How to power nap: ‘relax the body more and you will live longer’

Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison – word is they loved a good power nap.

Edison is said to have engineered his naps to stir himself exactly at the point before falling fully asleep. This enabled him to recall the special light bulb moments that came to him in the powerful nap state.

Folklore aside, taking a short nap during the day may help to protect the brain’s health as it ages, according to research. A brief doze can improve our ability to learn.

“Quieting the mind is recuperative and restorative – all the research shows us that,” says Brian Colbert, master trainer of neurolinguistic programming at the Irish Institute of NLP. He has created a hypnotic audio guide on how to nap.

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“You are looking for two things from a nap – a break from the day, a change of mental focus and the second thing is for your body to take a moment to restore, to check in with itself, to relax so that it can accelerate again,” says Colbert.

How do I power nap?

There’s an art to the power nap. The first step is to learn how to rest. That can be through relaxation techniques, meditation, prayer, whatever floats your boat. “It’s whatever ritual you like that tells your body and your brain that you are not in ‘up’ time,” says Colbert. “You are not focused outwards, but inwards. Say to yourself, I’m going to take 20 minutes here just to chill, unwind and unplug. Every bit of that is as good as a power nap.”

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How do I start?

When you are working – typing, talking on the phone – your head is engaged and it’s pulling energy from your body, creating tightness and tension, says Colbert. Pause, take a breath and you will become aware of how your body is feeling. Stop and you will notice your body will start to soften and let go.

“Allow yourself to rest, to meditate, to pray, to do anything other than the state that you are in and that allows your body to go into the recuperative phase, similar to the early phases of sleep,” he says.

Don’t get hung up on achieving sleep. “Get some rest, like a siesta and you are going to get benefit out of it. It’s about being in a deeply relaxed state.

“The power nap is giving you a massive duration of 20-30 minutes of not doing anything.”

Why is napping good?

A nap can help you achieve more, but that shouldn’t really be the purpose of one. “We are always trying to squeeze in more productivity – that squeeze becomes a physical tension in the body,” says Colbert. Buddhists believe this produces cravings, pain and suffering, he says. “With a power nap you are saying, I’m stopping, I’m taking a breath and just being human and enjoying the physicality of that.” Don’t just do something, sit there.

Danger zone

If your power nap moves past 20 minutes or 30 minutes into 90 minutes, the effect can be less positive, says Colbert. “Then you are breaking a deep sleep cycle and you wake up groggy. If you wake up during the dream state, you can be groggy for the rest of the day.”

Play the long game

Instead of trying to squeeze extra productivity out of your day, play the long game. “Relax the body more and you will live longer. If you live longer, you will get more done,” says Colbert. Stop measuring your time in 24 hour-units of productivity.

“Anything we do like tuning in to ourselves, focusing inwardly, practising gratitude – these are things I suggest you do in a power nap,” says Colbert. “What happens is you are relaxing your body, boosting your immune system and improving your cognition. You are thought switching, and these things allow you to feel better and also live longer. Anything that is downtime, or rather ‘in’ time, is good time.”