NAPPING ON A SUNDAY (OR ANY DAY)

Is napping good for you?

ANYONE who knows me will agree I am a major fan of a good nap. There is no strict definition of when a nap becomes a siesta or a full sleep, but I am happy with a power nap for 20 minutes on the train, a snooze in a park, a full hour back in bed on a cold afternoon, or even by a pool in the sun, weather permitting.

So what better day to write about naps than on a Sunday, nap day. The news is awash today with a study carried out in Athens showing some health benefits of an afternoon nap. Dr Manolis Kallistratos, a cardiologist at Asklepieion Voula General Hospital in Athens, has shown in his study that those who took an afternoon nap had lower blood pressure and needed less medication than those that didn’t. Keeping blood pressure at a good ‘healthy’ level can help avoid problems with the heart and general health in later life. Even better for nappers, an hour long nap had a slightly more beneficial effect than a shorter 20 minute one.

So it is all lovely, headline grabbing news and I doubt many people would object to a daily nap, but it is hardly practical for everyone everyday. The study was also just looking at one aspect of the benefits of napping in groups of people who already had high blood pressure, so isn’t proving that a nap is a panacea to all ills. However, it is another piece of evidence to add to the copious research on the benefits of sleep for our bodies and overall health.

For the Press Release on the work of Dr Kallistratos please click here.

So to all those commuters out there, put down the iPhone and nap on the way home. All you runners have a nap after your run. Everyone, have nap on a Sunday afternoon…

Osteopathy on a Sunday

If you come and see your osteopath (me!) on a Sunday, have a nap after your treatment, it’s much more relaxing that way than sprinting off back to work or to pick up the kids. Sunday osteopathy appointments are available (pre or post-nap) from 11.00-17.00 at Natural Balance Therapies in Hove.

Coffee and Napping

If you are worried about not waking up after a nap then see this fabulous infographic, courtesy of YLM Sport Science.

If you want to be even more productive post-nap, a coffee beforehand can work wonders, as you can wake up refreshed and raring to go.

I won’t enter the debate on the pros and cons of coffee, but I love it and the combination of napping and coffee is too good a combination to ignore…