Have you had an afternoon nap lately?

You know you want to. It’s not a sign of being lazy, in fact, it’s in your body’s chemistry. Why not try it? You may like it and its good for you.

Everybody is busy but without proper sleep, you are operating very inefficiently. It’s like bouncing a basketball that is not properly inflated. How much fun is that? After trying power napping myself, both during trips to Europe and on the couch in my office, I highly recommend them to everybody.

Here are 8 things you should know about power napping:

1. Try to nap at the same time every day, ideally 8 hours after you wake.
2. Avoid napping after 3 pm, it may throw off your body clock and make evening sleep difficult.
3. Find somewhere comfortable to nap.
4. Avoid distractions, turn off your phone, pull the curtains and turn off the lights.
5. Drink a coffee before taking a nap. The caffeine will take some time to get through your system and will help to wake you after your nap.
6. Set an alarm that will gently wake you after 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Don’t nap for more than 30 minutes. Longer naps can leave you feeling groggy and irritable. You don’t want to go into a deep sleep.
8. Get up as soon as the alarm goes off. Wash your face and expose yourself to sunlight.

It’s a view that is supported by science. A study by Nasa shows that pilots who took 24-minute naps had greatly increased mental alertness on long haul flights across the Atlantic. Scientists believe that It may be due to your body’s chemistry.

During the day, your body creates adenosine, which can make you feel sleepy. In the first 20 minutes of sleep, most adenosine breaks down just as your adrenal glands start brewing up cortisol which will make you feel more alert on waking. That’s why naps feel so wonderful – they deplete the sleepy chemicals and serve up alert ones.

It is like “Spring Cleaning” for the Brain

During our waking hours, we encounter a huge array of sensory information. We are constantly hearing, seeing, smelling, feeling and tasting. We also have thoughts and feelings about a wide range of sensory experiences. Our brain is always working and we are constantly talking to ourselves.

If we don’t filter out some of this information, our brains become overloaded. We must have a way to sort through the information we receive during the day, storing and consolidating what is important and letting the rest go. This is what Lewis calls the process of “spring cleaning” and it usually happens during sleep. This allows us to recall the salient aspects of our mornings, after a power nap, or our whole day, after a longer evening sleep day, without being overwhelmed by all the less important details.

Start every day with a good night’s sleep…

Sincerely,
FOAMITE INDUSTRIES INC.

R.C. (Bob) Dimas

Be the best that you can be by doing whatever is necessary to improve the quality of your comfort time!