A recent study found that reading is the best way to relax and that only six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds. The research found it works better and faster than other methods to calm your nerves such as listening to music, going for a walk or settling down with a cup of tea. Psychologists believe this is because the human mind has to concentrate on reading and the distraction of being taken into a literary world eases the tensions in muscles and the heart. Reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 per cent. In the study, subjects only needed to read, silently, for six minutes to slow down the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles, he found. In many cases it reduced the subjects’ to stress levels lower than before they started. The researchers suggest  that it doesn’t matter what you read. When losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book or article, you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and use your imagination, which takes your mind off your stress.