Reading before bed can help you sleep better, tonight!

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Reading is a great workout for your brain

A cartoon brain lifting weights of books GIF

Just like exercise can make your body feel better, reading can do the same for your mind.🧠

Spending time in a book, gives your brain a healthy boost.💢

Plus, looking at a print page is less harsh for your eyes, especially before bed.

Instead of your phone light shining in your eyes— a print book reflects the dim light that’s already in your room—like a bedside lamp.

Here’s a challenge:

Stitch reading himself a book in his bed that is a drawer made by Lilo

Try reading for 10-15 minutes every night before you go to sleep, for a week.

See if this new habit helps you fall asleep faster, and if it does, let us know!

Are you wondering how this could aid insomnia?

Well, reading is a relaxing thing to do, so it can speed up the production of melatonin in your brain.

And more melatonin means sleep is around the corner.💯

Click here for an article that lists many other ways you can increase melatonin production.

In this article you will find out why it’s better to read print books before bed…

How reading affects our body when trying to go to sleep…

And you’ll find videos made by others who have tried reading for insomnia.

 

How can reading before bed help me to fall asleep faster?

Small boy reading in bed

You’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t use any electronic devices before bed.

This is because of the blue light that emits from LED and backlit screens.

Bright light emitting from the sky GIF

There are ways of getting rid of the blue light on your phone, like switching on the night mode setting.

However, it’s best to read a print book before bed— for several reasons…

Holding a physical book, turning each page to uncover the next paragraphs and words—makes you value a book more than if it was digital, like an ebook.

Woman reading by a window while it rains outside and her coffee is steaming in a white mug GIF

You’re actually holding something with weight, substance, and worth—you begin to feel that the book means something to you.

If you get into a book that you really like, you’ll start to favor reading it before bed, instead of scrolling through your phone all night.

Reading can make you feel like you’ve give your life purpose and that you’ve done something productive with the last bit of your day.

Man reading a book at the park

 

Doing this before bed can make you feel more satisfied with your day—like you did something right and productive.

There actually seems to be more benefits to reading a physical print book, rather than a digital ebook.

 

Here’s a summary of a Sleep Study: Print books vs. Ebooks

Cartoon ebook versus print book in a boxing ring

“Twelve people were locked in a sleep laboratory for two weeks.

They spent five days reading from a paperback and five days from an iPad.

Regular blood samples showed the production of the sleep hormone melatonin was reduced by reading an e-book.

People also took longer to fall asleep, had less deep sleep and were more tired the next morning.

The researchers said other e-readers such as the Nook and Kindle Fire produced similar wavelengths of light and would have the same impact.

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

…Lead Researcher Professor Charles Czeisler told the BBC News website:

“The light emitted by most e-readers is shining directly into the eyes of the reader…

Whereas from a printed book or the original Kindle, the reader is only exposed to reflected light from the pages of the book.”—SOURCE.

 

Benefits of reading print books…

Big stacks of colorful hard cover books

 

Reading can help you to decompress and slow down, so you can fall asleep easier:

Woman is doing the ohm hand symbols and taking a deep breathe for relaxation

With an Ebook, there might be a pop-up ad, or you might receive a random notification, while attempting to read.

Ebooks are also great tools for finding information fast by skimming, scrolling, and you can even link or share the text that you’re reading.

However, doing this before bed can lead to you feeling distracted and overstimulated.

Your mind is going to be in several different places all at once.

It also takes away from your focus, which is reading the book and comprehending what you read!

When reading a print book, you don’t feel rushed.

Girl in bed reading a bunch of books

You can slow down and read each page of the printed book, as fast or as slow as you want—without distractions (especially at night, when everyone is usually asleep!).

It’s like taking a walk or stretching your body, you can focus on doing one thing at a time.

You’ll read a page, then read the next page, then turn a page, then repeat.

Reading a print book is kinda like meditation.

You have to physically turn each page, with your hands— and this brings you back into the present moment, where you will feel most relaxed.

No rushing thoughts into here or there, you are sitting in bed, with your print book and nothing else matters.

Man floating on the dead sea while reading a book

Plus, feeling relaxed means more melatonin production, which equals plenty restful hours of sleep.🙏

Even if you don’t read very often— you can grab some easy to read books that you can focus on till you fall asleep.

Any book that won’t get you all stirred up, trying to figure things out— will help you to wind down and fall asleep fast.

Look into any of the The Magic Treehouse Books, by Mary Pope Osborne:

The magic treehouse book cover by Mary Pope Osborne

The Magic Treehouse Book Series, was a favorite of mine, back in middle school.

I think you could consider these books a “feel good type”—where it is fully fictional so you won’t get caught up relating it to your own life.

You can purchase this book by clicking here.

The reader down below, recommends children’s books, like the one I mentioned above, because they are more light-hearted and simple to digest before going to bed. 

She gave some great tips on how to choose bedtime books for yourself in the video down below⬇️:

This reader talks about how she read before bed as a challenge for a week.

It seems like the plus side to reading before bed, is that you end up reading more than you usually would if you hadn’t taken the time out to read before bed. 

More reading, means that you begin to think more analytically and you have deeper thoughts on life.

This practice is all around very beneficial for your mental health, sleep health, and overall well being.

Another good book before bed, could be a poetry book like this one…


A poetry book about self reflection called Inward

This book has a lot to do with self reflection and deep thoughts and it might actually help to read this before bed, because don’t we usually self reflect before we doze off?

Funny young kid deep thinking about life while sitting on a couch

Reading this book of deep, resonating poems could satisfy that urge to think philosophically before bed.

And you could wake up the next day with new insights because of this book.

Many people have said that they reread this book over and over again, because it is timeless.

Any book that you can read over and over again, is the perfect bedtime book for you!

But it also doesn’t matter what you choose to read, as long as it keeps your attention and you like reading it.

Purchase the poetry book here for only $7!

 

Click here for a list of the best books you should read before bed.

Here’s another list of great books you can read before bed.

 

 

 


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