Bedtime Reading, Sleep, and Its Advantages

“Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn.

Reading is a simple yet extraordinary activity loved by the mass population, from commoners to successful, famous entrepreneurs. Since ancient times, when man started recording details about their life from real to fictional, it has only delivered knowledge and created a wise person out of the reader.

Many prefer to read while pursuing different activities, during breaks, or even on holidays. However, most of them find reading before bedtime beneficial to make them sleep better and peacefully. According to research, it indeed is true that reading before bedtime not only helps you fall asleep quickly but also brings many other advantages. So, let’s look at these additional advantages one can have from reading before sleeping.

Benefits of bedtime reading

Stress buster

Going through every day’s chores brings tremendous stress to your mind. Also, you go to bed with it and also worry about the next day. Reading books before you hit the mattress helps you take your mind off current situations, reduce your worries and help you sleep peacefully.

Stops chatter in the head

People dwell on various thoughts, sometimes essential, unwanted, random, and reckless. These multiple numbers of thoughts can create chaos in your mind that further delays sleep. Even sometimes, when a person sleeps, their mind remains full of thoughts, creating restlessness.

According to Sir Arthur Helps, “Reading is sometimes an ingenious device for avoiding thought “. Also, many researchers have proven that Reading takes your mind off chaotic thoughts and brings peace.

Improves brain power

Reading helps you learn new things, makes you more intelligent and wiser, improves your vocabulary, and brings wisdom. Whether you read non-fiction, educational books, or some fictional fantasy books, reading only helps you improve yourself.

During sleep, your brain works on memory restoration. When you read before going to bed, it remains fresh in your memory. Thus, your brain has a better chance to restore it in detail than some old lingering thought.

Improves creativity

Reading helps develop the creativity and visualization power of the mind. It expands your cognition and provides you with a new perspective on things.

During sleep, your brain works more efficiently to enhance its creative abilities that help you solve problems, make connections, and figure out clues—and reading before bedtime allows the brain to perform these activities better.

Improves sleep quality

Many people find it difficult to read anything or don’t love reading that much as they see it boring and feel sleepy. Reading before bed for such people is very beneficial as when people read something particularly boring, they start to doze off, and their brain stimulates the hormones that induce sleep.

Also, you may find that children or toddlers have a habit of listening to bedtime stories that help them to fall asleep. Their brain associates this nightly ritual with sleeping time and produces sleep-inducing hormones making them fall asleep without much struggle.

Improves concentration

Reading means going through a single plot for a long time, which requires focus and patience. When you read novels, you spend that much time focusing on and remembering the lengthy story, its characters, and their connectivity to the storyline.

All these activities help you improve your concentration level, which also benefits other tasks. And when you read during the night, the story remains in your mind, and your brain works to collect all the data for memory restoration and pick up various ideas from it during sleep, further boosting your intellect.

Makes you empathetic

“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” Malorie Blackman. When you read, you engage in someone else’s story and experiences. By doing this, you learn to understand others’ points of view, problems, and reasonings, making you empathetic towards others. It also helps you look at life from different angles and expand your emotional horizon.

Create an environment feasible for reading at night

Though most people can read in any situation, creating a comfortable environment turns out to be more fruitful and effective.

Set a lamp near the bed with enough light

When you read, less or improper lighting can cause strain on the eyes and cause headaches. Therefore, put a lamp with good enough white light near your bed. Also, ensure that the lamp has a proper covering to avoid disturbing others’ sleep.

Create a sitting arrangement

Reading is a relaxation activity. Therefore, if you are sitting in the wrong or uncomfortable position, it not only hurts your back but also can make you less interested in reading itself. Therefore, create comfortable and supportive sitting arrangements with the help of pillows and back cushions on the mattress. You can use the Sleep Company’s Smart pillows and SmartGRID Back Cushions to reduce stress on your back.

Use adjustable bed

Do not try to read while lying on the bed, as it creates problems for the eyes and body alignment. Therefore try to use a recliner bed that can help you sit in a relaxed position while reading, and even though you fall asleep while reading, the position won’t be uncomfortable.

The Sleep Company’s Elev8 Smart Adjustable Recliner Bed are an excellent choice for activities like Reading, watching television, and sleeping in zero gravity mode.

Bottom Line:

Reading is a healthy activity that helps you improve your sleep quality and intellect and helps you grow as a person. And, the best thing about Reading is its never-ending activity with new books and knowledge every time.

So, Keep Reading!