Reading poetry can reduce stress and help give you words to express the things you're feeling. And reading a poem out loud has been shown to be a surprisingly simple way to activate your relaxation response and bring about a sense of calm. It’s all to do with the way it slows and controls your breathing rate, which in turn stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and can lead to many beneficial effects. Michael Mosley speaks to Dietrich von Bonin from the Swiss Association of Art Therapies, who says as little as 5 minutes of rhythmic poetry read aloud can be even more effective than slow-paced breathing at relaxing your body and mind. Our volunteer Colm dives into the world of Irish poetry and incorporates reading it aloud into his bedtime routine. Series Producer: Nija Dalal-Small Editor: Zoë Heron A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.
Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to tell you about something else you might enjoy.
My name's Alison Hindl and I commission audio drama and fiction for the BBC.
It's a great privilege because I get to unearth stories people love.
You should see the books and scripts covering my floor from new talent and established writers as well as classics.
The BBC has such a rich history of making great audio drama, we're still the largest producer in the world, and the popularity of podcasts means we can share what we do with even more people.
So if you like to lose yourself in a gripping audio drama or book, find your next listen on BBC Sounds.
BBC Sounds Music Radio podcasts shall I.
Compare thee to a summer's day?
We would all like some quick and simple ways to improve our health, but we're inundated with often conflicting advice.
So if you're going to try just one thing to improve your mental and physical well being, what should it be?
Maybe playing a musical instrument to boost your brain power?
Or a spoonful of olive oil to help your heart?
How about doing some volunteering to improve your immune system?
I'm Doctor Michael Moseley, and this is just one thing where each episode we'll explore one thing you can start doing today to improve your health or life in ways you might not expect.
It's a rainy afternoon and I'm about to do something that could boost my mental health and really help me relax.
I'm going to read a poem.
Out, lad.
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate rough winds do shake the darling buds of May and summer's lease hath all too short a date.
I love those lines.