The world as we know it seems to spin faster and faster! Our lives are constantly bombarded with the ADDITION of so many things to our lives. With all of the spinning, we need to learn how to slow down!
Our focus in this series is to help you to ADD more things to your life that will help to remove stress. Now, this does not mean that you are trying to add these things into your already hectic life, but this means that by adding and prioritizing these things (sleep, reading and others) that it will CROWD OUT some of the other things that add stress to your life!
Today we are talking about reading!
Reading allows your brain to focus on something different! It allows you to escape from the world for a little while and let your mind run free! It is like exercise for your brain! This will also allow your heart rate to reduce and relax blood vessels that can be constricted due to the stresses that you are subjected to.
Ideally, you can read a book that can help you to reduce the stress in your daily life. This could be a “self-help” book with topics on things like mindfulness, meditation, strategies for helping you through your day and other similar subjects.
However, if these books don’t suit your fancy, choose a type of book that will! It could be anything from the latest thriller, to a romance novel to a great piece of fiction! If it will allow your mind to escape for a time, it is worth it to read it!
The most ideal situation might be to read prior to bedtime. Adding this to your routine will allow you to save your eyes from screens (blue light from screens causes hormones in your brain to keep you awake), and reduce your heart rate to allow you to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer!
Again, your goal should not be to add this in to your already busy day, but you should work to prioritize this time OVER some things that are not serving you as much (TV, extended work obligations and other things that keep you working).
Work to add reading into your daily routine and see how much better you feel going forward! Decreasing your stress is only going to increase your quality of life!