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Wellness Thru Reading
Greetings and salutations book lovers. Welcome to Wellness Thru Reading. A podcast dedicated to keeping reading a daily habit as a form of self care.
Wellness Thru Reading
Escaping Election Stress: The Healing Power of Books
Discover how curling up with a good book might just be your secret weapon against election season stress. Reminiscent of the tension many felt in 2020, we share personal stories of how dedicated reading habits have provided a sanctuary from the political storm. Learn why picking the right book can make all the difference, and how a 2009 study found reading to be more effective at reducing stress than a cup of tea or a leisurely walk. Whether you're tackling political drama or just life’s daily demands, find out how the right stories can offer increased focus and relaxation.
In this episode, we also shed light on the incredible power of reading for university students, especially those in challenging health science programs. We discuss fascinating findings that show how just 30 minutes of reading can rival yoga and humor in combating stress and depressive symptoms. Uncover how reading not only strengthens brain connections but also enhances sleep quality when you choose print over a screen. And for those looking for book suggestions, dive into my current reading list featuring gripping titles like "Fourth Wing," "A Wicked Winter's Kiss," and Mariah Carey's compelling memoir. Embrace the transformative benefits of reading and get ready for some exciting book reviews coming your way!
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Reading Can Reduce Stress, Keep Depression at Bay
Reading For 6 Minutes Reduces Stress By 68 Percent - AnxietyCentre.com
All right, it is the day after the elections. How are we all feeling? How are we all doing? Now, mind you, the day I'm recording this, I don't, obviously I don't know the results of the election yet and, honestly, we might not know them for a couple of weeks, kind of like what happened in 2020, when we didn't know who the president was for a whole five days of nothing but stress, nothing but stress, nothing but stress.
Speaker 1:This election honestly, every election, every election, really has been nothing that brings nothing. Every four years, americans are adduced with overload of stress, anger, resentment, bickering back and forth, and just in time for the holiday season, of course, course. So, yes, election time A lot of opposing opinions, a lot of, he said, she said, a lot of backslaps slandering American politics. What can I say? Well, I gotta say this is the time of year where most Americans if those of you who are listening over overseas this has been a stressful time for us. I mean, it's like why does every single election feel like this is the end? But you know what? Here on OneList of Reading, we're going to stay positive, we're going to stay hopeful, we're going to stay upbeat. So today I'm talking about how we can help ourselves get through this stressful election week with our mindset by reading. Of course, before we go any further with that, let's stay up to date with our mindset on straight by reading. Of course, before we go any further with that, let's go. Let's stay up to date with our reading goals. How are y'all doing your reading goals? Comment below what your reading goal has been for this month and for the rest of the year and how you're doing on them. So my reading goal this year was supposed to be 50 books. I'm at 35 now, so I'm catching up. I'm getting better.
Speaker 1:Um, I gotta say I've just been picking more interesting books to read, so that's been really helping, and also doing a little bit more of mood reading like I know, honestly, not not mood. I've been reading daily. I've been doing my 15 minutes every single day and that's definitely been helping. Honestly, just 15 minutes for me isn't even enough. Sometimes I normally read for 60 minutes, but it's good, just at least put it for 15 so it's not so overwhelming. On days where it's like, oh, there's a lot going on, 15 minutes is all I got to give, I can give it. But on days where I can give a little extra. I give a little extra. So what about you? What are your reading goals? How are you doing on them? And let's see before we dive in. You know what. Let's just dive in. We'll keep going from there, all right.
Speaker 1:So reading can reduce stress. Reading can reduce stress in a number of ways and I've said here on the program before, but I'm gonna keep on saying it helps to increase our focus and concentration. It eases muscle tension, it alters your state of mind and can help you to relax. It also helps you to identify with others, other ideologies, keeps your brain active, enhances your vocabulary and also, especially in this time when we really kind of need it, it provides an escape Really can provide a healthy escape from your everyday world and, honestly, with all the muds leaking all around the internet, we all could use a little bit of time out. But don't just take my word for it.
