This short podcast episode (Heroic Plus One #1,352) features Brian Johnson introducing "napitations" — a hybrid of napping and meditation — and making a case for their benefits. He cites historical (Roman "sexta/siesta") and scientific sources (Sarah Mednick's book Take a Nap, Change Your Life), lists many claimed benefits of napping, and offers a step-by-step practical routine (earplugs, blackout curtain, eye mask, breath-counting inhale-6 hold-1 exhale-8) and suggests brief naps (as short as six minutes; he reports feeling re-energized after 7, 11, or 15 minutes). The episode closes with a call to visit Heroic US for more resources.
Questions this episode answers
Take a Nap, Change Your Life.
Inhale through the nose into the belly to a count of 6; hold for 1; exhale through the nose to a count of 8.
Science: naps as short as six minutes can help; host reports feeling re-energized after 7, 11, or 15 minutes.
Sexta (Roman term), surviving as the modern word "siesta".
Plus One number 326.
Hey hero, if you're enjoying these daily plus ones, make sure you head to heroic us to check out all of the other goodness we have to help you activate your best every day. And now, today's Plus One.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. Today I want to talk about napitations. Napitations? Yes, napitations. 50% nap, 50% meditation, 101% heroically energizing. We actually talked about this forever ago in plus one number 326. Here's the deal. In short, science says naps are powerful. In fact, Sarah Mednick wrote a whole book about the power of naps. It's called Take a Nap, Change youe Life. Check out those notes. Did you know that every animal species but humans takes a nap during the day? Yep. Every other animal is multiphasic, meaning that they have many phases of sleep. Homo sapiens, our modern industrialized variety. Anyway, Dr. Mednick tells us, stand alone in attempting to satisfy the need for sleep in one phase. As a Roger E. Kirk, one of the few historians to study sleep, put it napping is a tool as old as time itself. Did you know that the Romans set up their masterpiece days to include a time for naps? Yep. I quote again, by the first century B.C. the Romans had divided their day into periods designated for specific activities such as prayer, meals and rest. Midday became known as sexta, as in the sixth hour, noon by their way of counting, a time when everyone would go to bed. The word has survived in the familiar term siesta. And did you know that there are at least 20 good reasons to take a nap? Yep. According to Dr. Mednick, you should nap if you want to. And I quote again, increase your alertness, make better decisions, Preserve your youthful looks, lose weight, reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke, improve your stamina, elevate your mood, boost your creativity, reduce stress, reduce dependence on drugs and alcohol, alleviate migraines, ulcers and other problems with psychological components. Improve the ease and quality of your nocturnal sleep. And she says, because it feels good. And that's a quick take on the why. Here's the quick take on the how for napitations, or at least how I do it. First, decide it's worth the experiment, then go all in. I personally go into the old bedroom, put in the earplugs, put on the noise canceling headphones to make it quiet. Then I pull the blackout curtain shut to make it dark. Then I hop in bed, pull the covers out up, and act like I mean business as I put on my eye mask little thing. Then I clear my mind as I do my go to breath count and completely relax my body. I breathe in through my nose, down into my belly to a count of six. I hold for one and I exhale back out through my nose for a count of eight. Ah. Repeat thoughts arise. Perfect. Back to our breath count, completely relaxing our body and boom. Science says that a nap is short as six minutes can have incredibly positive benefits. I find that after seven, 11 or 15 minutes I am surprisingly re energized and ready to go dominate the rest of the day napitations. They do a hero good. Try one today.
We hope you enjoyed today's heroic one. For more ancient wisdom, modern science and practical tools to help you flourish in energy, work and love, head to Heroic US where you can get started on your heroic journey for free.
