Modern science says that power napping is beneficial for the health and is getting recognized for producing better results as per the latest findings.
Power naps can relieve our so-called sleep, but they can also support our brains, including improvements to creative difficulty solving, verbal recall, perceptual education, object knowledge, and analytical learning. They help us with math, sound reasoning, our response times, and symbol identification. Naps improve our attitude and feelings of lethargy and tiredness. Not only that, napping is good for our heart, blood pressure, anxiety levels, and surprisingly, even weight control.
Interestingly, analysis has confirmed that six-minute naps, known as ultra-short sleep experience, can improve declarative recall (i.e. a type of old concept that concerns about our ability to hold details and information).
While we’re sleeping, the brain cycles in a pattern lasting about 90 to 120 minutes. These stages involve non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) (which gets connected with visualizing). During NREM sleep, we intrude into a slow-wave nap, which is the general kind. Slow-wave sleep helps us learn facts, spots, and appearances, which is why the 60-minute sleep helps us in this regard.
Naps get categorized in three different ways:
- Crisis naps – One must NOT sleep in an emergency but remain alert when operating or driving a machine/car for long hours. Immediate action is required for a rest as soon as possible.
- Programmable nap- To ward off exhaustion, the short sleep will help to stay fresh.
- Conventional napping or siesta as in countries around Mediterranean and elsewhere
Photo Credit-Wikipedia-EnergyPod, a sleeping pod, located in a small nap room of the Olin library at Wesleyan University
Recommendations:
- The sleep should be short of not more than 30 minutes so that the night time regular sleep is not interrupted.
- Temperature needs to remain comfortable, or the clothing should be able to take care of the cold. The light should get filtered so that one might see the objects in the room in case one awakens.
- For short sleep, it is necessary to have conducive surrounding free of any disturbance, say movement and noise.
- Cat nap of about 20-30 minute freshens the person to maintain the alertness and to achieve the target in a safe way. So that one’s night time sleep usually does not get disturbed. Via
- Regular siesta or nap after the lunch with some amount of sleep is traditional in Mediterranean and subtropical countries to avoid the heat. Very young toddlers frequently dose off to short naps.
- When encountering difficult but unavoidable situation one should take a very brief nap to ward off any mishap to occur. It is a necessity to remain safe and still achieve the desired goal. For example driving for long hours to reach the destination, ensure to get a nap or a reliever to continue the job in hand.
- One can plan short sleep sessions at regular intervals to ward off tiredness.
BENEFITS:
- Naps can revive watchfulness, improve the readiness to combat any untoward incident and minimize errors and, and reduce mistakes and mishaps, NASA pilots research have established that military pilots performance improved by 34 % and readiness by 100% on taking naps.
- Naps can improve alertness in the time immediately following the nap and may extend sharpness a few man-hours later in the day.
- Narcolepsy, a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. Or you may say condition characterized by an extreme tendency to fall asleep whenever in relaxing surroundings. People with Narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime, can be overcome by regular napping. Via
- Napping has emotional benefits. A nap can be a delightful enjoyment, a mini-vacation. It can provide an easy way to get some leisure and recharging.
It would not be out of context for those who have to drive as a necessity to meet or to arrive back to home or work not to take a risk when feeling drowsy. Thus, putting self and others in the risk of collision or accident. It would be proper to pull off and take a 20-minute nap immediately in a safe place. Before resuming the passage have a cup of coffee and remain alert.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
A coffee nap is drinking a cup of coffee before a short 15-minute nap. A stimulant nap (or coffee nap, caffeine nap, occasionally) was discovered by British researchers, Horne and Reyner, to be more effective than regular naps in improving post-nap alertness and cognitive functioning .Via
The shift workers must ensure proper rest comprising of naps and caffeinated beverages before their duty hours so as to stay alert and perform the work with alacrity. Via
