Like the fog that comes on little cat feet, a good nap has to quietly sneak in and catch you unaware.
Or at least that is what I think.
If I lie down on the bed with the express purpose of napping, I will remain wide awake. If I sit in a comfy chair with my feet up and read I find myself nodding off.
Winston Churchill did not go in for the "sneaky nap.
He wrote:
"You must sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, and no halfway measures. Take off your clothes and get into bed. That's what I always do. Don't think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That's a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one -- well, at least one and a half."--Winston Churchill
As Jane Brody wrote in the New York Times, short naps are restorative and are good for you.
"As a short sleeper who is rarely in bed for more than six hours a night, I'm a strong believer in naps for recharging my batteries. Sir Winston and I are in good company. Napping enthusiasts have included Albert Einstein, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison and at least three presidents: John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Besides, sleep researchers have shown that regardless of how long one sleeps at night, the human body is programmed to become sleepy in the early afternoon, even without a big lunch. "
Zzzzzzzz
Zzzzzz.... Mmm? Sorry, I must have nodded off. Not a bad thing, actually - in fact I shouldn't be apologizing at all. Naps are good for us.
7 comments:
I wish I could nap. I'm an insomniac night and day.
I loved this post---Lots of good suggestions but I don't think even taking my clothes off in the middle of the day ala Winston C. will do the trick for me! In fact, it's a downright scary thought. LOL!
Thanks for the grins, Chancy.
This human body can nap after any bite of food, and will, unfortunately ;)
And give me a boring movie and I'll doze off in no time. That happened to me on Sunday with Klimt, a total eye-shutter.
I also can fall asleep in a chair or on the couch, but when I get into bed I am wide awake sometimes. My mother was a strong advocate of the nap and we had to plan our visits and activities around that!
There is something comforting about falling asleep while lying on the couch and reading a book.
I do love a good afternoon nap. Twenty minutes does me a world of good, but I am hardly ever able to find time for it.
I've never been able to just lie down and nap much. On occasion when I might feel pretty tired, I have managed to just rest for maybe a half hour...that seems to rejuvenate me. Reading in bed usually makes me doze off.
Hurrah for the nap! The only thing better than an ordinary nap is to fall asleep on a comfy couch near a sunny window on a cold day.
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