It’s summer–time to grab a delicious book for a great summer adventure. It’s one of my favorite practices. A novel can lead you on obscure adventures into new lands and loves, biographies will give you a multitude of facts you never knew about a fascinating person and self-help books can literally transform your life by giving you new perspectives and healing advice.

Reading evokes creativity, imagination, curiosity, and many emotions that change the brain and body. There is nothing in this world like reading a good book.

Facts About Reading

Reading also offers tangible benefits for your health. Researchers have discovered these healing effects of reading.

1) Longevity. A Yale School of Public Health study showed adults who read more than 3.5 hours a week are almost 25 percent less likely to die over the next 12 years.

2) Reading reduces stress. Researchers at The University of Sussex in the United Kingdom reported reading reduced stress levels by 68 percent.  Another researcher found their patients who read just 6 minutes had lower heart rates.

3) Reading helps you sleep. Reading a book before bed prepares your brain and body for sleep. A nightly reading ritual relaxes the mind, body and soul inviting you into a peaceful, deep sleep.

4) Reading makes you smarter. Reading increases your vocabulary and makes you more social. Reading increases your child’s IQ while also creating more self-confidence.

5) Reading slows cognitive decline. Researchers at Rush University discovered that reading may slow cognitive decline and also help with Alzheimer’s disease. They also found people who do stimulating activities such as reading, early and late in life, were less likely to show lesions, plaques and tangles in the brain which result in less evidence of dementia.