Why You Should Consider Power Naps
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About the Show
On this episode, Chuck Gaidica is joined by Dr. Angela Seabright, Care Management Physician for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Together, they discuss the benefits of power naps.
In this episode of A Healthier Michigan Podcast, we explore:
- Optimal duration of power naps
- Primary benefits
- Potential long-term health benefits
- Practical tips for taking a successful power nap
Transcript
Chuck Gaidica:
Cat nap, power nap, siesta. We'll lightly toss around these terms, but do we really know the full potential they hold? This is A Healthier Michigan Podcast, episode 153. And coming up we discuss why power naps might be a great idea after all.
Cat nap, power nap, siesta. We'll lightly toss around these terms, but do we really know the full potential they hold? This is A Healthier Michigan Podcast, episode 153. And coming up we discuss why power naps might be a great idea after all.
Welcome to A Healthier Michigan Podcast. It's a podcast dedicated to navigating how we can all improve our health and well-being through small, healthy habits we can start implementing right now. I'm your host, Chuck Gaidica, and every other week, we sit down with a certified expert and discuss topics that cover nutrition, fitness, and today, a whole lot more, a whole lot more Zzz. We're talking power naps. This episode, we're diving deep into this idea of napping. What are power naps? How do we approach them and the potential benefits that they offer. With me today is care management physician, a personal physician, a family practice physician of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Dr. Angela Seabright. Doctor, good to have you back.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Hi, Chuck. Thanks for having me.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, it's good to have you with us and for so many of us, we've likely experienced this idea of a midday slump. I'll get those, but if you get it, some people are great at napping. Some people don't even let it cross their minds. And this is an idea that for me is always a challenge, but according to the Sleep Foundation, it is normal for people to experience this drop in energy after lunch due to the body's natural circadian rhythm. So there are a myriad of options for us to break out of this fog and get the energy back up.
But our focus today is something that's free, it's accessible to everybody, and the time could be determined by you, I guess: power naps. Can these really be something that help us? Can we be on a tightrope walk when it comes to getting in just the right amount to achieve a maximum benefit? So let's uncover this idea to approach power napping in this episode. So when I say that to you, first of all personally, I'm bad at it. How about you? Are you good at taking naps or do you even have the time?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
I used to be good at it, but I feel as I've gotten older, it's a lot harder for me.
Chuck Gaidica:
Interesting. So what is the optimal duration for a power nap? Is there such a thing? And why is it important to allot for a timeframe then?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yep, there is such a thing. So a power nap or cat nap, whatever you want to call it, it is a short nap anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. So really just enough to reap the benefits of sleep while avoiding something called sleep inertia. And that is a term for a groggy feeling that you get when you wake up from sleep. So if you've ever taken a really long nap, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. You wake up, you're a bit disoriented, your muscles are almost too relaxed, you're cranky, and you really just want to go back to sleep. And this happens because our body goes through the full sleep cycle, which is generally 90 minutes, and it's really hard to come out of that deep sleep.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, and then there's the other thing, which I'm just going to make an assumption. I don't know that this happens to me. I'll try to think. If it's a rainy day or the dog is laying next to me, it's a much easier deal to take a nap for me anyway. But does it throw you off with your nighttime sleep habit? What if indeed you do take a four-hour power nap? Does that throw off that circadian rhythm for the nighttime, the typical or usual sleeping?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
That would definitely throw off. So long naps do throw off your ability to fall asleep and your whole sleep cycle in general. So we actually really recommend if someone is struggling with insomnia or sleep, we recommend that they avoid naps. But the power nap is a little unique in the fact that it's so short that it really shouldn't influence your ability to fall asleep at night, especially if you take it earlier in the day. So you don't want to power nap just a couple of hours before bedtime. But if you're power napping earlier in the afternoon, say before 3:00 PM and it really is that shorter nap, 30 minutes or so, then it really shouldn't influence your ability to fall asleep. And that's kind of the beauty of the power nap.
