Read a poem

Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley

BBC

Health & Fitness, Science

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2024

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before you listen to this BBC podcast I'd like to introduce myself. My name's
0:04.0	Stevie Middleton and I'm a BBC Commissioner for a load of sport
0:07.5	podcasts. I'm lucky to do that at the BBC because I get to work with leading
0:11.1	journalists, experienced pundits and the biggest
0:13.3	sports stars. Together we bring you untold stories and fascinating insights
0:17.4	straight from the player's mouth. But the best thing about doing this at the BBC is
0:22.0	our unique access to the sporting world.
0:25.0	What that means is that we can bring you podcasts that create a real connection to
0:28.9	dedicated sports fans across the UK.
0:31.5	So if you like this podcast, head over to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more.
0:35.2	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts.
0:40.3	Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
0:45.0	We would all like some quick and simple ways to improve our health,
0:49.0	but we're inundated with often conflicting advice.
0:52.0	So, if you're going to try just one thing
0:55.0	to improve your mental and physical well-being,
0:57.0	what should it be?
0:58.0	Maybe playing a musical instrument
1:01.0	to boost your brain power, or a spoonful of olive oil to help your heart.
1:06.0	How about doing some volunteering to improve your immune system?
1:11.0	I'm Dr. Michael Mosley and this is just one thing where each episode will explore
1:16.5	one thing you can start doing today to improve your health or life in ways
	...

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