Last updated: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 | 13 Views
“Set aside half an hour every day to do all your worrying; then take a nap during this period.”
- Anonymous
Thomas Edison, Napoleon Bonaparte, Salvador Dali, Winston Churchill, and Presidents Kennedy and Reagan had something in common? In fact, each of them enjoyed a regular nap.
While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture generally frowns upon mid-day sleep; however, many people feel a mid-afternoon slump in mood and alertness, especially after a poor night of sleep. Many believe that this slump is caused by eating a heavy lunch. However, in reality, this occurs because we were meant to have a mid-afternoon nap.
Several lines of evidence, including the universal tendency of toddlers and the elderly to nap in the afternoon and the afternoon nap of siesta cultures, have led sleep researchers to the same conclusion: nature intended that we take a nap in the middle of the day. This biological readiness to fall asleep in the mid-afternoon coincides with a slight drop in body temperature and occurs regardless of whether we eat lunch. It is present even in good sleepers who are well rested.
Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of sleep and how a power nap can help you:
1. Increased alertness and productivity.
Although many people believe that midafternoon drowsiness is caused by eating a heavy lunch, the new research shows that is not the case. The midafternoon dip in alertness and intellectual ability occurs whether or not people eat lunch, said Roger Broughton, a professor of neurology at the University of Ottawa. He said it depends purely on the time of day rather than on eating.
“It seems nature definitely intended that adults should nap in the middle of the day, perhaps to get out of the midday sun,” said William Dement, director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Center at Stanford University.
Also David Dinges, a sleep researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, found that “If you didn’t get enough sleep the night before, an afternoon nap will improve your alertness and give you a feeling of more energy, so you can take on more tasks”. Among the mental abilities sharpened by naps are the capacity to pay sustained attention to a task and to make complicated decisions.
2. Less stress.
Curling up in a sunny patch on the floor or even lying your head down on your desk for a quick snooze brings relaxation.
So find a quiet, comfortable spot and take a nap. Even a short power nap can leave you feeling refreshed, renewed, and more focused. Studies have shown that people who spent 30 minutes each day napping had one third less heart disease than those who didn’t nap.
3. Improved memory and learning.
Naps aren’t just for the very young, old, and slothful. Daytime dozing may enhance a person’s capacity to learn certain tasks. That, at least, is the eye-opening implication of a new study in which college students were challenged to detect subtle changes in an image during four different test sessions on the same day.
Participants improved on the task throughout the first session, says psychologist Sara C. Mednick of Harvard University and her colleagues. The students’ speed and accuracy then leveled off during the second session. The scores of the participants who didn’t nap declined throughout the final two sessions. In contrast, volunteers who took a 30-minute nap after completing the second practice session showed no ensuing performance dips. What’s more, 1-hour nappers responded progressively faster and more accurately in the third and fourth sessions.
“Napping may protect brain circuits from overuse until those neurons can consolidate what’s been learned about a procedure,” says neuroscientist Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School, a coauthor of the new study.
4. Increased coginitive functioning.
In a recent study, researchers at NASA showed that a thirty to forty-minute power nap increased cognitive faculties by approximately 40%! Tests carried out on one thousand volunteers proved that those who continued working without rest, made lower scores in intelligence tests like the IQ test.
Also Dr. Sara Mednick (scientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies) has found through MRIs of nappers that brain activity stays high throughout the day with a nap; without one, it declines as the day wears on.
5. Better health.
Napping in general benefits heart functioning, hormonal maintenance, and cell repair, says Dr. Sara Mednick who is at the forefront of napping research. A power nap, says Mednick, simply maximizes these benefits by getting the sleeper into and out of rejuvenative sleep as fast as possible.
Everyone, no matter how high-strung, has the capacity to nap. But the conditions need to be right. Dr. Sara Mednick, who will publish a book on napping in the spring has some helpful hints:
1. The first consideration is psychological: Recognize that you’re not being lazy; napping will make you more productive and more alert after you wake up.
2. Try to nap in the morning or just after lunch; human circadian rhythms make late afternoons a more likely time to fall into deep (slow-wave) sleep, which will leave you groggy.
3. Avoid consuming large quantities of caffeine as well as foods that are heavy in fat and sugar, which meddle with a person’s ability to fall asleep.
4. Instead, in the hour or two before your nap time, eat foods high in calcium and protein, which promote sleep.
5. Find a clean, quiet place where passersby and phones won’t disturb you.
6. Try to darken your nap zone, or wear an eyeshade. Darkness stimulates melatonin, the sleep- inducing hormone.
7. Remember that body temperature drops when you fall asleep. Raise the room temperature or use a blanket.
8. Once you are relaxed and in position to fall asleep, set your alarm for the desired duration.
One thing to remember, the “power-nap” only works if the sleep is of the right quality, say the experts from Harvard University, US. And experts say that a full night’s sleep is still necessary for many vital body functions, even though a short sleep may boost learning and memory. So, if you can, try having a good 7-9 hour sleep every night, and remeber that by improving your sleep you will have a dramatic impact on your body composition, performance and health.
Sleep Well!
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[...] Skimping out on sleep not only reduces your rate of recovery, it also increases stress levels in your body (due to an increased release of cortisol), making your muscles tight and tense. Aim for at least seven hours of sleep every night, and if your schedule allows it, take a 20-minute power nap in the afternoon. Remember rest and relaxation go hand in hand. [...]