Chuck Gaidica:
So I've probably heard what I'm about to say to you almost my entire adult life. And so I went online to check it out. Some of the greatest minds in the history of the world. I mean, Aristotle, Da Vinci, Edison, Frank Lloyd Wright, I mean, the list goes on, late President Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher, George H.W. Bush, all these people got into power napping. And a few of them like Kennedy and George H.W. Bush, some of the presidents actually said that they took two hour power naps. Now they can tell everybody to wait in line to see them. I mean, they can adjust their day or people have to adjust around them. But it's always been encouraging to me to think that some of the most brilliant people around actually have this practice, regardless of how long it takes them.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
And in certain cultures too, naps are part of the day, it's part of the routine, from a biological standpoint, maybe we used to nap during the day just like children take naps. And somehow we've shifted from that biphasic sleep pattern where we sleep at night, we sleep a little bit in the day, and we've shifted to a monophasic where we are sleeping just primarily at night.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. Well, okay, so let's forget Thomas Edison for a minute. Give us encouragement for all of us. What are the primary benefits of a power nap?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Well, you're giving your body that added boost of energy while avoiding that sleep inertia. So of course, that groggy feeling. And many of us, we look for that boost of energy like you mentioned in other things. Maybe we turn to caffeine. And so for this, this is actually a safer alternative. They've actually done some studies where they've taken shift workers and they've had them take a nap either before or during their shift. And then those that took that nap, that short nap actually showed improvement on measurements of their alertness and their performance. So again, the key is to limit the timing of the nap, to minimize the chances of entering into that deep and causing that grogginess, which could certainly be dangerous, especially in some lines of work. I don't think many workplaces are implementing naps into the schedule just yet, but who knows, maybe sometime in the future if they're looking to improve efficiency.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, I'll tell you who has discovered it, and I don't know if this is now a successful business plan or not. I'm walking through the airport within the past week and there is now a business and the sign is up there. "Shh. People are napping or sleeping." And they literally have come up with a way to offer you a cubicle. I don't know what it costs. I didn't look at the details, for you to go in, likely get a power nap because who's got five hours, maybe if you've got a layover problem. But I mean they've actually monetized it now. Someone said, "Well, let's give people a place to sleep where they can actually get some rest." And I thought, wow. And I knew our episode was coming up. I thought somebody's figured out a way to make a profit from this idea.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
And they will definitely have people who are jumping at the opportunity to take a nap.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. So when you look long-term and you start to think about benefits for this idea, give us a list of those too. What are we looking for in general and anything specific that we would say, "Well, this is a long-term benefit or cumulative idea?"
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Well, there are numerous long-term benefits from adequate sleep in general. However, people who take a power nap may notice not only that boost in energy and alertness, but they may notice improved mood, focus, attention and memory. So these are all desirable things, and these all come with giving your body the rest it needs. I know we've talked on other episodes just in general, the health benefits to getting adequate sleep and there are numerous. Your cardiovascular health, your metabolism, weight control, mood, there's so many benefits. But looking into the long-term with power napping, it's really just about improving that alertness and getting that boost and kind of preventing that afternoon slump.
Chuck Gaidica:
Now, if you look for tips or hacks that are going to be good for individuals, for all of us to think about of how to make the most out of a power nap, a lot of that's going to be individualized. I mean, we've got two dogs. So the old saying of having a two-dog night. Well, for me, if it's just one of the dogs that lays by my feet and kind of rolls over and gives me that comfort, which I think we're both getting out of the deal, I hope, I can go off like that. So for me, that's a tip or a hack. Are there other hacks or tips that you could offer to all of us that we could try to think about here to catch a power nap?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Well, it's a bit of trial and error. Like you said, everybody's a little different. The good news is that it's just a nap. So there's really not much harm in giving it a try. If you're going to try a power nap, you want to set an alarm. I don't know about you, but I can't just tell myself, "Wake up in 30 minutes." I can't trust that I'm going to wake up. So definitely utilize your alarm and make sure that you are waking up at that 30 minute mark. You also don't want to take a power nap too close to bedtime. So again, early afternoon is the best time to schedule it because that really aligns with our circadian rhythm and when our energy levels naturally drop, so you're going to fall asleep a little easier in the afternoon as well for most people. Those who are working a shift or have odd schedules, they're going to have to tweak according to their schedule.
