Fitness Files: Extolling the benefits of a midday nap

Just fell asleep on the computer keyboard. Gave up writing to take a nap.

Swung the chair around, back against the desk.

Slid off onto the floor, propped my knees and feet up on the seat, stretched my back flat across the hardwood floor, flung my arms out to the sides and fell asleep. Dreamed indistinct problem-solving dreams, woke in a quarter-hour, thrust my legs off the seat and hoisted myself back on the chair to face the computer screen.

Here I am awake, writing.

Few people nap on hardwood, but many find a quick nap rejuvenating. Workday naps are known to increase alertness, but not in my odd napping position. I’m in the privacy of my home office, but I could not relax knowing someone might walk in to observe my feet up on the chair, head on the floor.

Yet, all evidence points to the work-a-day sense of napping, or at least catnapping.

Forbes’ science writer David DiSalvo quoted a study that compared five-, 10-, 20- and 30-minute naps. Seems a 10-minute nap “produced immediate improvements in … vigor and cognitive performance.”

Medicaldaily.com‘s Lecia Bushak took up our sleep-deprived society, citing overworked employees who exist on “six hours of sleep or less a night.”

A nap could reverse lack of sleep’s negative effects on the immune system. Brice Faraut of Paris Descartes University - Sorbonne Paris Cité conducted a study in which healthy men were limited to two hours’ sleep a night, resulting in an increase in norepinephrine, “a hormone involved in stress [that] increases the body’s heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar.” Napping restored immune health to normal hormonal levels.

Besides hormonal repair, there’s the relief of taking a break from fighting fatigue. I just had the blessed experience of giving in when my eyes wanted to close. I let sleep happen and left my task as fully as if I’d flown to Cancun. Came back after 15 minutes, ready to work.

Mayo Clinic staff explains the benefits of napping as increased alertness, improved mood and performance, quicker reaction, better memory, less confusion, and fewer accidents and mistakes.

Behavioral Health Research at ScienceDirect.com reports that napping is superior to caffeine for overall memory improvement.

So what’s not to like about short periods of sleeping on the job? Apparently, Google provides egg-shaped sleeping pods for napping employees. Articles report expensive sleeping chairs and nap rooms, but I’d suggest allowing employees to retreat to their cars in the parking garage or to close the door if they’re lucky enough to have a private office.

Seems naps could perk up physical health and recharge the worn-out working person, especially one with after-work child-rearing duties, a second job, caregiving chores, night classes or meetings.

The single time I hit my ultimate fatigue limit as a fourth-grade teacher, I propped my eyes open until lunch break, when I excused my students, locked my classroom doors and sunk down on the floor behind my desk.

In a deep sleep, I awoke to a key turning in the lock. I shot up but couldn’t stand quickly enough to greet my principal, who came through the door with a student who had forgotten her lunch money. Embarrassment woke me up for the rest of the day.

I’m now privileged as a home worker to accrue the hormonal and psychological refreshment of a short nap, and I wish to share that reset button with all my readers.

Even a few employers have read about a nap’s well-researched benefits. But how many take into account the privacy needed for a snooze? Most employees couldn’t find a hardwood floor, much less a private corner with cushy carpet to curl up on.

Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK is a retired teacher who ran the Los Angeles Marathon at age 70, winning first place in her age group. Her blog is [email protected].