Many people have turned to reading a book as a way to become sleepy and wind down the day. But, we often wonder why does reading make you sleepy? Let’s examine this question in more depth.
It’s important to note that not everyone gets tired and sleepy when they’re reading or listening to a radio. However, many of us do become sleepy when we’re reading. According to experts, some people are simply more sensitive to this phenomenon than others. When a person reads, their eyes have regular movement following words from one side of a page to the other. This is repetitive as it requires that the brain to move the eye back and forth converting the images to words that will help the person to understand what they’re reading.
As the brain focuses on these images that are words, it must work very diligently to understand and convert the images to the actual words. In turn, it must also interpret what these words mean. As the brain works hard, the eyes begin to become weary and naturally close to relax. As this occurs, the person becomes sleepy and often drifts off to dreamland while still holding the book in their hands.
It’s important to understand that reading, in and of itself, isn’t bad for your eyes. However, the eyes can only be held open for a specific amount of time in 24 hours after which they must close and relax and rest. Some people wear glasses when they’re reading to help them read more clearly. The glasses will make it easier to read the words often enhancing the size of the print which can allow the eyes to have less strain.
Another contributing factor is that when people listen to radio or read, they often find a comfortable location to relax. Here’s a great youtube example of radio music that will make you sleepy!
Maybe a favorite comfortable chair, maybe in bed propped up on a comfortable pillow. Some will even wrap up in a fuzzy blanket or a comfortable quilt. This makes them a bit warmer, and the muscles in the body begin to relax which goes along with the reading tiring the eyes. If you don’t have a comfy pillow or mattress we suggest on getting one! Some coupon codes are designed to help you save on your favorite items!
To further enhance this equation, it’s quite common to go through the day and get everything done that is on the agenda. This can be tiring as well. Curling up with a good book after a day full of activities can further enhance the body and mind tiring. Eventually, the body is lulled off to dreamland, and the person naturally thinks it’s all because they were reading.
One bonus is that even if the day wasn’t full of activities, the mind could trick it into thinking it had a full day and that the reading is relaxing, especially if it’s a great book that the person feels as if they have literally “crawled into.” Becoming part of the book in this fashion can be very conducive to lulling a person off to sleep.
Should the book be boring, the person may naturally allow their mind to wander and eventually doze off as well. Then, there’s the “critical detector” you know the one, that study book that needs to be read before tomorrow’s test, the important book for the book group, etc. The more important it is to finish that book the more likely a person is to fall asleep.
The trick is if you’re tired and need to sleep and can’t, try some reading before bed. If you need to finish a book before tomorrow, make sure that you read it earlier in the day so that you’re not tempted to give in to that desire to fall asleep while reading.
