N is for Nap Power #AtoZChallenge

I love encouraging others!

Since I love encouraging others so much, I’m sharing Creativity Memes for this year’s A to Z Blog Challenge. The quotes are from all over, but I took each photo with my iPhone. Here’s today’s featured letter:

N is for Nap Power

I used to push myself to the breaking point, trying to get by with as little sleep as possible. These days, however, I now honor my body’s need for a solid 8 or 9 hours of sleep each night. I wish I could say the reason for this change is that I wisely realized the importance of listening to my body.

The truth is that my body finally got fed up and threw a tantrum. After a health scare or two, I was essentially forced to respect my body’s need for sleep. I feel so much better! And, ironically, I’m actually more productive than when I was pushing myself to death.

Another thing that caused me to look at naps in at sleep in a new light is the time I spent in Italy. Italy is a siesta culture, and from roughly 1-4pm each day, shops close so that people can go home, have lunch with their family and, if they feel like it, take a nap! After a while, I found this to be a very comfortable rhythm.

Here in America, we often scoff at those who nap, as if it’s a sign of weakness. But in Italy, without that nap stigma, I developed a new appreciation for them, and appreciate how they can improve productivity. I don’t nap every day, but when I do, I no longer feel guilty about it.

 What about you? Do you listen to your body’s needs? Do you ever take naps? Has your attitude towards naps, rest and sleeping changed over the years? 

 

Follow me on Instagram & I’ll follow you back!

If you are on Instagram, I’d be delighted to follow you. Simply follow my photo feed (@TuiSnider) on Instagram and I’ll follow you back! Isn’t Instagram fun? I’ve gone from turning up my nose at the idea of cell phone pictures, to being an avid iPhone photographer. I even had my first gallery show last summer!

What is the April A to Z Blog Challenge?

Each April, bloggers from all over the world participate in the April A to Z blog challenge, and you can too. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to meet other bloggers.

To play along, all you do is make a blog post for each letter of the alphabet during April, then visit as many other bloggers as you can. In addition to my personal blog here, I’m also writing A to Z posts for the the Story Dam writing community. You can check those out by clicking here: Story Dam’s Writing Quotes & Encouragement 

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