Naps — the key to a good day
Why aren’t you taking one?
As a baby and toddler, we would be put down to sleep or nap by our parents. To rest our weary head and to give them a break no doubt. We had started acting out, shouting, screaming, crying or whatever other tired induced emotion we felt like.
Not long after, the naps are being removed from our daily schedules, priming us for what is to come, for the rest of our lives possibly. A 9 til 5 of activity, where you have to be on it all the time. Even lunchtime is just long enough to cook and eat, although at school you never realise that because everything (and I mean everything) is served to you on a plate.
Naps only make a comeback when we haven’t had enough sleep, from partying too hard or working too hard, or perhaps some extra physical activities in our life. Or when we’re older and less active, what else are we going to do whilst in that chair..!
But why do we do this to ourselves when we deserve to rest and recuperate more often?
Napping at work
Have you ever indulged in a nap at work? I mean an honest and open nap where you don’t put on your sunglasses or have your back to your colleagues whilst you close your eyes and try to catch 4 or 5 minutes if lucky. One where you can announce to your boss that you’re off for some downtime, and will be back in 15 to 20 minutes.
If you have, then well done. That’s some epic business culture there. I was blown away when my former manager insisted I have a rest and lay down. One day he saw that I wasn’t my usual self. I was sluggish post lunch and was just slapping keys with no real conviction or aim.
Go downstairs, lay on the sofa and grab 20 minutes. You’ll feel better for it.
So I did. At first it felt weird, thinking who might walk into the room and see me there sprawled across the sofa. But once I set a timer, lay on my back and closed my eyes, I couldn’t care less. I had the boss’s permission after all.
The alarm woke me up, I splashed my face with cold water, and the grogginess vanished after a minute. I suddenly had an abundance of energy left in me. I did feel better, and I could be more productive at the end of the day.
Hotter climates call for it
This wasn’t my first open adult nap either, having lived in warmer places outside the UK I was well versed in an afternoon siesta. However they were to escape the heat, to balance the later bedtimes, and were culturally sound with working times sometimes made to accommodate them.
A good hearty lunch on a 30 odd degree (Celsius) day is sleep inducing. As much as we know a walk afterwards is better for you, the reality is you seek out a cool place to put your feet up. These naps can turn into sleeps too, with breaks meaning you have time for 60 or 90 minute’s worth of shuteye.
However for some reason, the idea is they should only be for these types of conditions, where it really is too hot to do anything productive. Us temperate climate beings don’t need them, surely?
Adult napping
New parents want it, post holidays call for it, a return to school or university demands it, but we don’t put out. Is there sleep or nap shame in a world where we understand the importance of rest, whether it’s light or deep?
Not any longer in my household, and sometimes in offices where I work. If I reach the end of my sleep tether, I am more than happy to sit somewhere comfy, set that alarm, sit back and close my eyes.
My body and my mind are so much fresher afterwards, my work or workout is done without a slog and I still sleep for around 8 hours at night. Perhaps I even sleep better, because I am not completely exhausted.
It may not be a daily occurrence, it depends what is on my schedule that day and how I’m feeling. The key for me is keeping a nap - a nap. In having a set amount of time to close my eyes, slow my breathing, and not allowing a snooze button. I’m sure that amount of time changes per person, but I am a 12–20 minute kind of person.
Have you ever tried to incorporate napping into your adult life? My friend and writer in crime Peculiar Julia has recently started Yoga Nidra and loves it. Read more about how it improved her life here!
(That sounds so salesy, we aren’t selling anything, just encouraging naps)