Dig Deep When You Are Busy, Napping, and How to Be Inspired
Hi Folks! Connor and Nick here from Healthy Living With Nick and Connor. Thanks again for being on our email list, it means a lot, and we are excited to share our weekly email with you. We hope you enjoy it! Here is what we hope you take away from this one:
Leading a healthy lifestyle when you are busy and tired is precisely when you need to make sure you make it happen.
Learn how to properly unleash the potential power of a nap. Time of day and the length of your nap are extremely important here.
Look to the people around you to provide you with the inspiration to achieve what you want to achieve.
Starter Mindset Tip: Make it Happen When You are Busy or Tired
We all get busy, we all get tired, and this is when our goals are often forgotten. This is when you NEED to make sure you are keeping up with your goals and your health. This is exactly when your body needs to be keeping up with healthy routines. When you are busy and tired, this usually means that your stress levels are increased, which means your immune system is not as strong, you are vulnerable to getting sick, you are more likely to have your stress negatively affect you, your sleep is impacted, you are more likely to be irritable, frustrated, and not yourself. If you saw these correlations written down on paper, would you not think hmm, this may be the best time to follow through with a healthy lifestyle? When you are busy and tired, just perform smaller versions of your big goals. Do 2 minutes of breathing exercises instead of your 10 minute goal, do a 15 minute workout instead of an hour, cook easy healthy meals that you love instead of your goals of trying new foods. Whatever your healthy routines are, DO THEM when you are tired and busy. This will keep you healthier during a time when you REALLY need it. This will also make it seem really easy to maintain your goals when you are not busy and tired.
Health Recipe: It’s Time to Nap Like an Astronaut
Timing: 5-30 minutes, maximum 90 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Easy, who doesn’t love a nap
Serving Size: Start small, start with one day, see how your body feels
Spice Level: Smooth and sweet my friends
INGREDIENTS
Just yourself and anywhere you can sit or lay down for a few z’s
REASONING AND BENEFITS
Alright, we are finally here, the moment you have all been waiting for, let’s dive into the benefits of a nap. At this time in society, we are all filling up our schedules, we are all busy, and it is often seen as a weakness or a waste of time to get a little midday rest. A common theme throughout this book is making sure you take time to take care of yourself — this is a prime example. Allow yourself to rest when you are tired. When your brain is operating on high, sit or lay down for even just 5-10 minutes to relax your mind, get yourself out of the fight-or-flight stress response, and boost your energy. There are still some napping cultures throughout the world, including South America and the Mediterranean. These napping communities are often called “the places where we forget to die.” (WS 70) Their focus on quality sleep, naps, and a healthy diet appear to be keys to a long healthy life. So how do we nap like an astronaut? Back in the 1990’s, NASA discovered the benefits of napping for their astronauts. This isn’t a nap that will take a lot of time out of your day, they came to the conclusion that a nap of only 26 minutes offered a 34% increase in performance and more than a 50% increase in alertness. (WS 305) This result is staggering. Stop being afraid of rest and try it out for yourself. Start small with a 5-10 minute lay down with slowed breathing to restore your body. There you have it, your ticket to napping.
INSTRUCTIONS
Find some time in the early afternoon to fit in a little rest.
Lay down and slow down your breathing with some inhales through your nose and long extended exhales through your mouth with pursed lips for a couple rounds of breathing.
Start with 5-10 minutes, or be an astronaut and rock 26 minutes, or anywhere in between there and 90 minutes to find that sweet spot for you.
Try to avoid naps longer than 90 minutes (that is the length of one of your sleep cycles), and do not nap after 3 pm because that will make it harder to fall asleep at night. This includes that little nap that you like to take on the couch before bedtime. That little nap can sabotage your quest for quality sleep.
If you are someone who struggles to fall asleep at night, unfortunately napping may not be for you. You want to save up all of your precious sleep pressure that builds during the day for bedtime. When you are able to fall asleep faster at night, then you can start introducing naps into your life and see how they affect you.
PRO TIP: In the past, both of us have looked at napping as a waste of time, as something that is inefficient. We have learned that the opposite is true. You will be able to function so much better if you are more rested. A tired mind isn’t good for yourself, your work, or anyone around you.
* For those short nap opportunities of 5-10 minutes, do not worry if you don’t fall asleep, the simple act of consciously slowing down and slowing your breathing will be a great little reset.
** You don’t have to be circling in space to have a nap, find a way to make it happen in your life and find a length of nap that works for you to feel that energy boost and give your mind a break.
*** Sometimes to be more efficient and have a clear mind, we have to take a step back, napping is a prime example of making that happen.
Dessert Quote:
“Watching someone with a crazy goal give it everything they’ve got and then succeed is so powerful. It’s like magic, because it unlocks potential we didn’t even know we had. It shows us what is possible if we put our mind to something and then back that up with effort.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger, “Be Useful,” p. 69.
Now we want to hear from YOU! Please let us know what you think of today’s newsletter, and send us an example of how you applied the health recipe to your life! We would love to share how you introduced this week’s recipe into your life’s unique menu. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
Sources:
Learn to master your sleep:
Walker, M. (2017). Why we sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. Simon and Schuster.
Learn more about achieving your goals:
Schwarzenegger, A. (2023). Be useful: Seven tools for life. Random House.
