The power of a Power Nap.

I learned yesterday just how powerful a power nap can be. This particular nap lasted all of about 10 minutes but believe me it was a full-on nap, complete with vivid dreams and twitching.

I’ve never been a “napper”. In fact, I don’t tend to nap well at all but after a great swim and a big lunch I was nearly incapable of keeping my eyes open. Pregnancy does that I realize but even before I was pregnant, I had had these moments and always resisted the nap because I don’t tend to wake up very well and am anything but friendly (or conscious) for the first 20-60 minutes after napping.

This time I decided to nap because of an article I found in Andrew’s office that stated that even our ancestors napped thousands of years ago. It doesn’t make much sense to be out hunting and/or scavenging in the mid day sun, so naps were probably the ‘cool’ thing to do. The article also stated that everyone naps differently and we should take the time to figure out if we do best with less than 20 minutes or as much as a 90 minute nap midday.

It was stated that 20 minute naps help to boost our productivity, clarity of mind and focus; while an up to 90 minute nap can help with creativity and ingenuity. In fact, naps have been shown to lower your risk of heart attacks and other chronic stress diseases (these make up over 80% of the diseases Americans suffer from today). And, the 90 minute nap won’t typically interrupt your night time sleep pattern (as long as you get enough exercise in your day).

Pretty cool for a past time I thought was for slackers.

Truth be told, I would have napped a lot longer than the 10 minutes I had but I was incapable of keeping my eyes open and basically face planted onto the adjusting table I have in my office. Our patients often comment that they would love to sleep on these tables; they have no idea just how comfortable they are… blissful. Maybe this is why my 10 minute nap gave me a complete recharge. Maybe it’s simply because I always thought I needed at least 20 minutes to have a nap in and had never tried, but for the first time, I was able to wake up from this nap with only about 2 minutes of grogginess and I felt like the day had started over!

We all need the license to sleep sometimes, pregnancy (I’m learning) offers plenty of leeway; however, next time you’re struggling to stay awake (pregnant or not), I suggest you try out a 10-20minute nap and just see if it isn’t more than you thought it might be.

The best time according to the research is between 12:30pm and 3pm so hey, maybe go for a walk on your lunch, eat, and take a little siesta. Heck, it’s in your genes.