The Art of the Cat Nap

Last updated on: May 25, 2013 at 7:11 am by Kelly Sullivan Walden

The Art of the Cat Nap 2013-05-22T20:23:32-06:00 Kelly Sullivan Walden

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Change doesn’t care if we accept or resist it. I happen to believe that taking lots of naps along the way facilitates the changes. Changing your life can happen when you’re not trying so hard, or when you’re asleep! I think that change often slips in when we’re relaxed inside of ourselves. The process of truly becoming yourself takes a lot of energy, and this energy can be replenished during naps.

~SARK

Regarding dream Activation, Thomas Edison is the poster child. If he was correct that invention is 99% perspiration, then where does the 1% inspiration come from? If he were alive to answer that question, I’d bet he would say, “In Your Dreams.”

Edison had a love/hate relationship with sleep. Instead of getting a full eight hours of sleep at night, Edison would sleep approximately four hours and take catnaps in the afternoon. Sometimes he would stop in the midst of grappling with an invention and with a specific question on his mind, take a catnap while sitting upright in a chair. He would place a weight in the palm of each hand, and a plate on the floor beneath each hand. He knew when he heard the clamor of the weight hitting the plate he had entered into sleep…and the dream portal was open. He would then write down whatever dream wisp he could catch or whatever thought was passing through the sky of his mind. More often than not he would find the dream wisp to be the answer to his question, or at least a step in the right direction. Not only did this process minimize some of his 99% perspiration, but it led to over 1,000 patents!

According to research by the 26Loughborough Sleep Research Centre, “Humans function best when they sleep twice a day: the main one at night and the second in the afternoon. Their research shows that short naps can improve stamina and concentration.”

So, if you get a little sleepy during the afternoon and find it a challenge to stay focused on the task at hand, don’t reach for a Red Bull to power your way through the day. Tell your boss that even doctors now agree a short nap during this ‘low energy’ time can be highly productive, especially if you incubate your dreams with a work-related question. Companies that intend to increase productivity and become leaders in their respective fields would be well advised to enroll employees in a Power Nap Policy.

Will you give yourself permission to catnap today? If so, describe a snippet of a dream from your catnap.

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Excerpted from It’s All In Your Dreams (Conari Press). Once you buy your copy, click here to receive $4,000 worth of fr*ee dreamy gifts throughout the month of May.

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Join the conversation! Post your dream on Dreams Cloud, then tweet it using #DreamChallenge.

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