Creative Aging: In Praise of Naps
The replenishing thing that comes with a nap - you end up with two mornings in a day. —Pete Hamill, American Journalist
I can’t nap.
I have tried to nap.
I have failed.
My husband Marlo is a skilled napper. After lunch most afternoons, he heads for his recliner, tilts it back, and immediately falls asleep for half an hour or so. He wakes up refreshed and ready to face the afternoon with renewed vigor.
Then, at night, he needs less sleep than I do. He usually wakes up after seven hours in bed. I can sleep for 10 hours.
I’m embarrassed that I go to bed earlier than he does and get up later.
By napping regularly, Marlo follows the tradition of many famous nappers. Not all of them limited themselves to 30 minutes. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson all took two-hour naps in the early afternoon. Winston Churchill’s two-hour afternoon naps were so important to him, he brought a bed to the parliament building so he could nap there. Margaret Thatcher also napped daily.
Thomas Edison claimed he only needed three to four hours of sleep per night. He tried to hide his several-hour daytime naps.
Leonardo da Vinci had an unusual sleep schedule, napping for fifteen minutes every four hours.
I have tried to join the ritual of Marlo and these famous people, reading the instructions of napping experts:
-Find a peaceful, dark, and quiet place.
-Select a napping time of early afternoon.
-Nap for just 10-30 minutes so that you don’t enter your deep sleep cycle and wake up groggy. Napping for too long can also interfere with nighttime sleep. (Apparently, this posed no a problem for the famous two-hour nappers.)
When Marlo has headed for his recliner, I have tried pulling the blinds in our great room and napping on the couch. I prop a pillow under my head, instruct my body and brain to relax—and lie there wide awake, my brain stubbornly clinging to the “on” setting. There is no risk of my entering the deep sleep cycle. After half an hour I am still wide awake.
The list of napping’s benefits increases my desire to nap. Its benefits include:
-Relaxation.
-Reduced fatigue.
-Increased alertness.
-Improved mood.
-Better memory.
-Increased creativity.
The benefits of napping are recognized around the globe. In Japan, sleep cafes provide a place near work for employees to take an afternoon break. In Italy, businesses close for two to three hours in the afternoon for the traditional pisolino. Nike, Proctor and Gamble, and Facebook have created rooms for employees to nap.
Did I say I can’t nap? That’s not totally true.
I can’t nap at a planned time. But I can fall asleep at inopportune times.
I can drift off to sleep while reading or working at my computer. While drafting this column, I dozed off three times.
I can do the same while watching television. It doesn’t matter if the show interests me. I can still drift off without trying.
I can drift back to sleep after my alarm rings. Sometimes I hit the snooze button two or three times—and drift back off to sleep within two seconds of pushing the button. Sometimes I shut the alarm off, telling myself that I will get up in a second, and that second turns into half an hour of extra sleep.
I can sleep in the car—the hum of the car and the vibration from the wheels are soporific for me. Without caffeine, I could drift off to sleep while driving.
But I cannot lie down and take a nap. Yesterday, after falling asleep reading internet printouts, I decided to trick myself into a nap. I took the printouts to the couch to read them there. “I’ll pretend I want to stay awake and read,” I told myself. “That will trigger the sleep cycle.”
It didn’t. I read through every page without achieving any shut-eye.
Albert Einstein and Salvador Dali were fans of micro-naps. Both went to sleep seated, holding a key or a spoon in one hand. When they drifted off to sleep, the object clattered to the floor and woke them. Waking during this stage of sleep tapped into the part of their brains with vivid images and sensation. The two men found some of their most creative times occurred this half-awake state. Edison reported the same experience.
I wish my short snoozes were like their micro-naps. Unfortunately, my dozing off doesn’t stimulate creativity. It only leaves me sleepy.
Last week, I told a friend about my affliction. She suggested taking my reading to a recliner. Perhaps it would feel more like the chair in which I so easily drift off. It didn’t work.
Each day, I continue to experience nap-envy. I stare at my husband in wonder every afternoon as he drifts blissfully off and then wakes energized and alert to face the rest of his day.