Naps are the best thing in the world. I feel so happy when I am able to get one. And a sunbeam nap is the best kind of nap of all. This is one of the great life lessons I have learned from having cats (although my dog is also fond of the sunbeam nap). If there’s a sunbeam shining into the house you can bet that at least one of my pets is lying directly in that beam happily snoring away.
According to classic Ayurveda you are supposed to avoid naps during the day. When I first started studying Ayurveda I found this very difficult because while I understood the intention behind this rule, I was exhausted and taking a nap made me feel like a decent human again. It didn’t even make me want to stay up later, I could still go to sleep at my regular time. In fact, one of the best things I did for myself was read the first chapter of The Happiness Project where she talked about her decision to get a good night’s sleep. For the last two years I have been pretty fierce about being in bed, 10 toes up by 9:00 and lights out by 9:30. I usually get up around 5:00, although sometimes sleep in until 6:30 (or every once in a while later). According to Ayurveda you should sleep between the hours of 10:00pm and 6:00am.
I was struggling with how I was going to make this work. How do I follow these guidelines and not nap during the day when I feel so drained and tired, but feel so much better when I can get in a little cat-nap during the day? Fortunately during one of my early classes my instructor explained that our culture is so chronically sleep deprived that we generally fall into one of the exceptions given whereby it actually is recommended that we take a nap. Thank Goodness.
As I’m (finally) getting some of my reserves back, regaining some strength in my physical body and in my soul I am finding I don’t crave the nap every afternoon the way I used to. Before I used to sit down at 1:00 and have a cup of Earl Grey or something of the sort (usually also accompanied by a sugar craving) to jolt myself awake enough to get through the rest of the day. After I stopped drinking caffeine, I discovered that if I gave myself that 20-30 minute time to just lie down and close my eyes it did a better, more effective job of pushing my re-start button.
Today however, was a nap day. We got home from church, had lunch and then the three of us each bolted upstairs. This was followed by the sound of three doors slamming shut and words like “don’t come talk to me unless the house is on fire or you’re dying” before all of us lay down for a little while. I opened my blinds and discovered that a bright, happy sunbeam was shining in on my bed. I lay down in the middle of said sunbeam, closed my eyes, and drifted off for a little while. Ok, today may have been a long while. But, I feel awesome for having done it. All three of us are in such better moods.
Today, my 7th day of 44 days of happiness is the joy in an afternoon sunbeam nap.
