A power nap or a nap of power?

I have always been a fan of a small mid day snooze. My Grandma told me that even as a little girl I would take myself off at noon declaring that I was off to bed. Nowadays when given the opportunity, I will always partake in a little ‘shut eye’ to see me through the day. It makes me feel refreshed and more productive, yet it is something that I have always been embarrassed about. I fear that craving rest during the day equates to my being lazy or somewhat pathetic.

Yet more than 85% of mammalian species are polyphasic sleepers (sleep more than once in a 24 hour period) with many countries and cultures also abiding by this way of life. The Spanish are well known for their day time siesta shut down. Whilst I worked in Spain during a summer pre-university, I totally embraced a day split in to 2. Overall, I found that I actually slept less than I would if I had stuck to our typical ‘monphasic’ bed at 10pm, wake for 6am. However, I was much more energetic.

So, I do often wonder why there is such a stigma in this modern day to requesting a small ‘time out’ when needed. Especially when evidence suggests that this may be the healthier approach to managing our day. Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, Albert Einstein and Ronald Reagan are all gentleman known to have appreciated the benefits of afternoon cat napping. Yet, although there is a shift to acceptance (some offices are now developing sleep pods for staff requiring 10 minutes of shut eye) it is overall still associated with low ambition, laziness and ill health.

I wholeheartedly feel that our brains are trying to manage our bodies (well – they are) but that frontal lobe that manages decision making can sometimes go array. We stipulate how and when we should work and how our days should be structured. Only, we often forget, in our strife for productivity and efficiency, that well…we are only human beings.

If you feel like you need to sleep…then it is probably because you need to sleep.

#life #sleep #nap #polyphasicsleep #wellness #humans #health
Here is a photograph of me seeking a bench to nap on whilst doing my uni work recently! I got some strange looks..