If you find that you still struggle with feeling groggy, even with a shortened nap, then maybe it's not the best technique for you. If you took a power nap, but then you can't fall asleep at night, again, maybe not the best thing to do. The last thing you want to do is sabotage your nighttime sleep. And then with napping, just like with anything sleep, a consistent schedule is so important. We've talked about keeping the same bedtime and wake up time. That's part of that sleep hygiene. So keep that in mind. Nap schedule should be pretty consistent as well. Anyone who's a parent or grandparent and knows little ones, they're on a strict nap schedule and you want to stick to that, it's going to help them fall asleep. The last thing you want to do is spend two hours trying to take a 30-minute power nap. That's really not efficient.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. And you said something that for me, I discovered it was counterintuitive at the beginning, setting an alarm. When I actually knew that there was a device that was going to wake me so I could be efficient then for the rest of the time in the afternoon or whatever, I slept so much better. Just at the beginning, I thought, "Set an alarm, then I'm going to be laying there wondering what time to get up." But if I set it for 40 minutes and I know I can drift off, but yet I'll be awakened, that's a great tip for a lot of us because it's not the first one that maybe would cross our minds.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, it's interesting you mentioned that because I think there are some people that would feel reassured that they have that alarm set, they're not going to miss something important or oversleep. But others, it might actually induce a little bit of anxiety because they may be thinking, "Oh gosh, I have to get up. What if I miss the alarm?" So then they set two alarms and then all of a sudden you have this little anxious feeling, and we never want to feel anxious when we're trying to go to sleep. It's really counterintuitive. So that is something that could happen. So again, just trying to make sure that you're relaxed. If you have to set the alarm, we say 30 minutes. If you want to say, "I'll just set an alarm for an hour. Hopefully I wake up a little earlier than the alarm, but at least it's there in case I do oversleep."
Chuck Gaidica:
So I'm sure in your practice over the years, you've seen people with a myriad of sleep condition issues. It could be, "We've just had a new baby," or "I've got sleep apnea" or whatever it is. But when someone comes to you and it seems like a holistic idea is to suggest taking a nap, have you literally kind of prescribed the idea and said, "Have you tried napping?"
Dr. Angela Seabright:
If someone's really struggling with insomnia, I actually tell them not to take a nap, because again, when most people nap, it's the two-hour nap. Sometimes it's a three-hour nap. And if they're not used to napping, it can interfere with their ability to fall asleep. But I'm also an advocate of listening to your body. So if you are having that afternoon slump and you're feeling tired and you have the means to take a nap, you can go ahead and try it. Just keep it short so that it doesn't interfere with your bedtime sleep.
Chuck Gaidica:
So you've talked about a lot of great stuff, the upside of power napping, and then a few of these ideas are mistakes that we may make. We're making assumptions that we should have a long power nap or it should be a deep sleep and then it affects the rest of the day or night. Are there any other common mistakes that come to mind about this idea of trying to take a power nap?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, and that's a good one because I think people think power is like, that's a nice long nap, but actually it's the opposite. It's the short one. And I think another misconception is that you can take the nap anywhere. So you can nap at your desk or on the bus or at the airport, but you want to make sure that you're napping in an environment conducive to sleep. So somewhere comfortable, somewhere dark, somewhere quiet. You don't want to wake up from a power nap with a neck ache. Then you have a new problem. And again, it's all about efficiency. If you have to utilize an eye mask or earplugs so you can get that nap in, go ahead and do that.
I think another mistake is using the power nap to make up for a poor night's sleep or staying up late or sleeping less at night because you think, "Well, I'll nap in the afternoon. I have time in the afternoon, I can nap." And the power nap is in addition to a regular night's rest. So you really should still strive to get your typical seven to eight hours of sleep per night, and whatever you get from the power nap is a bonus.
