The “NAP” is a small café in Denver, Colorado, where people take a break from their busy lives and enjoy coffee or pie. The owner, a woman named Mary, has a simple and powerful philosophy: everyone needs a nap.
One day, a young woman named Sarah walked into the NAP feeling lost and overwhelmed because she had lost her job. Mary greeted her with a warm smile and recommended a nap.
Sarah was confused, but napped on the comfy couch in the corner of the café. When she woke up, she had a weight lifted off her shoulders. Mary was right: everyone requires a little break to recharge their batteries.
✅ Experts say napping is beneficial and exceeds all expectations.
1 – Irresistible. Sometimes, napping is a sign of laziness. But the nap was consecrated in some of the greatest minds, such as Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. When lethargy overtakes you in the afternoon, “a brief nap is irresistible for closing the eyes and regaining energy,” Einstein said. The National Sleep Foundation refers to a NASA study on army pilots and astronauts, which found that a 40-minute nap can increase efficiency by 34%.
2 – Improves ability to remember. In addition to recovering energy through the nap, there is a more excellent facility to keep information. The nap strengthens the neural connections that form our memories, maintaining the memory and preserving it in long-term storage brain areas.
3 – Cardiac health. A study demonstrates that two or three weekly naps reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. Subjects who took naps reduced these risks by almost half compared to people who did not.
4 – Stress. Sleepiness is related to high blood pressure and a higher cortisol level, the stress hormone. Thus, napping reduces the pressure caused by stress, which is good for your body.
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5 – Blood pressure. New research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting indicates a nap can reduce blood pressure, comparable to antihypertensive medication.
6 – Helps prevent obesity. The nap decreases ghrelin and increases leptin, two digestive hormones that regulate hunger and appetite. Thus, the nap prevents cravings for junk food that cause weight gain.
8 – Immune system. According to a study, the leukocyte count (white blood cells that fight infection) increases after a night of limited sleep. But a nap restores the basic level of leukocytes. In fighting disease, napping also benefits skin and tissue regeneration.
9 – Neural connections. Lack of sleep causes eye fatigue or increased hearing sensitivity. The development of various sensory abilities depends on the brain’s ability to produce new neural connections, which sleep strengthens and stabilizes. A nap provides a refreshing break for tired senses.
10 – More creativity. When a computer crashes due to an overload of open files, restarting it puts everything in its place and allows better functioning. With a nap, the brain restarts and clears out excess air. This explains your ability to solve problems and find new solutions when waking up from a nap.
How long should a nap last? The ideal length of a nap varies from 10 minutes to an hour. One study suggests a half-hour nap is perfect for the brain to rest and refresh.
What are the adverse effects of a nap for too long? According to some studies, long naps (more than 60 minutes) increase the risk of death from any cause. Too, a long nap causes sleep inertia, making you feel dizzy and disoriented after waking up. It also affects the quality of nighttime sleep, especially if you already have insomnia.
🌍🌏🌎 Which countries have a “Siesta” tradition? Napping is common in Spain, Latin America, Greece, Italy, Nigeria, the Philippines, Croatia, China, and India. In Spain and Greece, the Siesta is a sacred tradition, and in Italy, it is called “riposo” in the North and “pennichella” or “pisolino” in the South. In some places, the Siesta is more for the elderly or during the summer to avoid high temperatures.
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🟡 NAP BARS. 🔴 NAP.
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