Speaker 1:A 2009 study by the University of Sussex researchers found reading as few as six minutes reduced stress by as much as 68%. What they found is that reading reduced stress better, and reading reduced stress better and more quickly than any other method like, say, drinking coffee or tea, going for a walk. Researchers believe the concentration of reading a good book help distract the brain away from anxious and stressful thinking, reduces heart rate, muscle tension that causes this stress. Reading also helps to engage our imaginations and stimulates our creativity and also engages our brain's prefrontal cortex that houses the anxiety break, essentially so our important part of our brain that shuts off the emergency response. One of the doctors, dr Davis Lewis, a cognitive neuropsychologist who conducted the study, said it doesn't matter what book you read. By losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book, you can escape from the worries and stresses of life of everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author's imagination.
Speaker 1:But you must also keep in mind that it does take a time for the body to calm down from an active stress response. Once stress hormones are in your bloodstream, the body will need to either use it or expel it before you can actually feel calmer. If you don't feel calm right away, just give it time and as the body uses up and expels the remaining stress hormones, you'll feel calmer overall. But again, this does take time. One reading session is not gonna cure a lifetime worth of stress. Give it time, give it consistency and you'll definitely notice a difference. And as you feel calmer, the fear center of your brain, the amygdala, becomes less active and the rationalization areas of your brain, the cortex, becomes more active. This shift in brain function can empower the anxiety brain and give you more control over any anxious thoughts and as your body calms down, you'll feel more calmer and more in control of your emotions. So yeah, again, reading a good book is a great way to reduce anxiety and stress. The more interesting the book, the better the effect.
Speaker 1:So, as always, find books that you find intriguing and interesting and don't just read them because TikTok told you to read it. If you're not liking it, then by all means, dnr, do not finish, do not finish. Not DNR, do dnf, do not finish. And again, reading is something that you should be doing because it's fun and it helps and honestly, I encourage everyone to do more reading because for me, it takes away, it takes, gives you a time to turn your tv off, turn your phone off, pick up a physical book, pick up your kindle and just actively, just lose yourself, immerse yourself into a world of dragons, of knights, of hockey players, of whatever winter wonderland, because now we're entering into the winter season, so I'm reading more winter books now and I'll definitely talk about more of the books I'm reading later on, but reading books both benefits your physical and mental health, and these benefits can last a lifetime. And during this stressful time, reading can also help benefit your emotional well-being, save off depression and help you get a good night's sleep.
Speaker 1:When you read, you stimulate your brain and make it active. Also, reading requires constant effort from your side, which is absent from video watching or listening, and it keeps your brain occupied. Our brains are designed for constant stimulation, whether it's for eating, walking, drinking, whatever. That's why we like to watch tv so much, because it's constantly feeding us the visuals. But when you're actually reading, then you have to conjure up those visuals yourself, and so that really helps to increase our memory and our overall mood as well. So try picking up a book instead of turning on your TV for another binge lesson.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying don't watch a television show at all, because I do love a good. I'm a huge fan of Abbott Elementary and so I watch my shows, but afterwards I turn it off and I read myself a good book. So, going back to that, yeah, you can do both. You can watch your shows and do television, but don't spend all your time staring at the TV. Get some good reading in as well too. Do both. It's all about balance, that's the word.
Speaker 1:And speaking of keeping things balanced, let's talk about balancing our hormones. So, ladies of the podcast, it is that time of the month on flows in town. Y'all know what I mean. It is that lovely menstrual cycle period that starts. That just sends all of our hormones into a frenzy, and you know, I'm someone that used to suffer from extremely painful period cramps until I found SEMAINE S-E-M-A-I-N-E SEMAINE HEALTH. There you are supplement. Semaine HEALTH is a company designed by women for women that provides supplements throughout all phases of women's life, whether it be through men, your periods, or whether it be through menopause. They have something for every woman and um.
Speaker 1:So the ones that I use are the pms support and the daily hormone. Now, the daily hormone is literally just that. You take it daily, two pills a day, typically in the morning. Uh, with food and water, and what it does? It helps to help balance out all those hormones that you got going on for all the four cycles that you go through and, along with the PMS support, it helps you to just keep you more calmer. It helps your digestive system and helps you to have less painful cramps. And then the PMS support is just that support. You take it three days before your cycle and it really helps to get over those uncomfortable bloating that you get before your period, also helps to calm you down from all the anxiety that you sometimes get I know I do and also really helps with dealing with those painful period cramps. I am someone that suffers from extremely painful period cramps until I found this Now to be fair, though, this does take time. These are natural supplements that you're using, so it takes roughly three months before you see some real change. But just stay consistent with it and I promise you it will be worth it.
