2023 New Year’s Resolutions: The rise of reading as a practice of self-care

With the New Year beginning, goals and mindful resolutions are made to betters and our focus. This comes as 30 million British adults say they are partaking in a new start, recorded by Finder. Following a turbulent year in 2022, over one in five (21%) Brits have chosen to put themselves first and work on personal development to kick off this year. There are many forms of self-care that one can practice – from improving sleep hygiene to engaging in mindfulness and meditation rituals. Rutger Bruining, CEO/founder of StoryTerrace, the UK’s leading biography-writing service, highlights the importance reading has on one’s mental health.

Fortunately, self-care does not always have to come at a great cost, practices such as reading are also avenues of individual wellbeing. Whether it be for educational purposes or simply a peaceful pastime, reading is a way to wind down after the busy festive period. Furthermore, research found that not only does it benefit your brain health, but it lowers levels of stress and improves mental wellbeing. In fact, just thirty minutes of reading can lower one’s blood pressure and heart rate. Alongside this, reading offers more than just a story, it can alleviate low moods and stress. Sometimes, a momentary break from overwhelming realities is needed, reading reduces stress by 68% and fiction can provide this break that lets imagination take focus for the time being.

People may look for answers through the power of written word from a professional or even someone with a similar experience. StoryTerrace provides a service for people to put their own stories into words, which can be circulated as a form of self-care. In their landmark study they found that 51% say that reading stories that they can relate to has a positive impact on their mental health. StoryTerrace has widened the possibilities for self-care that allows every reader to create their own forms of literacy.

Rutger Bruining, founder and CEO of StoryTerrace, comments on how reading is a great form of self-care:

“Starting the new year by adding a simple and habitual pastime to your routine adds a sense of calm to what may have been a busy festive period. I find the power of reading to be inspiring, people of all ages can pick up a book and de-stress, or even, learn something new. In regard to self-care, we may think of books as an outlet of creativity and imagination, but they can help us feel at ease. At StoryTerrace, we see great amounts of people that choose to share their most intimate struggles, often purely with the goal in mind of providing hope for others going through a similar situation.

“Over the last few years, we have seen a significant uptick in the number of people reading, perpetuated by the pandemic, and I firmly believe that if this trend continues into 2023, people will begin to see drastic improvements in their day-to-day lives.”