Take a Nap and Have Recess!

Remember the dreaded nap in kindergarten? I am amazed by the number of high school students who tell me they could do so much better if they could just take a twenty minute nap after lunch.

Everyone loved recess in elementary school but somewhere along the line – maybe around 5th grade it turned into ‘P.E.’ and just wasn’t fun anymore. It was as if we ‘grew out’ of playing and had to be made to exercise or play a game.


I personally loved naptime and recess so now I take a 20 minute power nap most days and I refuse to exercise….I play.

I wake up most mornings around 4:45-5am without trying and most nights I find it hard to fall asleep. I have been told this is due to ‘getting older.’ This amazes me because when I was in my twenties, and going to dental school while raising a kid, I would have loved to be able go to bed at 11:45 and wake up before the alarm goes off! I actually have time to sleep in NOW but sleep eludes me!

I do have a hard time in the afternoons however. I always drag around 2-3pm. I could literally fall asleep standing up. So I listen to my body and nap. Usually only just for 15-20 minutes but when I wake up, I am refreshed and ready for the rest of the day. When I travel to continuing education meetings, I take lunch to my hotel room so I can catch a cat-nap before the afternoon sessions. I return to the afternoon session charged and ready to go, while the other attendees are struggling to keep their eyes open.

It was hard to nap at first, I had to train my mind and body to relax. I set an alarm and told myself that I would rest for twenty minutes and then I could get back to the 50 things left on my to-do list for that day. Gradually I taught myself to relax and doze only a few minutes after closing my eyes. Incredibly, I now wake up on my own after about 20 minutes without setting the alarm on my phone.

I also play every day – I do not exercise.

Exercise is boring and is something no one wants to do…but everyone likes to play. I ride my bike while listening to the iPod on my iPhone. While riding, I test myself using a ‘speedomoter?- can I get to the next street in 20 seconds. Can I get around the block before this song is over? Can I peddle nonstop through Lynard Skynard’s Freebird?

I make a game while lifting weights as well. I have been trained by a personal trainer and understand the philosophy of weight training but find it somewhat boring. I love to weight train however – because you get a big payoff for a just a small amount of effort. So I mix up the exercises. I do not do one set of the same movement after another – I do arm curls then drop to the ground for pushups then repeat. On the treadmill I run for 1 min walk for 1 min then get off and do twenty crunches – then back on the treadmill. Working out this was accomplishes two things; it keeps my mind occupied and my body challenged because it never figures out what I am going to do next.

Don’t forget your kids and pets! My husband could play table tennis with my son for hours. My daughter loves to chase our dogs in the backyard. We got an X-box Kinect for Christmas and my friends tell me they love playing Wii with their kids. Yes, you are playing, but the activity will benefit your mind, body and your relationship with your family. . . unless they are poor losers.

Well, it’s getting to be around 2pm so . . .excuse me while I go take a nap!