When was the last time you read a book or a good and readable newspaper article? Do you only read tweets, Facebook updates or any social media updates ? If you’re one of the numerous people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might not be aware that reading has a significant number of benefits. Some of these include:

Keeping one’s brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. As a result, studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy. Therefore, the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly applicable when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.

No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or other life issues, it slips away when you engage in a great story book . A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will keep you in the present moment, thereby, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

Knowledge cannot be got in a vacuum. One gets knowledge from what one reads. Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.

Also , it should be noted that wherever you find yourself and in any circumstance, remember that  you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health,  but knowledge can never be taken away from you.

This goes with the saying:  ” The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary.”  Being articulate or outspoken is a great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak with anybody with self-confidence can boost to your self-esteem. It can even help you in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs  and global events.

Reading books is also important for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in contexts, which will improve their own speaking and writing fluency.

When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. Brains are marvellous things that can remember these things with relative ease. So, don’t be anazed! Surprisingly enough, every new memory you create aids new brain pathways and strengthens the existing ones. This assists a short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. Is that not cool?

Have you ever read an amazing mysterious novel, and solved the mystery yourself before finishing the book? If so, you have been able to put critical and analytical thinking to work by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out with a view to solving your immediate problems.

In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we engage in many tasks everyday. Within just five minutes, an average person will divide his time among working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring his Smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.

When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.

This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a great effect on one’s own writing, as observing the fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.

In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about great inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.

Though, many of us like to buy books so that we can comment on them and dog-ear pages for future references.  For low-budget entertainment, you can visit your local library and bask in the glory of the countless books available there for free. Libraries have books on every books you can think of. So, since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials.

If you live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if

The points are developed from www.lifehack.org

There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.