[...] 5 reasons to take naps. Print this out and give it to … zzzzzzzzzzzz. [...]
[...] 1. Untamed Heart Four hours’ sleep a night for a month decreases thyrotropin secretion (a hormone that regulates the thyroid gland) increasing levels of cortisol, which breaks down carbs, protein and fat to mobilise stored energy reserves. But it acts like a joyriding yob in the process, crashing into anything that gets in its way, causing stress, high blood pressure and heartache. Whack an ASBO on this troublemaker with a nap. [...]
Why take naps?…
I have not taken a nap in at least a couple of years now but many people will swear by the value of taking a nap on a daily basis. After looking atthe following I am thinking that taking a nap may be in everyones best interest. There is a great post th…
[...] Midday nap Hello, I stumbled across this: 5 Reasons To Take Naps at Ririan Project Does anyone of you practice this midday 30-40 minute nap? I have very often this problem with sleepiness after midday, but when I have the chance to take little nap, I usually just sleep 2 hours straight (it’s probably this slow-sleep) and when I try to wake up after 30 minutes I feel even more sleepy. Second problem is that when I do sleep during day it really messes up my sleep rhythm, which is usually 8 hours per day, from 10pm - 6am, at nights I just don’t fall sleep. Actually from new year I’m thinking of trying out polyphasic sleep, because then I start working from home and I don’t have to do regular office hours, I sleep and work whenever I want to. Anyone has experience or suggestions with this? [...]
Um, yeah of course it is better to take a nap during the afternoon. The only people who would be against this are commies!
Lets not forget that while Thomas Edison, for one, took naps, he only slept for four hours or so during the night.
…and this damn EU wants to force Spain in to banning siesta!
Long live siesta!
Bela Black!
I resent the implication. We love our naps as well. That’s the reason we lost the cold war to filthy workaholic capitalists - we were all napping - when you were working!
[...] I am, as always, a firm believer in the power of a nap. With that being said, here are theTop Five Reasons to Take a Nap. [...]
[...] update: another link to a similar article Comments » [...]
A lot of people do something called polyphaisc sleep. This way, you never have a “full nights sleep, you just sleep 45 minutes every four hours. Apparently, its the way to genius!
it is one of the best things about living in the Yucatan… naps are an accepted tradition. and on hammocks, no less!
I agree that naps are good, I sometimes take quick naps in the office while it may seem that I’m thinking. Unfortunately not always possible.
[...] 5 Reasons To Take Naps at Ririan Project (tags: health interesting lifehacks life reference) [...]
[...] Source by: http://ririanproject.com/2006/09/12/5-reasons-to-take-naps/ [...]
4. Increased Coginitive Functioning
4.5 Increased ability to spell Cognitive correctly
[...] 5 Reasons To Take Naps at Ririan Project (tags: sleep naps health science) [...]
[...] 那篇文章还引用了一个无名氏的话，很有趣－“每天花半小时专门来担心焦虑，然后用这个时间小睡一觉”。简直就是通向幸福的捷径啊。 “小睡的五个理由”－来自Ririan Project [...]
[...] [link][more] [...]
[...] There is a great post that I ran across about naps and thought I would share it with you. [...]
[...] There’s a great post that I ran across about naps and thought I would share it with you. [...]
[...] 5 Reasons To Take Naps - [RirianProject] [...]
[...] 5 Reasons To Take Naps - [RirianProject] [...]
I am all for taking naps
[...] Can’t keep my eyes open, all the words all the html elements looks so blurry, few seconds passed and I realized I was facing down on my table. I guess its just natural to feel drowsy when noon draws near. I remembered a few weeks ago, 5 Reasons to Take Naps. Its already noon, after brief discussion about the functionality of a website I’m building here at work, I’m gonna take a POWER nap for about 30 minutes. Oh yeah, my cellphone alarm is set so hopefully it wont drag too long. [...]
Thanks for sharing
[...] On the other hand, the practicalities of the strict nap schedule would prove less of an obstacle to me than most I’d say. I work widely varying shifts and often nap for up to 30 minutes on my break when I feel the need. However the main stumbling blocks would seem to be my fondness of caffeine and beer. I drink anything between 5 and 15 mugs of tea or coffee every day and, while I rarely perceive an effect on my alertness or ability to sleep, I would expect this to be much more apparent if I attempted polyphasic sleep. As for the beer, I wouldn’t describe myself as a lush, but I do enjoy going out for the night with my friends and I can’t see how I could find a place or an excuse to nap in the pub. For the time being then, I’ll stick to experimenting with taking naps. Until recently, I dismissed naps as a fad that might work for some people, but it certainly wouldn’t work for me. Whenever I tried taking a nap (at home in the afternoon) I invariably ended up sleeping for 3 or 4 hours and waking up feeling groggy, wondering why I bothered wasting my time. However, I eventually found that Steve Pavlina is right — it’s crucial that you sleep for no more than 30 minutes in order to reap the benefits of a nap without getting to the stage where you feel groggy or tired. [...]
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well.
I completely agree that naps are a true benefit to us all when taken properly, and that naps for preschool children although a rather contraversial issue are absolutely necessary. As a Mom of three young children, all preschool age, common sense has taught me that naps for both my children, and for myself are a benefit not only to our moods, but our level of health as well.
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