Introduction
The health benefits of napping may be more than you realize. While naps are often seen as something you do when you’re tired and can’t sleep. They actually offer a number of health benefits that make them worth considering if you have the time. In fact, many people say that taking a nap can improve their mood or sense of well-being. In addition to helping them avoid fatigue when they’re feeling sleepy during the day. Here’s a look at how naps can help boost your mental and physical health:
Better memory
Have you ever wondered why naps are so effective at helping people memorize information? Well, it’s because sleep is integral to memory. Most of our memories are stored in the hippocampus, a region at the base of the brain that becomes less active during wakefulness and more active when we sleep.
There are two stages of sleep: REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM (NREM). NREM is further divided into three stages: stage 1, stage 2, and slow-wave sleep (SWS). The first half of your night is dominated by SWS. While SWS occurs most frequently during the second half of your night. During this time there are brief periods of REM mixed in with NREM. These periods occur about every 90 minutes or so for a total duration of about 30 minutes per cycle. If you’re getting good quality rest.
Daytime Napping reduces stress
When you’re feeling stressed, it can be hard to get to sleep at night. The fact is that if you want to sleep well and feel refreshed in the morning, you need to be able to relax enough during the day. And naps are one way to do just that. If a nap helps reduce stress for you, then it’s likely that your nighttime rest will improve as well.
Improved creativity
You might be surprised to learn that naps can improve creativity. The link between sleep and creativity has been studied by researchers for decades. Some of the most interesting studies were conducted in the 1990s by Robert Stickgold and others at Harvard Medical School. While these researchers found some benefits of napping on creativity. They also identified a number of variables that influence whether or not your nap will help boost your creative output.
The effects of daytime napping on creativity are tied closely to your circadian rhythm. Which is basically how long it takes for your internal clock to reset each day. If you’re taking an afternoon snooze within two hours after waking up from being asleep during the night (including power naps). Then it’s likely that this practice won’t have much effect on improving your creative thinking skills. But if you fall into one of the following categories:
- You regularly take relatively short naps during daytime hours
- You usually get at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep per night
- Your body temperature rises when you wake up from deep sleep
Increased alertness
As you sleep, your body releases hormones in your brain that sharpen your focus and improve problem-solving skills. A short nap of 30 minutes or less will give you a boost of energy and alertness. Which can last for several hours after waking up.
While the exact reason why this happens isn’t understood fully yet. It’s believed that sleep helps clear out toxins from the brain. The idea is that when you wake up after a nap, some of these toxins are cleared out which helps make us more alert.
Napping Decreased fatigue
Naps can help you stay alert and awake for longer periods of time. They can also help you feel less tired, more refreshed, and more focused after a nap. This is because napping helps to reduce the effects of sleep deprivation by resetting your physical body clock (circadian rhythm) as well as enhancing certain aspects of your memory processing ability.
Napping can improve your mood
A good nap can help you recover from a stressful situation. Such as an argument with your significant other, or simply a bad day at the office. In fact, napping has been shown to change the way people feel about themselves and their lives in general. Studies have shown that even short naps can improve one’s mood and make one more positive in their outlook on life. That improved mood will last for up to 24 hours after a nap!
Naps can temporarily decrease your blood pressure
While napping, your blood pressure will decrease. It’s temporary, but it can help if you have high blood pressure.
Additionally, the benefits of naps are not limited to lowering your blood pressure. You may notice that after a good nap:
- Your memory is sharper.
- You feel more awake and less tired than before the nap.
- Your productivity increases (the extra hour or two in the day can translate into more work done).
Daytime napping can make you less likely to burn out in the afternoon
When you are tired, your brain gets less oxygen and nutrients, which means that it cannot function as well. This is called sleep deprivation or fatigue, and it can happen at any age—not just when you are an older adult! When we nap during the day (afternoon naps), we give our bodies a chance to recover from fatigue so that we feel more alert and awake later on. Plus, if we take a quick catnap during lunchtime, then we won’t fall asleep on our desks during afternoon meetings or on the subway ride home!
Napping can give you a boost of energy if you’ve been awake for a long period of time
If you’ve been on your feet all day and need to be productive after work, napping can help. It’s also useful for recharging during long flights, when adjusting to new time zones can leave you feeling tired and groggy.
A study from Harvard Medical School found that adults ages 30 to 65 who took short naps were more alert afterward than those who didn’t nap at all or slept longer than 30 minutes. Another study found that people over 65 who took about 40-minute naps had improved cognitive performance afterward compared with participants who didn’t nap at all during their 12-hour waking period; this was true even though the participants had less total sleep time overall because they slept fewer hours per night
You can boost your memory by taking a nap after learning a new skill or task
It’s no secret that naps can make you more alert, but the benefits of daytime napping go far beyond just waking up feeling refreshed. Research shows that naps can help you retain information and learn new skills.
- Napping can improve your ability to recall information—whether it’s a phone number or a list of groceries—and researchers also found that people who took a nap after reading material remembered more than those who didn’t sleep at all.
- Taking a short siesta after learning something new may help you remember it later on. A study published in Sleep found that students who took an afternoon nap were better able to recall information they had learned earlier in the day than those who didn’t take one, even though both groups were equally tested before sleeping or not sleeping at all (the control group).
You may be more alert after a nap than you are on no sleep at all
A 20-minute nap can help you feel more refreshed and less sleepy, according to Harvard Health Publications. “You’re not going to feel like you’re inebriated or hungover,” says study co-author Michael Yassa of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “But we think that’s what helps people get back into their normal state.”
The benefits of napping extend beyond simply feeling better—they may also make it easier for you to focus and think clearly later on in the day (if you wake up from your nap at around the 90-minute mark).
Naps can improve reaction time and motor learning skills like typing or playing an instrument
- Napping is good for you because it helps with your ability to learn new things. It can also help you perform new tasks more effectively, which will make you feel better about yourself and make you more productive at work.
There are many reasons to nap; some of these benefits are well-known, while others may surprise you
You may have heard that napping is important for your health or productivity, but what are the benefits of daytime napping? It turns out there are many reasons to take a power nap—some well-known, while others may surprise you.
- You’re sleep-deprived. While nighttime sleep is beneficial for our bodies and minds, it’s not always possible to get enough shut-eye at night. If your work schedule leaves you working late into the evening and then waking up early for an early morning meeting or class, chances are good that you’re run down by midafternoon (or even earlier). A short snooze can be just the thing to refresh your mind and body so that when it’s time to go back at it again later in the day, you feel ready rather than exhausted.
- You have a lot on your plate right now. When life gets busy, taking a little break can be helpful because sometimes we just need some extra time away from work in order to recharge our mental batteries before getting back into it again later on down the road when things aren’t quite so crazy! And if something big comes up unexpectedly—like an unexpected visitor or phone call—then having had a chance beforehand will help prevent any potential issues from arising while they could still easily be avoided (and before they become major problems).
Conclusion
Napping is a great way to (re)charge, especially if you have trouble sleeping at night. Naps can help improve your mood, boost your creativity and concentration skills, and even increase your alertness. So the next time you feel tired or stressed out during the day, don’t reach for caffeine—instead, consider taking a nap!