Many of our highest achievers benefits from taking a brief time-out from the stressed day and taking a power nap. Our parents and babysitters may have been onto something when they encouraged us to nap — even in adulthood, brief, regular napping seems to be good for you in a variety of different ways, according to recent studies.
While our fast-paced society may discourage breaks and taking time to slow down, research shows the opposite to be true: Any time you can rest and recharge your battery is beneficial for both your body and mind. Having a 30-minute snooze can help relieve stress and bolster the immune systems by restoring hormones and proteins to normal levels.
Some research shows that napping can help reduce the stress. Taken nap during the day, each lasting about 30 minutes, and the ability to repair some of the damage caused by a poor night’s sleep of just two hours. Biological indicators of the adults, who napped, such as stress hormones, were measured and then compared to a control group.
Researchers found that one of the three stress hormones measured, called noradrenaline, was increased the day after the men were sleep-deprived, but not if they were allowed to take naps.
Naps can be typed in three different ways:
- Planned napping (also called preparatory napping) involves taking a nap before you actually get sleepy. You may use this technique when you know that you will be up later than your normal bed time or as a mechanism to ward off getting tired earlier.
- Emergency napping occurs when you are suddenly very tired and cannot continue with the activity you were originally engaged in. This type of nap can be used to combat drowsy driving or fatigue while using heavy and dangerous machinery.
- Habitual napping is practiced when a person takes a nap at the same time each day. Young children may fall asleep at about the same time each afternoon or an adult might take a short nap after lunch each day.