Chuck Gaidica:
So then what you're saying, maybe you're not, so correct me if I'm wrong, if you've had a bad night's sleep for any number of reasons, should you just push through the day and then try to get back on the proper cycle? That's the cycle you're accustomed to with your body, not try to sleep it off in the afternoon or something?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yes, it's very tempting to try to sleep it off, but you should try, if you can, push through until you get to your usual bedtime. It happened to me over the weekend. I was out of town for a wedding and I was sleeping in a hotel and sharing a room with my children, and I got very little sleep, and I was extremely tired the next day. And I couldn't take a nap because I have three kids, so they're not going to let me nap. So I certainly had to push through and I pushed through, I got my kids to bed. The next day, I went to bed a little earlier than I normally would have. I slept amazing that night.
So usually what happens is if you have a terrible night's sleep, there's a pretty good chance that the next night you're going to sleep much better. So you can almost bet on that, that you will sleep better the next night. Unfortunately, there are some people that they go through a bout of insomnia that lasts for days, and I really advise them to seek medical attention if that's the case. But we've all had a night where we just slept terrible and then guess what? The next night we sleep so much better. So I would advise if you can to just push through until your usual bedtime and get yourself back on schedule.
Chuck Gaidica:
That is so funny. You mentioned three kids. So we've had our son, daughter-in-law and three granddaughters visiting. And one of the granddaughters is 16 months, then we've got 5 and then 9. And there's a reason why young people have children, because we've had five kids so it's not like my first rodeo. But trying to do all the stuff and play and do. And I looked at my wife last night and it was 9:00, we're finally getting stuff cleaned up and she said, "I think I want to go to bed." We don't ever go to bed because of my previous life schedule until 11:30, midnight. And I said to her, "We're going to be going to sleep at 10:00 tonight." But we just felt like it was the right thing to do. And I woke up this morning so refreshed, even though I was so pooped out yesterday. But I know why I was. I'm running around in circles.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
I can imagine that. Yeah, children, they don't really have any regard for how tired we are. They're going to keep going regardless.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. Well, Dr. Seabright, as we wrap things up, what would you say are the main takeaways for our audience today?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, I think a power nap is one tool in the toolkit. There's a lot we can do to take charge of our sleep and our energy. Just don't forget to check in with your doctor, especially if you're feeling tired all the time, because it may indicate an underlying sleep condition or other medical problem.
Chuck Gaidica:
Okay, good deal. Well, good to have you back with us. Thanks.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Thank you.
Chuck Gaidica:
All right, take good care. That's Dr. Angela Seabright, who's with us. Care management physician of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and we want to thank you for being with us. Thanks for listening to A Healthier Michigan Podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. If you like the show and you want to know more, we encourage you to check us out on the newly refreshed website, ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast. You can leave us reviews or ratings in the obvious places, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. You can follow us on Facebook, check us out on our YouTube channel. Go to Instagram or Twitter, and if you want to get new episodes, old episodes to take along for a walk, maybe a power walk, not a power nap, you can get your smartphone, tablet hooked up. And be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Hi, Chuck. Thanks for having me.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, it's good to have you with us and for so many of us, we've likely experienced this idea of a midday slump. I'll get those, but if you get it, some people are great at napping. Some people don't even let it cross their minds. And this is an idea that for me is always a challenge, but according to the Sleep Foundation, it is normal for people to experience this drop in energy after lunch due to the body's natural circadian rhythm. So there are a myriad of options for us to break out of this fog and get the energy back up.
But our focus today is something that's free, it's accessible to everybody, and the time could be determined by you, I guess: power naps. Can these really be something that help us? Can we be on a tightrope walk when it comes to getting in just the right amount to achieve a maximum benefit? So let's uncover this idea to approach power napping in this episode. So when I say that to you, first of all personally, I'm bad at it. How about you? Are you good at taking naps or do you even have the time?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
I used to be good at it, but I feel as I've gotten older, it's a lot harder for me.
