We all know that physical exercise, like swimming or riding a bike, can be great for your body and your mind. But, what many of us don’t know is that mental exercise can be just as rewarding. Picking up a book and flexing those thoughtful and creative muscles can really help you. Reading on a regular basis can improve your life in so many ways. It can make you better at critical thinking, improve your focus, increase your vocabulary, and boost your levels of creativity. Too many people put the importance of reading to the side to focus on other forms of exercise, and it’s time we put a stop to this and take a good look at how picking up a good book for a few minutes a day can really improve your brain and your life. According to a study in 2013, reading can actually change your brain. A study was published in which the researchers monitored the brains of their subjects through fMRIs after they read 30 pages of a novel every night. They also monitored the fMRIs of the subjects while they were reading short stories. The fMRIs showed brain activity that suggests that the subjects’ brains were actually developing and changing after reading, which just goes to show that reading really can change your life and your mind. They also showed that while reading, the brain activity very closely resembled the activity of someone actually performing an activity. So, if a subject read a story about swimming, their brain acted almost as if they were actually swimming. This is absolutely fascinating because this means that reading can transport you anywhere in the world doing anything at all, not only figuratively, but (to your brain) almost in reality. So, now that you know the power of reading, why not use it? Reading 30 pages a night has been scientifically proven to affect your mind in positive ways. Maybe this could be your daily exercise! If reading has changed your life in positive ways, or you want to use it to fuel your imagination, let me know in the comments! This photo, "An Open Book" is copyright 2012 by Imanka and is available through Flickr Creative Commons
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