Is It True That Napping Is A Bad Idea?
15-12-2010
Depending on who you ask, napping can either be a helpful way of catching up on some much needed sleep or it negatively effects your sleeping patterns making it harder to drop off at night, so which is it?
Anyone who has travelled through Asia will know that they are expert nappers, no sooner are they on a train or bus and, bang, everyone is asleep. Same goes for people who have travelled through parts of Europe, where the midday siesta is a national right and pastime. It seems to be an Anglo-American peculiarity to frown upon the nap. None of these societies seems to suffer any ill effects of napping, and most sleep experts concur, napping, most of the time, is fine.
If you are tired and you have twenty minutes free, then napping is probably the best way to spend that time. Power napping has become a new trend in Anglo-American societies, so maybe we are seeing a switch is occurring.
However, not all naps are created equal, experts warn that naps should be less than an hour, as any longer and you risk running through an entire sleep cycle, meaning that when you wake you will suffer from sleep inertia, making you feel tired and groggy and possible making sleep that night more difficult.
Anyone who has travelled through Asia will know that they are expert nappers, no sooner are they on a train or bus and, bang, everyone is asleep. Same goes for people who have travelled through parts of Europe, where the midday siesta is a national right and pastime. It seems to be an Anglo-American peculiarity to frown upon the nap. None of these societies seems to suffer any ill effects of napping, and most sleep experts concur, napping, most of the time, is fine.
If you are tired and you have twenty minutes free, then napping is probably the best way to spend that time. Power napping has become a new trend in Anglo-American societies, so maybe we are seeing a switch is occurring.
However, not all naps are created equal, experts warn that naps should be less than an hour, as any longer and you risk running through an entire sleep cycle, meaning that when you wake you will suffer from sleep inertia, making you feel tired and groggy and possible making sleep that night more difficult.
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