Chuck Gaidica:
Interesting. So what is the optimal duration for a power nap? Is there such a thing? And why is it important to allot for a timeframe then?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yep, there is such a thing. So a power nap or cat nap, whatever you want to call it, it is a short nap anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. So really just enough to reap the benefits of sleep while avoiding something called sleep inertia. And that is a term for a groggy feeling that you get when you wake up from sleep. So if you've ever taken a really long nap, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. You wake up, you're a bit disoriented, your muscles are almost too relaxed, you're cranky, and you really just want to go back to sleep. And this happens because our body goes through the full sleep cycle, which is generally 90 minutes, and it's really hard to come out of that deep sleep.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, and then there's the other thing, which I'm just going to make an assumption. I don't know that this happens to me. I'll try to think. If it's a rainy day or the dog is laying next to me, it's a much easier deal to take a nap for me anyway. But does it throw you off with your nighttime sleep habit? What if indeed you do take a four-hour power nap? Does that throw off that circadian rhythm for the nighttime, the typical or usual sleeping?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
That would definitely throw off. So long naps do throw off your ability to fall asleep and your whole sleep cycle in general. So we actually really recommend if someone is struggling with insomnia or sleep, we recommend that they avoid naps. But the power nap is a little unique in the fact that it's so short that it really shouldn't influence your ability to fall asleep at night, especially if you take it earlier in the day. So you don't want to power nap just a couple of hours before bedtime. But if you're power napping earlier in the afternoon, say before 3:00 PM and it really is that shorter nap, 30 minutes or so, then it really shouldn't influence your ability to fall asleep. And that's kind of the beauty of the power nap.
Chuck Gaidica:
So I've probably heard what I'm about to say to you almost my entire adult life. And so I went online to check it out. Some of the greatest minds in the history of the world. I mean, Aristotle, Da Vinci, Edison, Frank Lloyd Wright, I mean, the list goes on, late President Kennedy, Margaret Thatcher, George H.W. Bush, all these people got into power napping. And a few of them like Kennedy and George H.W. Bush, some of the presidents actually said that they took two hour power naps. Now they can tell everybody to wait in line to see them. I mean, they can adjust their day or people have to adjust around them. But it's always been encouraging to me to think that some of the most brilliant people around actually have this practice, regardless of how long it takes them.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
And in certain cultures too, naps are part of the day, it's part of the routine, from a biological standpoint, maybe we used to nap during the day just like children take naps. And somehow we've shifted from that biphasic sleep pattern where we sleep at night, we sleep a little bit in the day, and we've shifted to a monophasic where we are sleeping just primarily at night.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. Well, okay, so let's forget Thomas Edison for a minute. Give us encouragement for all of us. What are the primary benefits of a power nap?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Well, you're giving your body that added boost of energy while avoiding that sleep inertia. So of course, that groggy feeling. And many of us, we look for that boost of energy like you mentioned in other things. Maybe we turn to caffeine. And so for this, this is actually a safer alternative. They've actually done some studies where they've taken shift workers and they've had them take a nap either before or during their shift. And then those that took that nap, that short nap actually showed improvement on measurements of their alertness and their performance. So again, the key is to limit the timing of the nap, to minimize the chances of entering into that deep and causing that grogginess, which could certainly be dangerous, especially in some lines of work. I don't think many workplaces are implementing naps into the schedule just yet, but who knows, maybe sometime in the future if they're looking to improve efficiency.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, I'll tell you who has discovered it, and I don't know if this is now a successful business plan or not. I'm walking through the airport within the past week and there is now a business and the sign is up there. "Shh. People are napping or sleeping." And they literally have come up with a way to offer you a cubicle. I don't know what it costs. I didn't look at the details, for you to go in, likely get a power nap because who's got five hours, maybe if you've got a layover problem. But I mean they've actually monetized it now. Someone said, "Well, let's give people a place to sleep where they can actually get some rest." And I thought, wow. And I knew our episode was coming up. I thought somebody's figured out a way to make a profit from this idea.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
And they will definitely have people who are jumping at the opportunity to take a nap.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. So when you look long-term and you start to think about benefits for this idea, give us a list of those too. What are we looking for in general and anything specific that we would say, "Well, this is a long-term benefit or cumulative idea?"
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Well, there are numerous long-term benefits from adequate sleep in general. However, people who take a power nap may notice not only that boost in energy and alertness, but they may notice improved mood, focus, attention and memory. So these are all desirable things, and these all come with giving your body the rest it needs. I know we've talked on other episodes just in general, the health benefits to getting adequate sleep and there are numerous. Your cardiovascular health, your metabolism, weight control, mood, there's so many benefits. But looking into the long-term with power napping, it's really just about improving that alertness and getting that boost and kind of preventing that afternoon slump.
