Adaptation to modern life throughout history has meant that humans have lost the habit of being polyphasic as far as sleep is concerned. In fact, there seems to be evidence that, like the rest of the animal kingdom, early man also alternated sleep and wake cycles throughout the day.
There are many studies that seem to indicate that take a nap after eating it provides many benefits for health and mind. Therefore, Taking a nap will have a beneficial effect on your well-being and it can increase your alertness, your concentration or your productivity.
Psychological benefits of napping: discovering the art of ‘taking a nap’
As we already read in the article “7 psychological signs that indicate that you are not getting enough sleep”, sleep is absolutely essential for good health.
Since much research shows that napping can lead to an improvement in psychological well-being, some companies such as Google, Nike, AOL or The New York Times give their employees time so that they can take a nap in the office with maximum comfort. “Napping” (‘nap’ in English) serves to recover energy and be in a better mood. Companies that have adopted the “nap culture” have armchairs or even beds where you can rest for a while.
The historical origin of the nap
For some experts on the subject, the siesta has its origins in the 11th century and comes from one of the rules of the monastic order of Saint Benedict: rest and tranquility at the sixth (canonical) hour, which was the period of time between twelve and the three. This rule referred to the fact that religious people had to go to bed in total silence to rest and regain energy for the rest of the day. That’s where the word “sexting” or “keeping the sixth” originated. Over time, this custom spread and was adopted in other monasteries and the population in general. Although it seems to be only a Spanish tradition, the siesta is also present in parts of southern Europe and Latin America, in China, Taiwan, the Philippines and India.
The nap also seems to have a physiological origin, since it is a natural consequence of the decrease in blood after heavy meals, which causes drowsiness
Next we are going to discover exactly what are the two beneficial effects of taking a nap for our mental health.
1. Improves memory
The University of Haifa (Israel) and the Sleep Laboratory at the Sheba Medical Center (Tel Aviv) demonstrated that napping provides benefits to memory. This study, in collaboration with researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal (Canada), concluded that napping plays an important role in memory consolidation and learning.
2. Increase your ability to learn
Complementing the positive effects on your memory, taking a nap also has positive effects on your learning ability. The University of California provided evidence that by resting the mind during a nap, we are helping our brain learn more things after waking up
Along the same lines, research carried out by Harvard Universities and New York University found that taking a short nap considerably improves memory and learning, but also has a positive effect on sleep. humor
3. Take a nap and work better
According to NASA studies, taking a nap improves alertness, performance, and reduces errors and accidents at work. In this study, carried out on pilots and astronauts, it was found that a 26-minute nap is capable of increasing performance by up to 35% and alertness level by 55%.
If the “snooze” lasts 40 minutes, it improves alertness by up to 100%. Attention and reaction time also appear to benefit from napping according to a study by Kimberly Cote, a professor and neuropsychologist at Brock University. According to her study, people who do not make use of this “moment of relaxation”, They may feel more fatigued, be more likely to make poor decisions, and be at greater risk of workplace accidents Naps can increase alertness in the period immediately after the nap, and this state can extend to a few hours later in the day.
