ORLANDO, Fla. – Monday, March 14 is National Napping Day and experts say napping isn’t just for the very young and very old.
It turns out, that most of us take a daytime siesta.
A National Sleep Foundation poll found that almost a third of all adult’s nap regularly. It doesn’t just energize you, but getting a daytime shuteye can be good for your body and brain.
A mid-day nap can boost memory, improve job performance, lift your mood, make you more alert, and ease stress.
The Cleveland Clinic also reports naps can speed up your reaction time and improve your logical reasoning, motor skills, sense perception, and verbal recall.
“Sleep is the VIP service everybody needs. It affects basically every area of our life,” Leandre Schoeman, a certified sleep consultant said.
A nap can even help your ticker. According to a recent study, power nappers who took a 15 to 20 minute nap three times a week improved their cardiovascular health. On the downside, those who napped for more than an hour had an increased risk of heart problems.
The National Sleep Foundation suggests the best time to nap is before 2 p.m. for about 20 minutes. But a nap as short as 10 minutes can be beneficial. It is important to keep your nap to 30 minutes or less or you may suffer from sleep inertia, which will have you waking up and feeling groggy instead of rested.
National Napping Holiday is March 14. It always falls the day directly after the switch to daylight saving time, which makes it nice to get a little more ZZZ’s after losing an hour of sleep the night before.