Sunday 2 May 2010

The Sunday Salon: Reading as a Stress Buster

The Sunday Salon.com

Very short little salon today because I am very busy working on my thesis. My thesis advisor caused me a great deal of stress this past week by not getting back to me in a timely manner. Once I had gotten the essay back I came across an article in a fitness magazine that I thought I would share with you guys. It is very short, not really an article but here it is (my translation).

A Good Book Gives Peace for Your Soul

Let go of the netsurfing, dust bunnies and racing thoughts and devote yourself to a heavenly moment in company with the literature you prefer. It gives peace.

When we are captured by a good book it helps us move focus from our problems and let them go , a study from Mindlab, University of Sussex, England, shows.

Just six minutes with a gripping or exciting book is enough to reduces stress levels with more than two thirds. According to psychologists the reason is as simple as when the brain concentrates on reading it gets distracted and the body “forgets” to tighten heart and muscles. If you don’t have time to read, you can achieve the same calming effect with an audio book.

From iForm number 7/2010

What do you like to read to relax? Any particular genre or author?

Due to the great work load I have right now with my thesis things will be very quite here on the blog until mid-May. I hope to be back to normal by then. Hope you all have a great time in the mean time!

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Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.clip_image001This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

5 comments:

Susi (The Book Affair) said...

I completely agree with that article - a good book is all I need to relax. I don't need a particular genre, it just has to be interesting enough to take me into another world. And don't worry about it being quiet on your blog - I know what kind of stress you're faced with when writing your thesis. Good luck with everything! :)

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your thesis!

I agree that a good book can be a great stress-reducer. Although I have to admit that I often flee into books when I'm too busy with schoolwork, because it makes me feel relaxed, but that it makes the workload all the heavier because of ignoring it in the first place.

Amanda said...

It will come as no surprise when I say that my stress-reliever books are the Harry Potter ones. They're like TV/candy to me.

Kristen M. said...

I always like to escape with a cozy period mystery. They are always quick to jump into the plot and the characters are never dull. Not to mention the fact that they are so far from my daily life experiences that it's easy to forget the world around me for a bit.

Good luck with your thesis!

Gavin said...

For relaxing, a good mystery or, of late, a good historic novel. Good luck with your thesis!