Wellness

IT'S NAPTIME!

Some of the brightest, most powerful, most accomplished people in the world claim naps are key to their success. The smartest person I know takes a nap almost every day. Great artists, like DaVinci, Wagner, and Dali -- and great minds like Edison, Churchill, and JFK -- all took daily nap rituals seriously and guarded their snooze time ferociously.

Nap-taking has gone in and out of fashion, throughout history, and it is now making a comeback, after decades of being overworked and under-slumbered. We are rediscovering the value and the beauty of rest.

Over the past few years, Ariana Huffington has been speaking and writing about the importance of naps after realizing how much they make a difference in both her personal and professional life. She believes that the majority of us are sleep deprived, which has negatively impacted us physically, spiritually, creatively, and financially.

That’s why the Huffington Post's office in New York is equipped with two nap rooms. When they were first installed, people were reluctant to use them. But now, most of the staff is sold on the power of naps. The rooms are always booked.

Photo: Lars Plougmann

Recent studies are telling us why naps make minds more beautiful:

1) They make us happier

We’re in a better mood after we nap. It worked when we were little kids and it holds true. Ted Rubin cites it as one of the best things we can learn from our children: life is better after naptime. Scientific research confirms our experience. Naps clear our minds, sweeping away active thoughts for a while, breathing new life into our consciousness, giving us a fresh perspective and new hope.

2) Naps make you sharper

A NASA study found pilots were more alert after a 40-minute nap, compared to pilots who stayed awake. If that’s too long a break for you, you’ll be happy to know that a National Institute of Health study found even a 10-minute shut-eye helped people to feel more alert.

Photo: Cuộc Sống Muôn Màu

3) Naps help you to learn and remember better

Recent studies suggest that naps help you learn new information and retain your new knowledge better. During sleep, new data stacked up in hippocampus gets transferred to your neocortex, much like transferring from RAM to a hard drive. A longer nap gives you more of a benefit, because you spend more time in deep REM sleep, when more cognitive process is happening.

4) Naps make you more productive

US businesses suffer $63 billion a year in lost productivity due to sleep-deprived workers. The National Institute of Health reports that fMRI scans have shown that brain activity of nappers remains higher all day long compared to people who don't nap. That’s why companies like Nike and Deloitte encourage the power nap, as reported by Bloomberg Businessweek.

5) Naps give you better ideas

The right hemisphere is associated with creativity. Neuroscience researchers from Georgetown University found that the right hemisphere of the brain is very active during naptime, while the left hemisphere rests. That explains why eureka moments often happen upon awakening from a nap.

Longer naps tend to lead to more creative thought. Unlike short naps, they tend to include REM, the deepest state of sleep. Nappers who got their full forty winks could better solve a series of creative word problems, according to a study reported in National Geographic.

Photo: Susan Schwarting

6) Naps help your performance

The New York Times recently reported about how much NBA players love their naps. The press is under advisement to avoid calling players during their mid-afternoon siestas, so as not to spoil their game.

7) Naps improve your decisions

I now blame my mega sleep deprivation for all of my poor choices. Why? Because it is likely to be a factor.

Photo: Courtesy of macphreak

8) Naps chill you out

Naps are an escape valve. The National Sleep Foundation likens a nap to "a mini-vacation." The very nature of napping is relaxing. It turns out, even pretending to nap can reduce your stress -- so merely resting in bed has its merits.

9) Naps make you healthier

Studies are showing that napping is heart-healthy. Some studies indicate that you are less likely to be obese. Others point to reduced incidence of cancer. And there’s less of a chance of suffering other stress related illnesses.

10) Naps make you nicer! :)

Naps wipe out crankiness. And when you’re happier you’re nicer to everyone around you. At least until you get overtired again. It’s true for little kids. It’s a lesson we should learn from them, suggests social marketing guru and nap evangelist, Ted Rubin. “I say it’s time to bring back the nap! It’s free, it’s easy, and it WORKS.”

Photo: Theo Facker

Labor Day weekend is a perfect time to start getting into the habit of napping. Start practicing and perfecting your technique now, so you can be ready for National Napping day, observed, interestingly, on pi Day, March 14th. Here’s how to get started:

1. Learn how long you take to fall asleep

You can use a sleep app, like SleepCycle, to find out how long it takes you to fall asleep. Then add the amount of time you want to be napping. And set your alarm to accommodate both, so you get the time you need, without oversleeping.

2. Choose the right time of day

Our circadian rhythms dip our energy levels every 12 hours. That’s why we sleep most deeply in the middle of the night and find ourselves most dragging and flagging sometime around 3:00 p.m. You probably grab a cup of coffee or tea to perk yourself up, but try a nap instead. It’s better for you, according to Prevention Magazine.

3. Don’t sleep too long

You only need to nap through one sleep cycle. And you don’t want to wake up in the middle a your deep sleep phase. You can do well with just 15 or 20 minutes. You’ll fare worse if you nap for more than 90 minutes.

4. Have some sweet beautiful dreams!

Photo: Cola Cat in the Hat