I LOVE Naps!

Today I had a great nap!  I napped for about 4 hours.  Maybe that's a bit long for a nap but I must have needed it.  I think my Gran Fondos finally caught up with me.  Not to mention I don't really get any down time before or after my cycling events. 

Being a full time fitness instructor requires me to be active all the time if I want to make money and pay the bills!  Luckily I'm in love with being active and even when I'm exhausted I'm at my happiest when I'm leading a class :) 

With my profession I actually am afforded the luxury of taking naps.  My schedule usually has me teaching 2-3 classes in the morning and then I have a large gap in the afternoon where I can usually sneak in a 20-30 minute nap (which, by the way, is the optimal amount of time for a nap - not 4 hours).  Then I answer e-mails, work on building my business and then typically have 1 (sometimes 2) evening classes to teach before I return home for a well deserved glass of red and a healthy, delicious dinner.

Do you nap?  I'm sure most of you don't but probably wish you could.  Did you know that napping has many positive benefits including making you a more productive worker?  Tell your boss!  You need to nap to be more productive!  We should take a lesson from the Europeans.  When I was in Switzerland at 12pm each day people would take a 2 hour break to eat and rest.  The power was actually shut off to the building we were staying at everyday from noon-2pm. 

One thing I really noticed during my time in Europe is that the only obese people were the tourists!  There really is a link between sleep deprivation/stress and weight gain.  Europeans seem much more healthy, happy and way less stressed out.  It's too bad we're all so rushed here in North America.  We seem to be of the mindset that the more we can accomplish in a day the better we are.  We seem to be always chasing something.  We need to take better care of ourselves and really enjoy life and the simpler pleasures such as taking an afternoon nap.

Still not convinced?  Here are some benefits of napping:

Reduces stress
Increases alertness and productivity
Improves memory and learning
Good for the heart
Increases cognitive functioning
Motivates you to exercise!
Boosts your creativity
Makes up for a bad night's sleep

So again I'm not suggesting you nap for 4 hours at a time, but a quick 20-30 minute nap could make a world of difference!  For those of you who work in offices at a desk you may want to consider what George Costanza did on Seinfeld - create a secret napping spot under your desk - no one will ever know you've been napping but they'll all notice how much fresher you are!