Tired from the time change? You deserve a nap today

Yawn.

Don’t try and tell us it wasn’t tough waking up Monday, after having to set our clocks forward one hour early Sunday morning, when Daylight Saving Time started up again.

Good thing it’s National Napping Day. William Anthony, Ph.D., a Boston University Professor and his wife, Camille Anthony, created National Napping Day in 1999 to bring attention to how important sleep is to our overall physical and emotional well-being, according to the National Day Calendar, which lists this as well as other unauthorized “holidays.”

It couldn’t have come at a better time, says Dr. Param Dedhia, director of sleep medicine at Canyon Ranch in Tucson. He’s in South Florida for the similarly well timed World Sleep Day, on Friday, when he’ll speak at the Robb Report Health + Wellness conference at the 1 Hotel South Beach (tickets here).

“Research supports the observation that when we do not sleep well that we cannot optimally heal or perform,” said Dedhia. “Moreover, we appreciate that sleep impacts our recovery physically as well as mentally and emotionally each night. Simply put, our abilities to think clearly, process complex items, learn tasks, soothe emotions or tolerate distress are all limited when sleep is limited. Sleep requires both quantity and quality. Hence, naps may be a helpful way to add quantity and possibly quality sleep to our 24 hour days.”

The doctor cites the work by Dr. Mark Rosekind, who had a PhD in sleep and chronobiology, from his NASA research back in 1995. The doctor noted that a 26-minute nap would improve performance and alertness.

So start your siesta planning now: Bed? Couch? Under the desk, George Costanza-style? Park bench? Car (while it’s in park, please)?

Yes, sleep-deprived folks: Before you doze, show where you will be getting comfortable, and use #NationalNappingDay on social media.

You’ll be glad you did.

“Of interest and importance is the benefit of naps even in those individuals who are well rested,” added Dedhia. “Although napping is common for those who have been deprived of sleep or those anticipating a lack of sleep, some individuals have touted that they experience much joy from napping. Napping improves subjective levels of sleepiness and fatigue. Moreover, research has shown benefits on multiple levels of performance such as alertness, vigilance, accuracy, reaction time, reasoning skills, and recognition capacity.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2018 at 1:20 PM with the headline "Tired from the time change? You deserve a nap today."