What do Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, and Eleanor Roosevelt all have in common ?
Give up? They were all known to enjoy an afternoon snooze.
These folks must have known intuitively what studies now confirm: Catching twenty (minute) winks during the day can improve productivity, bolster memory, lower stress, and improve learning and skill development – energy-dependent activities all. In fact, one group that relies on the energy of its participants for its success has done studies showing that a short siesta can increase performance by 34 percent and alertness by a whopping 54 percent. That group? None other than NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Lack of melatonin can seriously compromise sleep quality, meaning bye-bye energy.
Although naps don’t take the place of a good night’s sleep, they can be restorative and help counter some of the impaired performance that results from not getting enough sleep at night. Naps can actually help you learn how to do certain tasks quicker. Napping is also good for your heart. According to studies at the Harvard School of Public Health, a 20-minute snooze three times a week can reduce the risk of heart disease by 37 percent, not a bad side benefit of this natural and easy energy booster.
It always amuses me that when health professionals talk about the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, they make it sound as if it’s all due to the olive oil (leading some nutritional wits like Robert Crayhon to wryly remark, “Well, I guess all we’ve got to do is pour olive oil on our sugared cornflakes and we’ll be fine”). We often forget that the folks over there in Crete and Cyprus and all those gorgeous areas by the Mediterranean Sea aren’t healthy just because they consume a ton of olive oil.
They’re healthy because of the overall Mediterranean lifestyle, which, to be sure, includes olive oil, vegetables, and fish, but also working out-doors, spending time in the sun, laughing a lot, eating the biggest meal midday, and… napping! (Try shopping after lunch on a Caribbean island such as St. Martin, where they’re heavily influenced by European traditions. You can’t. They close their stores from around 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. guess why?)
Expert suggest catching up on your zzz’s either late in the morning or early in the afternoon, and limiting nap-time to about 20 minutes to avoid falling into a deep sleep (our circadian rhythms make that harder to avoid in late after-noon). If you have the time and inclination to snooze longer, make it a full sleep cycle, say 90 minutes, which will get you in and out of deep sleep.
Some companies now offer sleep-deprived employees time and space for napping. If you work at a company whose workplace culture isn’t that evolved (which probably means anywhere but Google), look for someplace dark and quiet. Since body temperature drops when we sleep, cover yourself with a blanket (or makeshift blanket).
THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS NOW NAPS
In New York (and other large cities), napping is serious business. For a price you can catch up on your zzz’s by booking time in a slumber station, such as the ones at Yelo. For just a few bucks you’ll g et 20 minutes in a beehive like cab, where you can sink into an adjustable leather lounger, cover up with a cashmere blanket, nod off to the soundtrack of your choice, and awaken to simulated sunrise. (Add a pre-nap reflexology session and your bill will come to $77).
Paying for naptime might seem ridiculous, though don’t tell that to the 3,200 people who packed Yelo’s facilities in the first year it opened, or to owner Nicholas Ronco, who’s currently planning to expand to 500 locations nationwide. Twenty minutes of nap-time: $12. Catching up on sleep: priceless.
WORTH KNOWING
Napping is a refreshing way to make up a little sleep debt and face the afternoon if you have no trouble getting-and staying-asleep once you hit the mattress. But if it’s getting to sleep in the first place-not getting to sleep in the first place-not getting to bed-that’s your problem, then skip the afternoon nap- it’s more likely to make things worse.
Why Sleep Matters
If feels good to be aroused, whether it’s sexually, intellectually, or spiritually. Anyone who’s ever been in love knows that, as does anyone who’s ever been on upper drugs (not recommended) or been excited by a new adventure.
The term adrenaline junkie was coined to describe this common feeling of coming alive when something new, exciting, and stimulating is happening to us, whether it be a new project or a first date. One of the many roles of sleep is that it sets us up for that stimulation that everyone seems to want. That sense of vitality, well-being, and excitement is what being alive-being awake-is really all about.
As sleep expert William Dement, M.D. Ph.D of Stanford University points, out, the human organism is hardwired to be energetic when it’s faced with challenges. Good and restful sleep sets up the brain for high energy and the positive feelings that goes with it. Without restful sleep, we tend to view the world through foggy glasses. With it, the world is brighter, more stimulating, and more exciting.
So because sleep is so important, you’d think scientists would know exactly why we need to sleep, wouldn’t you?
So would I. But truth is, it’s an unanswered questions. We know a lot about what happens during sleep, we know a lot about what happens when people don’t sleep enough, we know a lot about what we can do to improve the quality of sleep, but the actual reason why people need sleep is a bit of a mystery. It’s pretty clear, though, that it’s necessary for our survival, and equally clear that it’s directly, unambiguously, stunningly connected to our daytime energy levels and mood.
THE BODY’S BUILT-IN THERMOSTAT
Homeostasis – maintaining a constant internal environment – is like a thermostat. If it gets too hot, the thermostat turns itself down; if it gets too cool, it turns itself up. Let’s say your sleep debt is zero, like a zero balance after you’ve paid off your credit card. Now every hour you stay awake is like putting small charges on the sleep debt credit card, and the homeostatic mechanism will demand that you pay that off, which, presumably in a perfect world, you would do at the end of the day with a nice, uninterrupted seven to nine hours of sleep. Then you’de even again – at zero balance – and the cycle would start all over. That’s homeostasis.
But if homeostasis were the only thing operating here it would be like a credit card that had to be paid off every time you went into the store to make a purchase. Every time you were up for a few hours, you’d owe yourself a few hours of sleep and have to go to bed. Obviously, life doesn’t work this way. And the reason it doesn’t’ is something called the biological clock.
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