The Magic of a Power Nap
Do you know the health benefits of power nap? Did you know a power nap can reduce stress? Some may consider an afternoon nap as lazy and unproductive. The truth is taking a power nap can have more health benefits than you may think.
Are you stressed, feel run down or just flat out tired? Life gets busy and we tend to allow it to happen. We make lists of tasks to do, but the lists never end. We go to work, school, or are homemakers and we get inundated with responsibilities. Meetings, deadlines, picking up kids from activities, homework, and the list goes on, all of which causes us stress and tiredness. A great solution to take the edge off and feel rejuvenated is with a power nap.
What is a Considered Power Nap?
A power nap is resting for a brief time that can last between 5 to 30 minutes. According to some experts, they agree, “keep it short,” with longer naps you run the risk of developing “sleep inertia.” Sleep inertia is the reason why many avoid afternoon naps altogether, it leaves you with that unpleasant groggy feeling that takes a considerable amount of time to recover from. As for, the power nap, it doesn’t give you enough time to cycle completely through all your stages of sleep. Within approximately the first five to seven minutes of sleep, your brain produces what are called alpha and theta waves and your eye movements slow down. Over the next roughly 20-25 minutes the brain is still in a stage of light sleep and it produces sudden increases in brain wave frequency known as sleep spindles. It’s within these two stages is where you want to have your power naps before the brain falls into a deeper stage of sleep.
Proven Benefits of Power Napping
We might look towards power naps to alleviate our so-called sleep deprivation, but the beauty of a power nap is so much more than that.
- Improvement of creative problem solving
- Improves verbal memory
- Improves perceptual learning
- Improves object learning
- Improves statistical learning
- Boosts the brain when doing math, logical reasoning, our reaction times, and symbol recognition.
- Improve our mood
- Reduces feelings of sleepiness and fatigue
- Lowers blood pressure
- Reduces stress levels
Therefore, by taking a power nap you will not only feel more alert and energized, you could also have the ability to perform mental tasks more efficiently. Making power naps one of the easiest ways to reduce stress.
Reference Links:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/health-benefits-napping-resting-can-help-reduce-stress-and-protect-immune-system-321580 http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-science-behind-power-naps-and-why-theyre-so-damne-1401366016
