognitive functions of learning, remembering and making informed judgements. There have been several studies which have successfully established a direct relationship between consistent reading and slow cognitive decline. Even in late readers, the decline is delayed leading to a much reduced risk of dementia and other age related cognitive disorders.
Stress Buster and Anti Depressant
As much has been the attention on Physical health, Mental Health too is being talked about in serious terms, particularly in the context of complex lifestyles these days and the amount of stress carried by people of all ages. Reading, material of interest and which does not elicit strong emotional feelings, is not only relaxing, but leads to happy emotions. Ultimately the stress is positively addressed. Reading is thus an activity which can surely help fight stress and depressions.
Helping Live Longer
Without doubt, the length of life is the domain of the Almighty, there is a good chance of leading a long life considering the benefits of reading mentioned above. But it has to be understood that reading as an activity alone cannot guarantee a longer life. It has to be inculcated as an integral and highly effective part of an overall healthy lifestyle, leading to an increased life span.
I had written an article on the benefits of reading a year ago and this article today is a strong reinforcement of the benefits of Reading.
So let’s begin with just 4 minutes of quick reads on rizkhan.in…daily.
Read QUICK, Read BETTER, Stay HEALTHIER @ rizkhan.in
Featured image : courtesy Awaken
Reference : Column by Lia Tabackman
After reading the blog the readers would definitely feel that they gain so much from this healthy activity.It gives so much of knowledge awareness and confidence.Therefore lets keep encouraging each other by reading healthy notes and blogs by Riz and other writers too.
Yes so true. Thank you