Power napping, or taking a 20 minute nap, provides many benefits such as reducing stress, increasing alertness and productivity, and improving memory and learning. It can also benefit heart health, cognitive functioning, creativity, and protect against sleepiness. Regular power napping rejuvenates and refreshes the mind while keeping you energized throughout the day without relying on caffeine.

1. POWER NAPPING Benefits of Power Napping youthempowermentsolutions.org

2. Introduction Power nap is a 20 min short sleep. Rejuvenates and refreshes the mind. Eliminates the need of caffeine during work days Keeps you energized till bedtime. Power nap should be not more than 20 min.

3. 10 Benefits ofPower Nap

4. Reduces Stress Research stress hormone levels (cortisol) were lower in those who took stress-reducing actions such as napping. A short power nap can leave you feeling refreshed, renewed, and more focused.

5. Increased alertness and productivity. Scientists have even proven that taking a 20-minute nap approximately eight hours after you have awaken will do more for your stamina than sleeping another 20 minutes in the morning. Post a power nap, you will feel lazy for a few minutes. But once yourmotor dexterity dissipates, you will reap the rewards of being well rested and ready to go for the rest of the day.

6. Improved memory and learning It is recommended that you take a five minutes break after every 20 minutes period of learning and a 20 min power nap after every 4 hour session learning. It allows the subconscious mind to process and sort all the information that you assimilated. Power napping is an essential step in the accelerated learning phase.

7. Good for the heart. After a study of 23,681 individuals living in Greece who had no history of coronary heart disease, stroke or cancer when they first volunteered, and found that those who took a 30-minute siesta at least three times a week had a 37% lower risk of heart-related death.

8. Increased Cognitive Functioning. In a recent study, researchers at NASA showed that a 30-minute power nap increased cognitive faculties by approximately 40 percent! Tests carried out on one thousand volunteers proved that those who continued working without rest, made lower scores in intelligence tests like the IQ test.

9. Increased Cognitive Functioning. In concordance with NASA’s work, biology students at Berkeley determined that the nap must be short in order to produce maximum effectiveness. Over forty five minutes, the beneficial effects of napping disappear and it is therefore suggested to take a fifteen to thirty five minute “power nap”. This is the time necessary for the organism to rest and enables brain neurons to recuperate.

10. Get Motivated to Exercise. Sufficient sleep and naps help motivate exercise. You’re guaranteed to run longer, faster, more efficiently and mindfully when your body has it’s required amount of zzzz’s.

11. Boost your creativity. Rest and relaxation isn’t only vital to your health — it might also make you a more creative person. Power napping allows your brain to create the loose associations necessary for creative insight and opens the way for a fresh burst of new ideas. So if you feel stuck, then you might want to take a nap.

12. Make up for midnight tossing and turning. Some of the most recent research suggests that a bad night’s sleep can stress the body as well as the mind. Scientists at the University of Chicago studied physical changes in 11 young men who slept four hours per night for six nights in a row. They found that sleep deprivation seemed to trigger a diabetes-like condition, harmed hormone production, and interfered with the ability to use carbohydrates. According to some studies, power napping is clearly beneficial to someone who is a normal sleeper but who is getting insufficient sleep at night.

13. Protect yourself from sleepiness. Scientists had also found benefits in the “prophylactic” nap for people who have to stay up late. It can protect you from sleepiness. If you have to be up all night, a two-hour or a four-hour nap does provide additional alertness the next day. Research conducted by NASA produced similar results.

14. Better health. Napping in general benefits heart functioning, hormonal maintenance, and cell repair, says Dr. Sara Mednick who is at the forefront of napping research. A power nap, says Mednick, simply maximizes these benefits by getting the sleeper into and out of rejuvenating sleep as fast as possible.

15. POWER NAPPING Benefits of Power Napping www.youthempowermentsolutions.org