If you happen to be one of the many people who don’t read on a regular basis, you probably don’t even realise what you are missing out on. There are a lot of benefits that come with reading and I just realised lately when I got a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas. Using it on my daily commute and reading like hell, I must admit I’d never like to miss it again!

I’ve put together a few benefits of regular reading:

1. Reading stimulates your Mind
Staying mentally stimulated, according to several studies, may help to slow down or even possibly prevent the progress of Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Keeping your brain engaged and active helps to prevent the loss of brain power. Like any of our body’s other muscles, the brain needs to have exercise in order for it to stay healthy and strong. So in terms of your mind, the saying of “use it or lose it” definitely applies.

2. Reading reduces Stress
It doesn’t matter how much stress that you might have from your personal relationships or work, when you can lose yourself inside a great story, all of that slips away. A great novel or short story can send you into a whole new realm, and an interesting article can keep you distracted and in the present. This allows you to relax as your tension continues to dissipate.

3. Reading expands your Knowledge
Every time you read something, your mind is filled with new pieces of information. It could come in handy at any time. The more knowledgeable you are, the better prepared you will be to handle any challenges that might come your way.

Also, if you end up in serious trouble, although you could potentially lose everything else, including your health, money, possessions and job- one thing that can’t ever be taken away from you is your knowledge.

4. Reading expands your Vocabulary
When you do a lot of reading, you are exposed to more and more words. Eventually many of these words will become part of your regular vocabulary. Being well-spoken and articulate is very helpful for every profession. Knowing that you can speak confidently with bosses and management can really boost your level of self-esteem. It might even help further your career. Individuals who are well-spoken, well-read and knowledgeable about a wide array of subjects do tend to get promoted faster and more frequently than individuals with small vocabularies and limited knowledge of global events, scientific breakthroughs and literature.

5. Reading improves Your Memory
Reading a book requires you to remember an entire cast of characters, along with their history, ambitions and backgrounds. You also have to keep track of the different sub-plots and arcs that are weaved throughout the story. That is quite a lot to remember and keep track of. However, brains are amazing and are able to remember things fairly easily. Interesting enough, each time you have a memory, new synapses are forged and existing ones are strengthened. This helps with stabilizing moods and short-term memory recall.

6. Reading strengthens your Analytical Thinking Skills
If you’ve ever read a great mystery and been able to solve the mystery on your own before you finished the novel, you were putting your analytical and critical thinking skills to work. You took mental notes of all of the details that were given to you and then made sense of them so you could figure out what was going on.

This same ability to be able to analyze details in this way can be very useful as well for knowing whether the storyline was smooth or not, whether or not the characters were fully developed, whether the piece was well written and helps you critique the plot. If you ever get a chance to talk about the book with other people, you will know how to clearly state your opinions, since you have taken time to truly considered all involved aspects.

7. Reading improves your Concentration and Focus
In our high tech crazy world, our attention gets pulled in millions of different directions all at the same time as we are multi-tasking our way through the day. The average person, in one 5-minute period of time, will divide this time interacting with their co-workers, checking their smartphones, keeping watch on their Twitters accounts, chatting with a few people, checking their email and working on one or more tasks. This kind of behavior can lower our productivity and raise our level of stress.

When you are reading a book, on the other hand, you focus all your attention on the story, while everything else in the world falls to the wayside. You are able to immerse yourself completely in all of the details you are absorbing. One thing you can do is read for 15 to 20 minutes prior to going to work (for example, during your morning commute). You might be surprised how much better your focus is after getting to your office to start your work day.

8. Reading improves your Writing Skills
This ties in with expanding your vocabulary. When you are exposed to well-written published works, your own writing will noticeably improve. Observing the writing styles, fluidity and cadence of other writer’s styles will inevitably influence your own writing. Just like painters make use of techniques that previous masters have established and musicians influence each other, writer also learn to write by reading other writers.

9. Reading provides you with Tranquility and Inner Peace
Reading a great book not only helps to relax you, it also can provide you with a great sense of tranquility and inner peace, depending on the topic you are reading about. Reading a spiritual text can bring you a great sense of calmness and help to lower your blood pressure. Reading a self-help book can be very helpful for individual suffering from mild mental illnesses and certain kinds of mood disorders.

10. Reading provides you with Free Entertainment
Although many people like to purchase their own books so they take can take notes in them to refer to later, they can be expensive. If you are looking for entertainment on a low budget, you can always go to the local library and check out many wonderful books for free. There are books available in libraries on just about any topic you can think of. They also get new books on a continuous basis and keep rotating their stock, so you won’t ever run out of something new to read.

If there isn’t a library nearby or you have problems with transportation, most libraries also have books available in ePub and PDF formt for reading on your computer, iPad or e-reader. There are many places online that let you download e-books for free as well.

There is something to read for everyone, so whether you prefer romance novels, self-help books, young adult novels, religious texts, biographies, fashion magazines, poetry or classical literature, there is something for capturing your imagination and curiosity. So turn off your computer for a while and refresh your soul with a good book.