The Truth About Daily Naps and Insomnia

So many experts proclaiming
they have a cure for insomnia issue this solemn advice:
“NEVER take a nap during the day.”
They warn that daytime napping will ruin any chance of someone with
insomnia from having a good night’s sleep. Nod off after
lunch, they say, and you’ll be staring at the ceiling come 2
a.m.
Folks, it’s utter nonsense.
Insomniacs can and should benefit from an afternoon nap. Indeed,
I’m one of the world’s greatest (and most
enthusiastic) nappers. I’ll often find an empty meeting room
at work during the lunchtime break and snooze for 10, 20 sometimes 30
minutes. I awake rested, refreshed and ready for the
afternoon’s tasks.
You can nap, too, but not just because I say so. The thing is, napping
is in our genes, as Prof. Jim Horne of Britain’s Loughborough
Sleep Research Centre explains:
“Humans are designed for two sleeps a day – the
main one at night and a nap in the afternoon – which explains
why people in the warmer parts of the world have an afternoon siesta,
and why the rest of us are likely to be sleepy at this time.”
Reading that, are you experiencing a “light bulb
moment”? Have you suddenly thought about all those people at
work and home who yawn after lunch and announce they feel sleepy? Is it
any wonder energy levels are low in the early afternoon and people take
so long to return to the pace of the morning? Look no further than
babies and young children who need their afternoon nap.
In fact, defying the body’s urge to sleep at this time could
be bad for your health: One intensive Greek study of almost 24,000 men
and women over six years found that those who took a 30-minute siesta
at least three times a week had a 37 per cent lower risk of a
heart-related death than non-nappers!
Other studies suggest people who live in countries that observe the
siesta have lower rates of heart disease.
So what do we in the west do? We invent the “working
lunch” that a) interferes with a relaxed digestion and b)
denies our brains some down time from the stress of the day.
Of course, napping is a serious issue for people with insomnia. Many
spend every night in a series of naps instead of a deep, refreshing
sleep. These people feel so tired that they could nap at the drop of a
hat anytime during the day. I sympathize because I’ve been in
that exhausted state.
But for napping to work, it has to be at the right time and in the
right place. Early afternoon is best, preferably in a quiet room with
dimmed lighting. If that’s not possible at work, you could
always go to your car – I’ve reclined the
driver’s seat, put on shades and had some marvelous naps in
the office car park!
And speaking of the length of the nap, shorter is definitely better. In
fact, scientists at the University of Dusseldorf in Germany recently
reported that volunteer student nappers who slept for just six minutes
performed better in subsequent memory tests than students
who’d been kept awake.
OK, six minutes is a bit too short for me – I prefer the
generally recommended 20-30 minutes. And I usually wake up
spontaneously, as if my brain is saying, “Right,
I’m ready to go again.”
If you have insomnia, train yourself to have a daily afternoon nap if
at all possible. You not only need the rest, but should incorporate
such naps into your overall quest to cure your insomnia.

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