Speaker 1:So listen to the podcast. You want to get your first bottle? Head on over to samanehealthcom. Use the promo code wellness through reading to get 15% off your next, your first bottle. I thank you for listening. Let's dive back in Now.
Speaker 1:Here on the channel, we love ourselves a good research paper, so another research done. Same year, 2009, a group of researchers measured the effects of yoga, humor and reading on stress levels of university students in demanding health science programs, and the study found that 30 minutes of reading lowered blood pressure, heart rate and feelings of psychological distress just as effectively, if not more so, than yoga and humor. What they concluded was that some time constraints are one of the most frequently cited reasons for high stress levels reported by health science students. 30 minutes of one of these techniques can be easily incorporated into their schedule without diverting a large amount of time from their studies, and what it does is helps to alleviate depression symptoms as well. Reading fiction, in particular, can allow you to temporarily escape your own world and become swept up in an imagined experience of your favorite characters, and non-fiction self-help books can teach you strategies that can help you manage these symptoms as well. So a person suffering from depression either helps either keeps his or her mind inactive or occupied with negative thoughts, but when they read a positive book, they can fill their mind with positive content and further generate positive energy. Now, if you're listening to this and you're experiencing some of these depressive symptoms, obviously reading a book can help, but if you need more help than that, by all means please seek out professional help. And also another study shows that reading can help prepare you for a good night's rest.
Speaker 1:Doctors at the Mayo Clinic suggest reading as a part of your regular sleep time routine. For the best result, you might want to choose a print book rather than reading from a screen. For the best result, you might want to choose a print book rather than reading from a screen, since the light emulated by your device can keep you awake and another research article said that strengthening your brain. Researchers have found that when you read, it can actually change your brain chemistry. Using MRI scans, they found that reading involves a complex network of circuit signals in your brain. The more you read, the more those networks can get stronger and more sophisticated. In one study conducted in 2013, researchers used a functioning MRI scan to measure the effects of reading a novel on the brain. Study participants read the novel Pompeii over a period of nine days and tension built in the story and more and more areas of the brain lit up with activity. So brain scans show that throughout the reading period and for days afterward, the brain connectivity increased, especially in the somato somato excuse me sensory cortex, which is part of the brain that responds to physical sensations like movement and pain.
Speaker 1:So what the heck does all that mean? Basically, when you're reading, you're not just creating spaces and going into your imagination, you're also giving your brain a bit of a workout as well, too. So there you go, work out your body and your brain. There you go, work out your body and your brain. Okay, so, even when this election time is over here in the United States, stress and anxiety is going to happen. It is just a fact of life. It just happens, no matter what. And so what do we do with all that stress and anxiety? We have to find ways to just dispel it from our bodies, so that way it's not. Otherwise it's just compounded time, it's going to affect our physical health and it's not going to be good and mental as well, too. So that's why I just I encourage you all to read, read, read as much as at least. But honestly, if there was just at least six minutes and it has so much benefit, so do 15 and boom, you're good. You gotta find time to just turn your brain off. And just not turn your brain off, because obviously you need your brain to read, but just turn your brain off to all else that's going on in the world and just focus on just having fun and create, using your imagination, improving your focus, all that great stuff that I just talked about in this podcast episode.
Speaker 1:I can sit here and just jibber, jabber on and on all the benefits, but I do want to get into the books that I'm currently reading right now, so you can add them to your TBR list, all right. So right now, I'm currently still in my read reading of the Fourth Wing. The new book in the series of the Imperium series, ionic Storm, comes out january 21st. I'm super excited and let's see what else. Oh, I'm currently starting a new one. It's called a wicked winter's kiss by angela j forrest. I saw this on and on instagram, so I'm hoping it's really good.
Speaker 1:And I'm also. I'm a multi-reader. I have multiple books that I read at the same time. So I'm doing that. And Fourth Way by Ruka Bayaros, and I'm also reading. I'm also reading the memoir the Meaning of Mariah by Mariah Carey. I am super excited. I promise you, in the weeks to come, there will definitely be a full book episode dedicated to a book review. On it. She talks about her life, how she became famous and all of that. So I'm really, really excited. I also have the audiobook as well, too, and she's doing it in her own voice, so she's all. So it's going to be exciting. And also, a wicked kiss also sounds really, really good. So those are the three books that I'm currently reading. I'll definitely give you more updates as well. I can't really give you much now because I literally just got it, so I promise you, in future episodes I will definitely definitely get you updated. So there you go.
