An afternoon nap does not take up too much of our time but brings a lot of benefits to the body and mind. If you regularly practice the habit of napping, it will help your body stay awake, your mind flexible and help the work process be highly efficient.
According to Medical News Today, experts all agree that a quality afternoon nap can help the body feel more alert and refreshed, significantly reducing stress and fatigue for people. Especially for children, this short nap also helps improve consciousness, enhance work performance and help children feel happier.
* What is the right way to nap?
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* Time.
The ideal nap time can vary from person to person, and with each nap time you can get different results:
Take a 10-20 minute nap: For people with busy work, a short nap for 10-20 minutes will help the body rest, stop being sleepy at work and increase alertness for the brain from there. Reduce stress, increase concentration and work productivity.
Nap from 30-60 minutes: For nursing mothers or children who have more time to nap, it is recommended to practice napping within 30-60 minutes. Sleep not only releases the stress of the brain, improves memory, reduces stress, increases concentration, reduces the risk of diabetes, dementia, but also helps eliminate cravings for junk food and reduce cravings. Stress hormones cause the body to lose weight and stay in shape.
* Sleeping position.
We need to have a proper afternoon nap, neither too long nor too short to help keep our spirits up but at the same time not make you feel tired and especially affect sleep at night. Should rest after eating about 15-20 minutes before going to sleep, avoid sleeping right after eating to avoid stomach pain.
The best time to take a nap is between 1 and 2 pm, do not nap after 4 pm because it will make the body tired and sluggish. After waking up, you should not be active immediately, but spend 1-3 minutes sitting in place so that the body can slowly balance the state.
* For those who sleep at the office or workplace:
It is necessary to adjust the sleeping position properly: The best sleeping position is to lay a mattress lying flat on the floor, relax and relax the body, but if there is not enough space to lie flat, you can prepare a bed. pillow for the head or behind the back to sleep so that the body parts are not compressed.
Do not use your hands to rest your head to sleep on the table as well as lie down on the chair with your legs propped on the table because this is the wrong sleeping position, after waking up you will feel tired when the muscles are not comfortable, making the brain Slower activity and poorer thinking.
* For those who nap at home:
The bed is the best place for an afternoon nap, but it’s also easy to be distracted by other activities that make it impossible to fall asleep. Subjectivity due to having a lot of sleep time, so you often surf your phone before sleeping, which is absolutely not good.
Listening to some soothing music before bed or reading a book, then keeping the room temperature at around 24oC will help you fall asleep, which is also an effective relaxation method for people who have trouble napping. For children, you can prepare a pillow to hug, create a quiet and dark space to help them sleep better.
* Effects of neglecting naps.
Many people still take naps lightly and especially adults don’t even have time to nap. However, the right afternoon nap is the best medicine to prevent fatigue, reduce stress and improve memory, creativity and concentration for adults and especially children.
After a morning of focusing on work, you will easily fall into a state of fatigue, lack of concentration and eyestrain. We can also continue to work, but this will make the brain not rest and operate in a state of “out of strength”. This contributes to memory decline, which in the long run will affect your health and quality of work.
For people who do not take a nap, that means they will have to work their brain continuously for 8 hours. Many studies show that people who work at high intensity without taking a nap in the afternoon easily lead to confusion, anxiety, irritability, sluggishness, fatigue… From there they will start work in the afternoon. by a state of fatigue, greatly affecting the psyche and nervous system.
You are prone to cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure. For people with a history of high blood pressure, a full afternoon nap will help stabilize blood pressure, on the contrary, if you don’t take a nap, the body will have to make more insulin to maintain a normal blood sugar level. , which in turn has adverse effects on blood vessels and the heart. This in turn puts pressure on the heart, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease of people who do not nap in other cases.