Read a book!

It's 4 AM and I'm still awake. Too much on my mind: Mama, Daddy, staying in God's will (and not mine!), etc, etc, etc!

From ABE Books:

Read a book, in six minutes you can reduce your stress by two thirds.

Reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 per cent, said cognitive neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis.

Subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles, he found. In fact it got subjects to stress levels lower than before they started.

Listening to music reduced the levels by 61 per cent, have a cup of tea of coffee lowered them by 54 per cent and taking a walk by 42 per cent.

Playing video games brought them down by 21 per cent from their highest level but still left the volunteers with heart rates above their starting point.

Dr Lewis, who conducted the test, said: “Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.

I'm about to close the computer up and read...maybe then I'll sleep!

PS - the picture above is "A Young Girl Reading" by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. It's the perfect picture for this because it's this very painting that my mom bought a print of and hung over my bed when I was a young teen. She passed on her love of reading to all her children.
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