Do You Mind?

This blog is supposed to be a mind/body category, but I browsed over my past topics and they are overwhelmingly body and very little mind.  I try to live what I write, but the key part of that is the try.  I keep thinking I should write more posts on the mind, but as much imposter syndrome as I have for the body posts, it is even more the case for the mind.  What I need to remember is that I am trying to start a discussion and some thinking, not preaching or saying you should do what I do all the time without fail.  At best, I try.

Book reading.

I was going to look up shocking statistics about how few people in the US read and I was surprised to find a few different surveys showed the number of people that read at least one book in the last year was around 55%.  The number is 28% when the number of books in the last year is 6.

I looked up how many pages a book has on average.  As you might expect, the number of pages a book has varies wildly often based on the genre.  Middle ground seems to be around 250 pages and averaging 250 words a page.  High level math (multiplication and division) puts finishing an average 250-page book in two weeks reading for 15 minutes a day for an average speed reader.

Is there junk reading?

I think so.  I don’t have any problem reading articles on the internet in which the author gives their opinion as long as they are not stating their opinions as facts.  I also believe these short articles have their place, especially when you are looking for the information rather than the internet shoving information at you.

What books to read? 

Read what you like. It is good to read a variety of genres from both fiction and non-fiction.  If you are mainly a non-fiction reader like me, mix in a fiction book every once in a while, and the other way around.  If you are nutty like me and read 4 health books in a row, read something else next.

There are a lot of benefits from reading:

·         Increases your ability to communicate

·         You can learn about places and time settings from fiction

·         There is some anecdotal evidence that reading reduces your risk of dementia

·         Reduces blood pressure

·         Reading before bedtime improves sleep quality and keeps you away from screens with decrease sleep quality

·         Reduces depression

One study of 3,635 adults over 12 years showed that those that read books lived two years longer than those that did not read or read other media.

So, I guess it isn’t just mind, but mind/body.  And reading is something good for you that you can do from your couch.