Before I start, the systematic review I am referencing was talking about naps in general, but since I know you're not going to take a nap unless you're forced - this is me talking about acu-naps.
Naps have been proven to be beneficial in a variety of ways:
- improve physical performance
- improve cognitive performance
- reduce muscle fatigue and soreness
- reduce sleepiness during the day
- improve alertness
- improve your psychological state
- and improve your night time sleep
Acupuncture has also been shown to improve sleep quality and quantity, so if all these benefits can be obtained through sleep, why not do it?
Factors affecting your ability to sleep may include pain, stress, anxiety, and the like, but acupuncture can also deal with those issues which would then transfer over to an improvement in overall sleep quality.
Although the research being referenced was done on "athletes" ranging from ages 18-27 and mostly male subjects, it is promising to note that improvements were noticed by taking naps anywhere from 20 minutes to 90 minutes long.
There were, however, some adverse effects if naps were taken from 4 pm onward as this then took away from the ability to fall asleep at night.
The best time to take a nap as found within these studies? From 1 pm - 4 pm.
With all this information on how naps can improve your daily life, why not let acupuncture help with forcing you to slowdown?
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