The Best Way to Reboot Our Brain, Increase Energy and Alertness?

Some towns close up in the afternoon while people go home to take a nap. But, in the USA, due to the fast and busy life, taking a nap is a luxury, and sometimes even indicated laziness.

Those people, who feel guilty about falling asleep while watching a film, or snoozing the alarm clock, should know that taking naps is very healthy, and it is natural. Even after a good night’s sleep, our focus and watchfulness may decrease.

Earlier, this meant life or death situation for our ancestors. (1) So, a siesta of 15-20 minutes renews your alertness and has your neurons back up and firing high. (2)

Can you imagine a big company recognizing this? Well, the well-known Apple and Google are some of the companies that permit their employees to take a nap. According to studies, short naps boost productivity and awareness. (3)

And, everyone would like to have an employer that would let them close their eyes for a few minutes.

One study from Colorado Boulder University revealed that those kids that did not have an afternoon nap were less joyful and interested, and they were more anxious and not able to solve problems easily. Adults too can benefit from siestas. (4)

Berkley reports that researchers say a nap long an hour increases the ability of learning and memory. Why? Well with the help of a nap the short-term memory is cleaned out, so the brain is refreshed with newly freed space. (5)

Professionals recommend 10-20 minutes is enough for refreshing the mind and boosting energy as well as alertness. This short sleep lets you wake up refreshed and capable of working.

If you take a half an hour nap, then you need one more half an hour to wake up entirely. Even though a nap long one hour is good for enhancing memory, you may experience some fogginess.

Besides the advantages of naps, you should not risk your nighttime sleep for a siesta. A nap should be a bonus to good night’s sleep.