Greetings! This is part three in a seven part series about how I keep high energy levels for a full life. [IWM…When it occurs to me, I try to avoid using the word “busy” as that sounds like an annoyance. My life is far from an annoyance. I love my life and I am responsible for creating the life that I have. I chose this job, this apartment, these friends, these lovers, this car, these pets, and all of the other magic that makes up my life. In some cases (friends, lovers, pets, jobs, et al.) they chose me as well, but I can assure you that there is mutual love and my life is not busy, it’s full.]
When some people get a glimpse of my calendar they ask, “how do you do it” and my reflex response is “I take naps” and (100% of the time) their response has been, “Oh, I can’t do that!” It makes me laugh when people claim they can’t do something they’ve only tried once. I hear that some cultures have embraced the mid-day rest and it’s totally a thing. Perhaps you’ve heard of a *obnoxious air quotes with silly raised eyebrows* SIESTA!? Well, let me tell you that taking a siesta is the shit! But, first let’s address this issue of people that can’t take naps.
It may take a bit of work (read: practice) but, keep trying and you can take naps. When I was a little kid, I have a distinct memory of running into the living room to report to my mother… “Mama, Mama! I can’t sleep!” In her typical, no-nonsense, matter-of-fact way, she responded with a rhetorical question. “Do you know why you can’t sleep?” She paused briefly to let the question sink in before continuing on to say, “…because you’re in here talking to me! Now take yo’ ass in there and go to sleep!” My young (yet pragmatic) mind found that to be the most logical reason I’d ever heard for not being able to sleep. So, I took my ass in there and went to sleep. That’s been my attitude towards sleep ever since. I know, I know, I know… Not everything falls under the Just Do It problem solving methodology. But, here are some steps you can take to take yo ass to sleep (read: nap).
When people tell me that they can’t nap, they often divulge that they’re unable to quiet their mind long enough to nap. When I ask about what’s going on in their sleeping environment, they describe all sorts of chaos like phone notifications, easily accessible TV remotes, sex toys, and internet porn just waiting to be used. I’ve already written about how to remove the noise from the bedroom in order to maintain the sanctuary that is sleep. (Click < that link to read the post from 2013.) But, sometimes a little chaos (read: discomfort) is what’s needed in order to not sleep too long. A twenty minute disco nap does me right. I set the timer on my phone for 21 minutes and put the phone far enough away from the bed/couch/yoga mat so that I have to walk to it to shut it off. (I make sure it’s close enough to be within earshot.) Once I hit start on the timer, that extra minute affords me the time it will take to get into position for what my brother (the former Marine) refers to as combat sleep. I’ve been known to sleep with my eyes open. It’s not intentional and I don’t know how to replicate it. But, that’s the idea behind combat sleep. Get just comfortable enough to sleep without getting so comfortable that your sleep gets deep. To learn more about what it means to be in a deep sleep, click this hyperlink. But, the distilled version of the sleep cycle is [copied/pasted from the Google machine] “Usually sleepers pass through five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1. A complete sleep cycle takes an average of 90 to 110 minutes.” There’s all sorts of wearable tech these days to afford a better understanding of your personal sleep cycle and how long it takes. But, it’s safe to say that napping less than 45 minutes will keep you from reaching REM sleep. (IWM… The human body is amazing and you may be the outlier that can reach REM sleep in 40 minutes. The confidence in my words is based on personal anecdotal evidence as well as statistical averages.) At any rate, back to combat sleep… Once you’ve chosen your comfortable/uncomfortable position, set your timer, place it far/close enough from your spot. Lay there and just “switch off” your brain. I once read that the average American of 2016 has the level of anxiety equivalent to that of an average patient in a 1950s psych ward. Since they considered homosexuality a mental illness at that time, we can all roll our eyes at the aforementioned comparison. However, if you think about it for a moment, all of the beeps and blips we get as notifications for the multiple means of contact that the world has to reach us are sure to cause some level of anxiety. So, when people tell me that they can’t nap, the message I perceive is that they have trouble shutting their brain off. You can start by repeating your intention for the nap. I intend to refresh my mind with stillness. *repeat* I intend to refresh my mind with stillness. Continue repeating that phrase until you drift off or until the timer goes off. I know, I know. You’re going to want more sleep. Just get on up, drink some water and start doing something that requires minimal brain power (like washing dishes or brushing your teeth). You’ll shake it off sooner than later and be able to go on with your day, energized!
In part four of this series (in two weeks) I’ll write about what I do for energy that could replace coffee! *gasp*