{"id":1643,"date":"2015-04-22T17:21:45","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T17:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:39:57","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T17:39:57","slug":"the-power-of-the-nap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html","title":{"rendered":"The Power of the Nap"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of Lavoview\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I was first diagnosed with lupus, one of the things I learned was that the fatigue of a flare can be overwhelming. “Bone-numbing” is a description I’ve used a lot to try to help others understand how beyond-tired I can suddenly feel. \u00a0Of course, as with many lupus patients, my diagnosis did not happen exactly when the disease first presented itself. I probably had lupus way before a doctor figured it out – I had no clue what lupus even was until my rheumatologist told me that’s what she thought I had.<\/p>\n

One thing I did know way before lupus, however, was the power of the nap. The llooonnng nap – two or three hours of snoozing away in the middle of the day. Ah, what a wonderful thing!\u00a0You can imagine, then, how delighted I was when my doctor told me that I had to rest,\u00a0had<\/em> to<\/em> take naps! Being given permission to nap was much like being told I could eat a whole, big bar of chocolate in one sitting! \u00a0Yes, lupus has its perks; I’m always looking for a bright side, and when it comes to allowing for rest and, especially, naps, for me, there’s no question.<\/p>\n

Turns out, too, that a growing body of research is showing that even short naps in the middle of the day can have some benefits. Naps can rejuvenate our minds, helps tense muscles relax, and allow the subconscious to work on pesky problems whose solutions elude us in the glare of a full-forward workday.\u00a0Yup, naps are not just beneficial to pre-schoolers and kindergarteners!<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we might view taking time to nap as a weakness. But whether you have a chronic illness like lupus or a highly stressful job that requires extended hours of attention, you might think about tapping into the power of napping. You might wake up to a whole new level of you!<\/p>\n

Joys,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was first diagnosed with lupus, one of the things I learned was that the fatigue of a flare can be overwhelming. “Bone-numbing” is a description I’ve used a lot to try to help others understand how beyond-tired I can suddenly feel. \u00a0Of course, as with many lupus patients, my diagnosis did not happen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1422,4,1047,578,379,1245,1421],"tags":[1674,18,1675,1676,1672,465,1677,369,1673],"class_list":["post-1643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-chronic-pain-and-the-holidays","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-lupus-2","category-positive","category-take-some-time-to-rest","tag-chronic-illness-and-napping","tag-lupus","tag-lupus-fatigue","tag-lupus-fatigue-and-napping","tag-nap","tag-napping","tag-permission-to-rest","tag-stress-relief","tag-taking-a-nap"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of the Nap - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of the Nap - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I was first diagnosed with lupus, one of the things I learned was that the fatigue of a flare can be overwhelming. “Bone-numbing” is a description I’ve used a lot to try to help others understand how beyond-tired I can suddenly feel. \u00a0Of course, as with many lupus patients, my diagnosis did not happen…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-22T17:21:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-27T17:39:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2014\/05\/Meerkat-resting-by-Lavoview-FDP-300x199.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Power of the Nap - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Power of the Nap - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"When I was first diagnosed with lupus, one of the things I learned was that the fatigue of a flare can be overwhelming. “Bone-numbing” is a description I’ve used a lot to try to help others understand how beyond-tired I can suddenly feel. \u00a0Of course, as with many lupus patients, my diagnosis did not happen…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2015-04-22T17:21:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-04-27T17:39:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2014\/05\/Meerkat-resting-by-Lavoview-FDP-300x199.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html","name":"The Power of the Nap - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2014\/05\/Meerkat-resting-by-Lavoview-FDP-300x199.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-22T17:21:45+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-27T17:39:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2014\/05\/Meerkat-resting-by-Lavoview-FDP-300x199.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2014\/05\/Meerkat-resting-by-Lavoview-FDP-300x199.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/04\/the-power-of-the-nap.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Power of the Nap"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1644,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1643\/revisions\/1644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}