Brian Johnson combines napping and meditation into "napitations." He walks through his routine: dark room, earplugs, eye pillow, then a breathing pattern of 6-second inhales, 1-second holds, 8-second exhales for five breaths. Research shows naps as short as six minutes boost cognition and mood.
Questions this episode answers
September 27, 2023.
As short as six minutes (Harvard research).
Inhale for 6 seconds, hold for 1 second, exhale for 8 seconds, repeated five times.
Sometimes around 10 minutes; most days closer to 15–20 minutes.
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Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. So the other day I was taking a little napitation and I thought to myself, self, you should do a plus one on napitations. So here we are. Napitations. Yep, napitations. Part nap, part meditation. We've already done a plus one on the science of naps and how epic they are for our well being. And we know meditation is equally epic and have an entire class on Meditation 101. So why not put the two together? Reminder. Harvard research has shown that a nap as short as six minutes can boost your brain power and mood and everything else. I feel like I get a second day when I take a nap. It's an awesome reboot. And as Sarah Mednick, one of the leading researchers in the field and author of Take a Nap, Change youe Life, puts it, there's no such thing as a bad nap. Any time you spend in midday sleep will reduce the effects of fatigue and bestow benefits. Now I like to take a napitation basically every day. Super simple. Here is how I rock it and of course adapt as necessary to the extent you feel inspired to do so. Now, I work from home and have a simple futon bed in the upstairs master suite we converted into my office. So I shut the blinds, get the blackout curtains in place over the windows to get the room all dark like I'm going to sleep. I pop in some earplugs. I use a brand called Heros, which I highly recommend. H E A R O S OS and if it's a bit loud with the kids downstairs, I'll actually put on heavy duty soundproof earmuffs that are literally for shooters. I use a brand called Clear Armor. These are also great for deep work focus. So it's now quiet and I should say alternatively, on occasion I'll do a guided meditation. My favorite one there, Kelly Howell's Destiny Meditation, which I've done literally hundreds of times. So then I grab an eye pillow to help the old eyeballs relax. Did you know that apparently our eyes carry a ton of tension and that one of the fastest ways to relax is to help your eyes relax? I cannot remember where I read that, but I found it to be true. Therefore I use a little eye pillow. The next Step is simple. Hop in bed. I pull the covers up, drop the eye pillow on the old peepers. Then. Then I breathe into six, hold for one and exhale for eight. Always five times. No thoughts allowed. Just nice deep breaths to that specific count. That's my one minute meditation. I do those five breaths every single time I lay down to take a nap. And I do the exact same thing every single time I get in bed at night. I never allow myself to think. I do more than enough thinking the rest of the day. I breathe into six. I hold for one, I exhale for eight, counting each of the five breaths with the fingers on my right hand. An open palm is one. A thumb touching my thumb touching the pointer finger is number two. The thumb touching the middle finger is number three. The thumb touching the ring finger is number four. The thumb touching the pinky is number five. And I'm deeply relaxed. Those five breaths. I've done this so many times for so long that I can now get myself to drop into a pretty deep state of relaxation after just those five breaths. Consistency is, for me, key. I do the same thing every single time before I nap and sleep. Did I mention that yet? So sometimes I just continue breathing deeply, but most days I fall asleep. Sometimes it's only for around 10 minutes. Most days it's closer to 15 or 20. Every single time I do it, I wake up with a burst of energy. There you go. That's today's plus one. Napitations. They rock. Give it a try if you're feeling so inspired.
We hope you enjoyed today's +1. For more resources to help you move from theory to practice to mastery and express the best, most heroic version of yourself, Head to Heroic US today. And if you liked this episode, please leave a positive review and hit the Follow subscribe button on your platform of choice. And if you liked this episode, please leave a positive review and hit the Follow or Subscribe button on your platform of choice. Also, have you heard the news about Brian's book? Activate your heroic potential. Head to Heroic US Book to learn more and get your copy as as well as check out exclusive content and bonuses. That's Heroic US Book. Let's go hero.
