A Simple Way to Lower Blood Pressure

“I think you should take a nap during the day for a while.”

I heard this from my wife, Elle, my friend and colleague Christine, and my acupuncturist, Margaret Webb (who by the way is fantastic).

Ok – three points of data – I get it.

Why do I need to take a nap?

Well, as some of you know, I herniated a disc in my spine back in 2008 which seriously disrupted my sleep (and if you want to read the whole journey from injury to health, click on “Rebuilding DK” under categories on that blog). And before that, I had spent quite a while trying to solve a “spine pain during the night” syndrome that I had had for many years. And just as I finally got it under control, I then had the herniation and everything went to hell.

So, after the herniation, I had to approach the problem differently and just as I was getting close to solving it, I tore the rotator cuff in my right shoulder.

And there goes my sleep again slip slidin’ away only now it’s because of my shoulder.

After several months of working on my shoulder and getting it healthy again, my spine pain returned to visit during the night. So for the last year, I’ve slept 4-5 hours to be awakened by my gnarly friend Mr. Pain. And I can tell you this. Life on five hours sleep is not much fun (as I’m sure many of you with children or coming off an injury, illness, or surgery know all about).

But it’s getting better although a bit like a kid learning to ride a bike – not very smooth and predictable.

Hence – the naps.

But, there’s some good news about naps other than restoring my seriously depleted sleep account.

Naps can lower your blood pressure too.

A study done by researchers at Allegheny College¹, found that subjects who took a 45 minute nap during the day after taking a stress test had lower blood pressure than those who did not nap.

So, if you’re feeling a little stressed, don’t sleep enough, or already have high blood pressure, go visit nappy’s house for a bit. You’ll likely find me there.

Naps are good.

1. Brindle RC and Conklin S (2011). Daytime sleep accelerates cardiovascular recovery after psychological stress. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine; DOI 10.1007/s12529-011-9150-0 [↩]