The Perfect Amount Of Time To Nap

This feels like a somewhat random out of nowhere post— but what is this blog and life without some bits of random info? (I LOVE random information).  I wanted to share this bit of useful information with you guys. (Well, I think it’s useful anyway).  Did you know there is a perfect amount of time that one should spend napping? For years now I’ve been setting an alarm for a 27-minute nap. I’ve been teased by family and friends for this. For two reasons: 1. because Alex doesn’t believe that I’m accomplishing much of anything in this super short nap window. And 2. because it’s 27 minutes. Not 25 minutes. Not 30 minutes. 27 minutes.

But it always felt like the perfect amount of time for me to nap. It’s true, sometimes I would lay there with my mind racing and I wouldn’t fall asleep. (This has gotten better since I’ve been practicing mindfulness + meditation.) But sometimes (and now often due to post mindfulness work), I fall swiftly into sleep and find myself either waking up with the timer or naturally right before it. With a short window set, I never felt groggy or lethargic– I’d wake up and feel oddly refreshed from the little “power” nap.

I’m not sure why I picked 27 minutes as a timer time, to begin with. I like to set alarms to odd numbers– again, I’m not sure why. All my set alarm times on my phone are to numbers like 6:14, 7:04, 7:27, etc.  It’s beyond me why my brain feels more comfortable in these off-beat actions. But it does. And so for whatever reason, one day I chose 27 minutes for a nap timer and it stuck. The perfect nap time.

Well, I never thought I’d share this with you– it just seemed like another small and odd action in my life. But then random enough, a few months ago I stumbled upon some sort of article that NASA studies suggest that the optimal nap time is 26 minutes. Now, I cant seem to find this study (just a few articles saying that NASA said this) — so if you don’t want to believe me– well, I hear you! (I’m starting to believe that NASA never said this either.) But the thing is, for me, it didn’t and doesn’t matter if I couldn’t find the actual study. Because it’s personally worked for me for years. But still, when I first read it, it was an affirmation, that my silly 27-minute naps made sense.

I wanted to share this with you because I know in life (and especially if you’re looking for healing) sometimes are bodies are just asking for naps– and not all of us have has positive experiences with naps. If you haven’t had a positive experience with naps in the past well, maybe try little 27-minute power nap trick…

Just tell yourself you’re going to meditate, set a 27 (or 25 or 26 minute) timer, lay your butt and head (and the rest of you) down, close your eyes and breath in and out.  What do you have to lose? Honestly, I never found longer naps useful. I actually always hated napping prior to my own self-revelation in naps– they always left me feeling groggy or out of it. I would end up in a deeper sleep than I should have been in in the middle of the day and I would grow more tired. But this quick little power nap trick really works for me. I feel so much better afterward– I am a full-on nap supporter now.

Anyway, just wanted to share in case you haven’t had luck in the napping department 🙂 Maybe something you can sneak away and try later today 🙂 Cheers friends!