Chuck Gaidica:
Now, if you look for tips or hacks that are going to be good for individuals, for all of us to think about of how to make the most out of a power nap, a lot of that's going to be individualized. I mean, we've got two dogs. So the old saying of having a two-dog night. Well, for me, if it's just one of the dogs that lays by my feet and kind of rolls over and gives me that comfort, which I think we're both getting out of the deal, I hope, I can go off like that. So for me, that's a tip or a hack. Are there other hacks or tips that you could offer to all of us that we could try to think about here to catch a power nap?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Well, it's a bit of trial and error. Like you said, everybody's a little different. The good news is that it's just a nap. So there's really not much harm in giving it a try. If you're going to try a power nap, you want to set an alarm. I don't know about you, but I can't just tell myself, "Wake up in 30 minutes." I can't trust that I'm going to wake up. So definitely utilize your alarm and make sure that you are waking up at that 30 minute mark. You also don't want to take a power nap too close to bedtime. So again, early afternoon is the best time to schedule it because that really aligns with our circadian rhythm and when our energy levels naturally drop, so you're going to fall asleep a little easier in the afternoon as well for most people. Those who are working a shift or have odd schedules, they're going to have to tweak according to their schedule.
If you find that you still struggle with feeling groggy, even with a shortened nap, then maybe it's not the best technique for you. If you took a power nap, but then you can't fall asleep at night, again, maybe not the best thing to do. The last thing you want to do is sabotage your nighttime sleep. And then with napping, just like with anything sleep, a consistent schedule is so important. We've talked about keeping the same bedtime and wake up time. That's part of that sleep hygiene. So keep that in mind. Nap schedule should be pretty consistent as well. Anyone who's a parent or grandparent and knows little ones, they're on a strict nap schedule and you want to stick to that, it's going to help them fall asleep. The last thing you want to do is spend two hours trying to take a 30-minute power nap. That's really not efficient.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. And you said something that for me, I discovered it was counterintuitive at the beginning, setting an alarm. When I actually knew that there was a device that was going to wake me so I could be efficient then for the rest of the time in the afternoon or whatever, I slept so much better. Just at the beginning, I thought, "Set an alarm, then I'm going to be laying there wondering what time to get up." But if I set it for 40 minutes and I know I can drift off, but yet I'll be awakened, that's a great tip for a lot of us because it's not the first one that maybe would cross our minds.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, it's interesting you mentioned that because I think there are some people that would feel reassured that they have that alarm set, they're not going to miss something important or oversleep. But others, it might actually induce a little bit of anxiety because they may be thinking, "Oh gosh, I have to get up. What if I miss the alarm?" So then they set two alarms and then all of a sudden you have this little anxious feeling, and we never want to feel anxious when we're trying to go to sleep. It's really counterintuitive. So that is something that could happen. So again, just trying to make sure that you're relaxed. If you have to set the alarm, we say 30 minutes. If you want to say, "I'll just set an alarm for an hour. Hopefully I wake up a little earlier than the alarm, but at least it's there in case I do oversleep."
Chuck Gaidica:
So I'm sure in your practice over the years, you've seen people with a myriad of sleep condition issues. It could be, "We've just had a new baby," or "I've got sleep apnea" or whatever it is. But when someone comes to you and it seems like a holistic idea is to suggest taking a nap, have you literally kind of prescribed the idea and said, "Have you tried napping?"
Dr. Angela Seabright:
If someone's really struggling with insomnia, I actually tell them not to take a nap, because again, when most people nap, it's the two-hour nap. Sometimes it's a three-hour nap. And if they're not used to napping, it can interfere with their ability to fall asleep. But I'm also an advocate of listening to your body. So if you are having that afternoon slump and you're feeling tired and you have the means to take a nap, you can go ahead and try it. Just keep it short so that it doesn't interfere with your bedtime sleep.
