You Snooze?...You Win!
Updated: Oct 13, 2019
You know the saying, "you snooze, you lose." Well, not when it comes to literally snoozing - you actually win - a lot of amazing mental and physical health benefits!
This is a great article on the health benefits of napping! With CHD it's common to feel guilty, lazy, or embarrassed to take a nap when our body may need it. Maybe this is because of things others have said to you, or maybe it's because of what you tell yourself. Empower yourself with the knowledge of napping and maybe that will take some of those feelings away.
For everyone, especially CHDers, napping is so important!! Or just laying down for 30 minutes and not necessarily sleeping.
Even though it may make us feel old or lazy, what we're actually doing is going to the recharging station (bed/couch) so we can get up more healthy and (sometimes) more energized than before!
I always used to feel guilty or depressed or too ashamed to take a nap because I associated it with being a sick, or weak person. "No one else my age needs naps, no neither do I!" I'd think. I especially wouldn't want anyone knowing I was taking a nap - even my boyfriend. I felt that healthy people think "young" people who take naps are lazy, so I didn't want anyone thinking that either. I hid a lot of my "sick life" things from literally everyone. Its interesting to think me "sneaking off" to take a nap felt like I was doing something wrong, and bad, so Id lie about what I was doing. Then Id lay there trying to take a nap, have panic attacks about what I thought people would think if they knew I was this "young nap taker" and get really really stressed out...sometimes completely unable to actually fall asleep.
I'm pretty sure when I add guilt, shame, and panic attacks to my nap it's an oxymoron anyway which then turns into me either being sick and/ or needing to sleep for 2 days now instead of maybe a few hours. Lol .. it's a continuous learning process for both ourselves and our loved ones as our very fragile bodies change so drastically at such young ages.
Pay attention to your body, listen to the pains and messages in your body, and even if you feel it's inconvenient, lazy, or bad - rest...take care of YOU.
For the longevity of your health - it is extremely important to take care of you - whatever that means for your individual body. If you need to rest 1, 2, 3 or more times a day to be your best self? Do it!
