The Power Nap
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by: david field
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It is seen as a good thing when children take an afternoon nap in their beds, due to the many benefits we know it has on them, but if an adult were to take an afternoon nap it would generally be frowned upon. People who have been awake for around 8 hours and have had a poor night sleep (or even those that haven’t) will generally have a feeling of increased drowsiness. There is a large quantity of research that suggests that an afternoon powernap can increase cognitive functioning, and most importantly it can lower stress levels that can course all kinds of problems; from heart attacks to hair loss. In the successive part you will read about the benefits of sleep and also how a power nap can improve your life.
The amount of sleep you need
As a general you should be getting between 7 – 8 hours sleep; there are studies that show that if you have 6 hours of sleep or less a night it triples your chances of an accident, which in my eyes is not a good thing! On the other end of the scale too much sleep can also have its side effects, studies show that having 9 or more hours sleep a night can reduce your life span; it was compared to people sleeping just eight hours per night.
Lack of sleep & its effects
There are many affects that occur after you have missed a night sleep, these symptoms become worse of you continue to lose sleep:
- Reaction time
- Judgement
- Vision
- Information processing
- Short-term memory
- Performance
- Motivation
- Vigilance
- Patience
- Power Nap Benefits
The studies show that just 20 minutes sleep in the afternoon, have a great deal of benefits, it amounts to more than 20 minutes more energy during the day and is more beneficial that an extra 2 hours in bed in the morning.
How long should the power nap be?
There are different sleep stages that you fall in to when you go to bed; these stages include light sleep, deep and rapid-eye movement sleep. Many experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken.
As for expert advice, they say you should keep your power nap to 15 or 20 minutes, the main reason behind this is because if you sleep longer you will more likely fall into a deeper sleep and thus find it harder to wake up. Also if you do sleep for longer you will find it a lot harder when it comes to sleeping at night.
Final tips
There is much more information that can be included in this article but I will finish with a few final tips:
- Avoid caffeine after 3pm. As you are well aware caffeine keeps you awake so keep of it if you want a good night sleep.
- If you are worried you will not wake up after your nap, set an alarm.
- If all else fails try meditation, it’s similar to a nap and gives your body and brain a chance to repair its self.
About the Author
A good mattress can often be the foundation to a good power nap. If you are in need of a new bed, try the beds specialists at Bedstar who have many years experience helping people get good rest.
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