Chuck Gaidica:
So you've talked about a lot of great stuff, the upside of power napping, and then a few of these ideas are mistakes that we may make. We're making assumptions that we should have a long power nap or it should be a deep sleep and then it affects the rest of the day or night. Are there any other common mistakes that come to mind about this idea of trying to take a power nap?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, and that's a good one because I think people think power is like, that's a nice long nap, but actually it's the opposite. It's the short one. And I think another misconception is that you can take the nap anywhere. So you can nap at your desk or on the bus or at the airport, but you want to make sure that you're napping in an environment conducive to sleep. So somewhere comfortable, somewhere dark, somewhere quiet. You don't want to wake up from a power nap with a neck ache. Then you have a new problem. And again, it's all about efficiency. If you have to utilize an eye mask or earplugs so you can get that nap in, go ahead and do that.
I think another mistake is using the power nap to make up for a poor night's sleep or staying up late or sleeping less at night because you think, "Well, I'll nap in the afternoon. I have time in the afternoon, I can nap." And the power nap is in addition to a regular night's rest. So you really should still strive to get your typical seven to eight hours of sleep per night, and whatever you get from the power nap is a bonus.
Chuck Gaidica:
So then what you're saying, maybe you're not, so correct me if I'm wrong, if you've had a bad night's sleep for any number of reasons, should you just push through the day and then try to get back on the proper cycle? That's the cycle you're accustomed to with your body, not try to sleep it off in the afternoon or something?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yes, it's very tempting to try to sleep it off, but you should try, if you can, push through until you get to your usual bedtime. It happened to me over the weekend. I was out of town for a wedding and I was sleeping in a hotel and sharing a room with my children, and I got very little sleep, and I was extremely tired the next day. And I couldn't take a nap because I have three kids, so they're not going to let me nap. So I certainly had to push through and I pushed through, I got my kids to bed. The next day, I went to bed a little earlier than I normally would have. I slept amazing that night.
So usually what happens is if you have a terrible night's sleep, there's a pretty good chance that the next night you're going to sleep much better. So you can almost bet on that, that you will sleep better the next night. Unfortunately, there are some people that they go through a bout of insomnia that lasts for days, and I really advise them to seek medical attention if that's the case. But we've all had a night where we just slept terrible and then guess what? The next night we sleep so much better. So I would advise if you can to just push through until your usual bedtime and get yourself back on schedule.
Chuck Gaidica:
That is so funny. You mentioned three kids. So we've had our son, daughter-in-law and three granddaughters visiting. And one of the granddaughters is 16 months, then we've got 5 and then 9. And there's a reason why young people have children, because we've had five kids so it's not like my first rodeo. But trying to do all the stuff and play and do. And I looked at my wife last night and it was 9:00, we're finally getting stuff cleaned up and she said, "I think I want to go to bed." We don't ever go to bed because of my previous life schedule until 11:30, midnight. And I said to her, "We're going to be going to sleep at 10:00 tonight." But we just felt like it was the right thing to do. And I woke up this morning so refreshed, even though I was so pooped out yesterday. But I know why I was. I'm running around in circles.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
I can imagine that. Yeah, children, they don't really have any regard for how tired we are. They're going to keep going regardless.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. Well, Dr. Seabright, as we wrap things up, what would you say are the main takeaways for our audience today?
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Yeah, I think a power nap is one tool in the toolkit. There's a lot we can do to take charge of our sleep and our energy. Just don't forget to check in with your doctor, especially if you're feeling tired all the time, because it may indicate an underlying sleep condition or other medical problem.
Chuck Gaidica:
Okay, good deal. Well, good to have you back with us. Thanks.
Dr. Angela Seabright:
Thank you.
Chuck Gaidica:
All right, take good care. That's Dr. Angela Seabright, who's with us. Care management physician of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and we want to thank you for being with us. Thanks for listening to A Healthier Michigan Podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. If you like the show and you want to know more, we encourage you to check us out on the newly refreshed website, ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast. You can leave us reviews or ratings in the obvious places, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. You can follow us on Facebook, check us out on our YouTube channel. Go to Instagram or Twitter, and if you want to get new episodes, old episodes to take along for a walk, maybe a power walk, not a power nap, you can get your smartphone, tablet hooked up. And be sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
