A snoozer

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
- Sir John Lubbock

Sometimes the most urgent and vital thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest.
– Ashleigh Brilliant

Sleep, love sleep, / The night winds sigh, / In soft lullaby. /

The Lark is at rest / With the dew on her breast. / 
So close those dear eyes, / That borrowed their hue / 
From the heavens so blue, / Sleep, love sleep.  
- Mary Weston Fordham

 ~~~

This post is a little bit of a snoozer (pun intended). I happen to be an untiring advocate for getting a good night’s sleep and enjoying a rare afternoon nap (aka "horizontal life pauses"). When with my preschool-aged grandkids, I think it most loving to fit in an afternoon nap.

So the findings of this article caught my eye “Midday naps boost learning in preschoolers” --
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst speculated that since sleep boosts memory in young adults, perhaps naps do the same for young children. Their research, published in Sept 2013, reports “that classroom naps support learning in preschool children by enhancing memories acquired earlier in the day compared with equivalent intervals spent awake.” (If you’re wondering about nap length: 75 minute naps did the trick.)

Just for fun, here’s a few other brain benefits of sleep – culled from recent research - to encourage us to head for bed a little earlier (if you want more, google “importance of sleep” and you’ll be inundated with info):

 -regenerates brain support cells: Scientists from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, (as published in the September 4 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience and Science News article here) have discovered that sleep increases the reproduction of cells (namely, oligodendrocytes) that form myelin - the insulating material found on nerve cell projections in the brain and spinal cord.

 -benefits brain function: Recent research from Brown University suggests that sleep helps our brains to better learn specific motor tasks, such as typing or playing the piano.

 -improved frontal lobe activity: In 2012 a study from the University of California suggested that a bad night's sleep can lead to unhealthy food choices by impairing activity in the frontal lobe of the brain - an area vital for making good food choices (and wise choices in general).

 -less sensitive to negative emotions: The BPS Research Digest explores another study that proves sleep affects our sensitivity to negative emotions. Using a facial recognition task over the course of a day, the researchers found that those who worked through the afternoon without taking a nap became more sensitive late in the day to negative emotions like fear and anger.


It’s not just sleep at night that is beneficial. Resting during the day is good for you too! 


Try some meditation – a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital looked at the brain scans of 16 people before and after they participated in an eight-week course in mindfulness meditation. The study, published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, concluded that after completing the course, parts of the participants’ brains associated with compassion and self-awareness grew, and parts associated with stress shrank (cited at this blog post, and more on meditation at this 9/6/12 post).
 

Do something mindless – mindlessness prompts the brain to relax, allowing deeper material from the unconscious to surface – and all kinds of creative solutions with it, says Carrie Barron, MD, author of The Creativity Cure. A study from the UK found that people assigned to a dull activity showed the strongest innovative thinking later (sorry, I can’t find the study: feel free to question anything I write).  

A good rest is half the work. – Proverb

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. -Hans Hofmann, painter (1880-1966)

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." 
- Jesus, Matthew 11:28-29

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes. – Etty Hillesum