Many people, mostly children and the elderly, are caught needing a nap or two throughout their days. Humans are thought to be one of few mammalian species that are monophasic with their sleeping – meaning each day is split into a time for sleep and a separate time for being awake. Are naps something we should take more serious?
It is not fully clear or proven that people need to maintain a monophasic sleep schedule. Humans often feel the need to take a nap throughout their day.
Which kinds of naps can people benefit from?
The best kinds of napping often tend to be short, quick intervals of sleep that are either planned or immediately following one’s feelings of being suddenly tired. The scheduled naps will allow your body to maintain its proper sleep cycle and the immediate napping is great to help reduce major feelings of fatigue. 20 – 30 minutes is great for napping intervals to produce short-term increases in alertness and energy.
Napping has been proven to increase a person’s sense of awareness, general mood, and both mental and physical performance.
Improve Sleeping
Napping is great, but the real work is done when you sleep at night. There are always things you can do to help your main sleeping at night, like adjusting the room temperature to be slightly cool, removing electronic usage before bed, and other things of the same nature. What most people do not realize, though, is taking naps late in the day can sometimes hurt your ability to fall asleep on time. You can improve your sleeping by moving these naps to earlier times in the day, or simply power through and maintain your overall sleep schedule.
Other Reasons for Tiredness
Napping is one way to reduce drowsiness and overall tiredness of your body and mind, but there may be another reason why you are feeling tired each morning, or throughout your day. 1 in 5 people are affected by sleep apnea. This means you have a big risk of succumbing to this breath-taking disease.
Sleep apnea is a disease that causes you to stop breathing for a few seconds up to a minute when you are sleeping. This is quite scary to deal with if you do not have a proper treatment plan in place. It is recommended that you go see your doctor and be hooked up to many tests, or to order your own sleep test kit at home (one can be found HERE).
Sleep is an essential part of human life. It helps the body to rebuild, cleanse itself, and gather is energy for the next day to come. Get some sleep!