Is Napping Good For You

Is Napping Good for You? Only If You Do It the Right Way
Is taking a nap a good idea? Have you ever thought about taking a nap? Hi, I’m Dr. Lawrence Woods, and today I’m going to discuss napping. Humans and most mammals are what are called polyphasic sleepers. This means we sleep in completed two or more periods within a 24-hour cycle.
For example, dogs, cats, and other mammals, either domesticated or wild, take short naps throughout the day. However, our modern lifestyles are based on a monophasic sleep schedule. This means we go to sleep once rather than multiple times during the day. And while this may be the most efficient productivity in a technologically-based world, evidence suggests that this sleep schedule might be making us more sleep-deprived. Similar studies also point out that monophasic sleep may not be natural for humans, especially by judging the behavior of other species. Instead, what might be best is a polyphasic sleep schedule, meaning lots of naps.
That being said, the question we must ask is, what does it mean to take a nap well, and what are the benefits of napping? Well, here’s a short guide to understanding and mastering the art of napping. Napping is a natural part of living that has tremendous benefits for both your mind and your body. As well as making you feel more rested physically, napping has been proven to increase your memory function and increase your brain resiliency by life’s challenges by reducing your irritability and your stress levels. And get this counter intuitively, napping can often enhance your ability to sleep better at night, as long as we’re mindful about how and when we sleep. So if you’re fatigued on a daily basis, or if you’re looking for a way to boost your memory and energy, napping could be an effective way for you to improve your quality of life. Whether you’re a person who naps or not, here are some ways how naps can influence both our physical and mental well-being.
One study found that because naps increase our daily sleep time, they increase the positive impacts of regular sleep as well. In this study, the participants were asked to engage in a nap routine, and this included napping for either 45 minutes or two hours every day for a solid month. And regardless of the length of the nap, all participants in the study increased their daily sleep time with their nighttime sleep cycle not even being disrupted. The study also found that these naps also help people sleep better and longer.
Napping increases time spent in slow wave or rapid eye movement, REM sleep, which is thought to play important roles in restoring the body and brain function. While napping is usually a good idea, is it possible to get too much sleep in certain circumstances? As with any new behavior or change in activity, it’s always essential to know reasonable precautions before getting started. For example, those of you out there who might be struggling with, let’s say, insomnia might feel inclined to sleep during a day for long periods to make up for the lack of sleep that you missed at night. However, this sometimes can perpetuate that problem. This is because sleeping for too long during the day disrupts throws off your natural circadian rhythm. And this creates this kind of shift worker schedule where your body wants to be awake at night and sleep during the day. The time of day you nap matters. This is because napping too late in the day might make it difficult to fall asleep.
So if you’re considering napping to your daily routine, you probably wonder what’s the best time to nap. And so as a general rule, it’s best not to nap after 5 p.m. Additionally, for those of you out there who are sensitive to sleep disruptions, you might want to avoid naps after 4 p.m. to ensure to get a decent night’s sleep. Typically, it’s suggested taking a nap anywhere between 2 and 3 p.m., which is best. And this is attributed to most people eat lunch around noon. So when you eat lunch, your blood sugar goes up, your energy levels start dipping. Additionally, the body’s clock is often programmed to make you feel a little sleepy in the middle of the afternoon.
So how long is the ideal nap? The precise amount of time you need depends on a whole variety of factors. These include your age, your physical activity level, and your overall health. But that in mind, here are some different types of naps and their benefits. Napping should be approached mindfully. For example, you may decide you want to nap more often, especially if you’re feeling uncharacteristically tired during the day, or you just want to up your game by adding it to your routine. So how long is the ideal nap? The precise amount of time you need for rest depends on a whole variety of factors. These include your age, your physical activity levels, and your overall health. But that in mind, here are some different types of naps and their benefits. Napping should be approached mindfully. For example, you may decide you want to nap more often if you’re feeling uncharacteristically tired during the day, or you may just want to up your game by adding it to your routine. Short naps or power naps are typically between 10 and 30 minutes. And the benefit of short naps is they offer you a quick burst of energy without taking too much time out of your day.
Additionally, during these power naps, you don’t want to go into a deep sleep. This prevents that unwanted sleep grogginess you get when you go too deep. And so while a 10 to 30 minute nap won’t give you a deep rest, it will certainly make you more energized and resilient for the rest of the day. If you’re looking for a more serious nap, an hour and a half nap is probably your best choice. While a longer nap increases your chances of waking up tired, it allows you to go through more of the deeper stages of the sleep cycle. This means you can receive more of the benefits of sleep. So the entire sleep cycle takes anywhere between 90 and 110 minutes. Additionally, longer naps result in the release of compounds in the brain that makes a person more tired. This improves sleep later at night, in contrast to the belief that napping disrupts your nighttime sleep.
If you’re not sure about napping, you might want to start with a trial short afternoon meditation. This will give you a similar effect to having a nap and gives your body and mind a rest. Surprisingly, meditation can produce brain waves that are very similar to the ones achieved during taking a short nap. A general tip is to take a look at your diet. As we’ve all heard, avoiding caffeine late in the day is always a good idea to ensure both naps and full-time sleep without any disruption. A third tip is if you’re taking any sleep medication or natural sleep aid like melatonin or kava kava, you can think about talking to your doctor and stopping the medication before adding naps to your routine. After all, the restful and healing nature of naps may negate the need for sleep medicine entirely, but only you and your doctor will know if it works for you. The last tip and probably the most important one is to make sure you get the right mattress and the right pillow and improve your sleep environment. If any of these core elements of your proper sleep is missing, you won’t be getting the necessary sleep at night and your naps will be much less efficient. Additionally, getting the right pillow and mattress improves your energy levels, supports proper rest, and just gives you a much healthier life. If you don’t get your sleep right, your whole day is off.