Orissa

I have always loved reading since I was a child. I would go to the library and return with 10 plus book and then spend the next two days and nights reading them. It opened up multiple worlds to me; from fairy tales and evil stepmothers to faraway lands on top of trees to bicycling around in the USA solving mysteries. Later as I grew older, books I read evolved from the Mr Heathcliff’s and Mr Darcy’s, into saucy – hide below the bed cover from my mother – romantics that involved handsome bosses and beautiful secretaries. The passion for reading continues to this day and it is with considerable joy that I have introduced many of the books I once read to my children.

But while I passed on my joy of reading to my daughter – I have come to realize that with the pressures of being a working mum – who struggles to cook, clean and get the kids ready every day for school, that I no longer have time to read any longer. This summer I made a dream book for myself with all my thoughts of where I wanted to go with my life and one intention that I decided upon was to try and read at least one to two books every week. While this maybe ambitious target – to make it easier for myself I have started by making it one non-fiction and one fiction. So far so good and it has been 1 month and I have read some great books. I am feeling great, full of life and energy and optimism for humanity.

Top 5 Reasons to Start Reading

Brain Workout

Reading is a gym for the brain use it and get fit, all studies show that those that actively use their minds and read are less likely to get Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease.

Knowledge is Power

                                             
The more you read the more information and knowledge you have about the world around you. The less likely you are to be a racist, xenophobic or any other phobic for that matter. In fact reading also helps with increasing empathy for those around you and different.

De-Stress

Reading takes you away from the stress of the daily routine, what your colleague said, why your spouse doesn’t understand you and so on. Books will help to take you into another realm and similar to meditation help to reduce your heart rate, stress levels and help to reduce blood pressure. One study has shown reading for only 6 minutes helps to reduce stress levels by two-thirds. Self-help books are known to help with depression.

Increases Focus and Concentration

It is no wonder that increasing numbers of children and adults are suffering from ADHD. With even two year olds now banging away on video games to brain games, from Ipods, Ipads all these activities have decreased our focus.

Increase Productivity

With the increase in technology what initially was seen to enhance productivity in the workplace increasingly we are seeing research that the human being has not been made to multi-task and that by focusing on one topic at a time we can enhance our performance.