Napping: A Trick? Or a Treat?

By: Peggy Willms

(4 min read)

Tomorrow is Halloween, and I am sure most of you are ready with your heaping bowls of Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, and Smarties to dole out. Some of you, Momma, Daddy, and Baby Sharks, are ready to hit the pavement. And all you sexy nurses and Captain Marvels are waiting to put the kids to bed and hit the town for some adult beverages.

It might surprise you that my brain is wired a bit strangely [or it might not surprise you]. Certain subjects trigger “normal” people to think about that actual subject when they hear it or see it. Like Halloween… candy… costumes… NOT ME. Thus the title…Napping: A Trick? Or a Treat? They have “WHAT” in common?

My mind is simply a top spinning in different directions. Round and round it goes where it stops nobody knows. Like literally. Story of my life. “What to hell is she talking about? How did we get on this subject when did we started talking about…[insert anything]?” Some might call it ADHD. I call it creatively digressing. Anyway, I digress…see…now back to Trick or Treating…I mean Napping.

The subject of Halloween took me around some loopty loos, and I landed on naps. Yup, I did. This morning, I was looking at a variety of backdrops I use for my virtual classes. I have about 100. I hang them on rods behind me, which allows me to change my “location” weekly based on the season, holiday, topic or how I feel. They are SOOO convenient as I just roll them up, stash them under my bed or even fold them up and throw them in my suitcase when I travel and no one knows I am in a hotel when I conduct my sessions. This morning, I thought, wow, tomorrow is already Halloween, and I decided I to change my Fall backdrop (I didn’t hang anything Halloween because it is not my favorite holiday, but I won’t spin off on that one-maybe next week). I pinged this morning with to how weird it is to live in Florida and have a backdrop with Autumn leaves falling, and soon I will be using my Winter Land, Christmassy backdrops, and then it will be New Years, and whoa where did the year go…AND THEN IT HAPPENED…I digressed from Halloween to Fall to … wanting a nap. And I don’t even nap.

I plopped in a recliner and threw on a Christmas movie. Yes, I have already watched about 10 over the last two weeks. FORTY new ones releasing these next few months. OMG. H to the E to the A to the V to the E to the N…Heaven on Earth. Don’t judge me.

The main point, I was sitting there wanting to nap, and it was 9:30 a.m. WTH. Nap?! And I go right to the principles I use not only with my clients, but my family and friends – AND PERSONALLY for the past four years…Dr. Michael Breus’ bio-rhythm/chronotype sleep-cycle work.

Each of my clients completes Dr. Breus’ test and fall into one of these four “animal-type” sleep categories Bears, Dolphins, Lions, and Wolves. PS: I am a Lion. I work with these principles to develop my clients’ personal Wellness Clock based on their chronotype-assigned animals. Knowing when to eat meals, have conversations, exercise and, of course, go to bed and get up increases wellness success. I have proven this with over a hundred people! And this includes NAPS.

For each of the four chronotypes, the discussion of whether or not to take a nap is either a trick or a treat. You’re surely thinking, “Oh, Peggy, you did actually circle back to the subject of this blog. Dang, girrrrl. Finally.”

  • For instance, a Bear’s ultimate nap time is around 2 p.m. but NO longer than 15-20 minutes though most Bears want to snuggle for more than an hour.
  • A Dolphin should never nap though they will want to every single day, perhaps multiple times a day due to their very disrupted nightly sleep patterns. If they nap during the day, they are less likely to get 4-5 hours of quality sleep that night.
  • A Lion, though mostly chases caffeine rather than a nap, does best to nap at about 1:00 because they rise so early. With the sun. 
  • And for a Wolf, it is best not to no nap, especially if you do the “sleep in” late like most Wolves. If you nap, you will be up until 2 a.m.

Not only does it matter who should nap, but the time and argumentatively HOW LONG. Napping: A Trick? Or a Treat?

Nap time has gotten a fair amount of attention over the last few decades. Google and Ben & Jerry’s, to name a few, are companies that provide employees with nap pods.

Sara Mednick, Ph.D. created a Nap Wheel. She states do NOT nap unless you have already been up seven hours.

There is a Disco Nap concept with three rules to follow when you want to party or dance the night away. Sleep 90 minutes, down drink some coffee, and the last rule, which is quite a kicker, is to wake up at your same, normal time the next day. I suppose, that concept doesn’t take into consideration the condition you arrived back home; plowed and staggering in at 2 a.m. Responding positively to your 6 a.m. cockadoodledo is surely to piss you off, and the odds are slim to none that you will pop up out of a drunken coma after only four hours of sleep with a high probability still sporting your sleek, leather hot pants. Back in my day, I just downed the coffee before I headed out. Just saying. No nap. And stagger out of bed in the morning, when I staggered out of bed for more coffee. AHHHH HA HA…

The bottom line is, naps for most, can be a treat if your naps are less than 20 minutes, and surely don’t try to nap if your damn mind is spinning about your To Do list. You will swirl for 45 minutes and perhaps doze off for another 45. Only to want more zzzz’s and feel like you were hit by a bus. No rejuvenation there.

The trick is testing what works for you and not falling into the trap of just napping whenever you want for however long. Stop at the moment and ask, am I bored, getting sick, trying to process seeking creativity, or truly tired? Naptime is an experiment just like every other aspect of your wellness, and DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE. Try a few days and times out and see how YOU feel.

I am off, surely to digress about another subject.

Happy Halloween, Everyone. (Oh, BTW, toss the candy you don’t hand out – or it will go right down your pie hole, and you will feel like crap literally and guilty!)

Toodles, Coach Peggy

PS: I would love to hear from you. If you would like to share your thoughts or you have a story, email me at: coachpeggy@3wellnesspillars.com

PSS: Catch me each Monday at 3 PST/6 EST on my Coach, Couch & Coffee Radio Show. We chat “All Things Wellness.”

Peggy Willms
                                                                     All Things Wellness, LLC
                                                                  peggy@allthingswellness.com

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