Fit Friday: Power Naps!

What time did you go to bed last night? What time did you wake up? How many hours of sleep did you get exactly? 6 1/2 hours? That's not enough! Studies show that 7 hours of sleep is the minimum hours of sleep an adult can get to perform at peak performance. Some of us even need 8-9 hours of sleep.

What is stealing sleep from you? Can I honestly say that this blog causes me to lose sleep! I usually write my blogs late at night or early early in the morning. In order to get enough sleep I have to be extremely disciplined to turn off the television at night and get to bed. I have to put the book down that I am devouring and turn out the light. In pre-blog days that was no trouble and I was very disciplined. But now I find my creative juices flowing at odd hours of the night when I should be in bed - this never happened before!

But before the blog came along - it was my sweet babies who kept me awake at all hours of the night! We mommies can't avoid those night wakings - so what are we to do? We can't take 2 hour afternoon naps. And if we did, then we would not be able to fall asleep at night. So what's my solution?

POWER NAPS!!! I have discovered that setting my alarm for just a 5-20 minute power nap can help me find the energy I need to make it through the late afternoon and evening. I take a power nap about once to twice a week. It is commonly on the days that I get under 7 hours of sleep. Rather than eating a snack to give me energy - which rarely works - I try to take a power nap to give me energy.

Can I add that I think that power naps are necessary to our spiritual well being! That's a big claim isn't it! But we all know that a tired mommy/wife is a mean mommy/wife! When we are exhausted words slip out of our mouths that we should not say. We are less apt to be patient, kind, caring, considerate, compassionate, or even reasonable.

Mothers - guard your sleep very carefully! Don't trade your sleep for late nights on facebook, watching movies or reading books. Our bodies were created to require rest. We must discipline ourselves to give our bodies what it needs.

My prayer for you is I Thessalonians 5:23 - "May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Walk with the King!

http://www.womenlivingwell.org/