Fabulous Friday #12: Naps

Yep, I said it---naps are fabulous. I actually just woke up from one. Apparently, though, naps make some adults feel guilty. I first heard about this in college (a time period when I took daily naps). A professor mentioned that naps for grownups was considered taboo. Rather than argue on the side of the AWNs (adults who nap), I slid down in my seat and fought to keep my eyes open. It was an 8:00 a.m. class, and yes, I went home after my next class and promptly took a nap. I don't remember much about the nap, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say I didn't regret it.
Now, naps for me aren't usually as energizing as they are for most people, but that doesn't stop me from taking, on average, two naps a week. What I mean by that is I almost always wake up from a nap with a headache and am just as tired or more tired than when I lay down in the first place. But the thought of sneaking in a couple hours of nap time during the day is too darn tempting to resist.
And it turns out, my professor was wrong...about the nap thing anyway. She really was quite smart and qualified to teach the classes she taught.
But anyway, there are obviously benefits to catching a few Z's during the day. According to a study (actually more like a Google search I just did), some of the benefits of naps are:

• relaxation
• reduced fatigue
• increased alertness
• improved mood
• improved performance

The website I consulted [read: quickly looked at just now] also gave the downsides to napping. I think it's telling to note that there are only two:

• sleep inertia
• difficulty sleeping at night

I do suffer from sleep inertia (previously mentioned symptoms of headache and grogginess) when I take naps. But I never have trouble sleeping at night...or any other time. So I'll gladly take the sleep inertia on those days when I can take a little cat nap during the day.
So all you AWNs out there, nap often and nap proud. My extensive [read: not extensive at all] research proves that the benefits of napping greatly outweigh the consequences.