Nap Update: Yep, They Still Rock.

Dude Hearts NapsAs the self-professed King of Naps, I feel it’s my duty to share a regular dose of nap awesomeness.

  1.  How Naps Affect Your Brain & Why You Should Have One Every Day: Improve memory & learning; avoid burnout. And my favorite tip from the article, “Practice.”  
  2. Five Reasons You Should Take a Nap Every Day: Energy, Memory Boost, Taking a Break, Refocusing, Less Stress
  3. Nap On the Go: I recently shared an upgrade to the classic beer koozy: Freaker. And now, an upgrade to the travel pillow?! Nap Anywhereis a sweet, sweet way to score a nap with no traveler’s neck pain. Not a pillow, just pure nap awesomeness…[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/58940816[/vimeo]

Bonus:

On the flip side of enjoying a regular afternoon nap session, the joys and benefits of getting up insanely early. To balance out my afternoon nap, I’ve been rocking a 5:30 AM eyes open time for the past year. I’m digging it. 

Napping Really is the Bees Knees…and Here’s the Infographic to Prove It!

As the self-proclaimed King of Naps, I feel it is my duty to kick some napping knowledge when I have the opportunity. And today just happens to be a nap knowledge kicking day!

Check out this awesome infographic proving once and for all that napping truly is the bees knees.

A couple points before the pretty pictures…

  • I miss working from home when I could siesta everyday. Sad face.
  • How about pilots Nasa’ing while the plane is in flight?! You know I love a nap, but that one even freaks me out a bit. Hey co-pilot, wake up and take the wheel for a couple minutes, huh?
  • A swinging bed makes us sleep faster. Yeah, Little Dude can attest to that after the first 6 months of his sleeping life were spent in a swing.

I need a nap.

Napping Infographic

Napping Infographic

Napping is the Bees Knees

King of Naps

King of Naps

As the self-proclaimed King of Naps, I feel that it’s my duty to pass on this great napping info to my napping subjects.

Thanks to EdGalaxy.com for sharing the siesta stats.

Nap on.

Napping may save your life
A multi-year Greek study found napping at least three times per week for at least 30 minutes resulted in a 37% lower death rate due to heart problems.

Can’t sleep? Don’t stress
Even if you can’t fall asleep for a nap, just laying down and resting has benefits. Studies have found resting results in lowered blood pressure, which even some college kids have to worry about if they are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure.

Pick the right time
After lunch in the early afternoon
your body naturally gets tired. This is the best time to take a brief nap, as it’s early enough to not mess with your nighttime sleep.

It makes you smarter
According to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California, napping for as little as one hour resets your short-term memory and helps you learn facts more easily after you wake up.

Abandon all-nighters
Foregoing sleep by cramming all night reduces your ability to retain information by up to 40%. If you can, mix in a nap somewhere to refresh your hippocampus.

Drink coffee first
The way this works is you drink a cup of coffee right before taking your 20-minute or half-hour nap, which is precisely how long caffeine takes to kick in. That way when you wake up, you’re not only refreshed, but ready to go.

The ultimate nap
According to Dr. Sara Mednick, the best nap occurs when REM sleep is in proportion to slow-wave sleep. Use her patented Take A Nap Nap Wheel to calculate what time of day you can nap to the max.

King of Naps

King of Naps

King of Naps

Here’s a link to a recent article about how taking naps promotes our ability to learn. This is the most recent study in a long list of studies that say that naps are the bees knees. Yeah, that cool.

Naps are amazing. For real, amazing. But naps aren’t as easy as one may think. There are many types of naps, and every nap is unique based on the conditions and the nap time goals. This is not the proper time for me to share all of my napping knowledge (sweet alliteration), but it’s safe to say that quality napping requires committed practice.

I’ve been refining my napping skills for years. And I think it’s time for me to take my napping to the next level. I’ve done my research (i.e. a one minute Google search), and it dawned on me that the napping community lacks a meaningless figurehead with absolutely no power and a pointless title. And I think I’m just the person to fill this made-up-by-me incredibly unimportant position.

I do hereby declare to the world (i.e. the internet) that the Dude is from here forth the self-proclaimed King of Naps!

Howard Stern did it for media. I think the Dude can do it for naps.

Not only is the Dude an ordained Dudeist Priest, and a dishwasher loading wizard, but now, also the King of Naps. I’m adding some serious credentials (i.e. letters) to the end of my name: The Dude, O.D.P., D.L.W., & K.o.N.

Enough typing…I need a nap. Sleep on my napping subjects.

PS – Don’t worry. That’s an old photo. The beard is still intact. Beard update in the near future.