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The Power Of Downtime

July 15, 2015 by Giulietta Nardone

The Power of Downtime

My favorite part of a yoga class has always been savasana or corpse pose, the part at the end where I get to fall asleep on the mat with a blanket over me. Golly, I could rest like that for a few hours, but the yoga teachers always wake me up after a measly 5 minutes. I’d love to take a yoga class that was 90% savasana. Or would that be a nap?

Not sure, but naps are awesome as well. I always had a tough time at my 9 to 5 jobs because I like to nap around 3 — I NEED to nap around 3. I would close my eyes in mid afternoon and face the wall. If someone walked in, I’d snap awake. I had another job where I’d lock the door and sleep on the couch. Not sure why businesses don’t have nap rooms for the employees. A tired employee can barely stay awake, let alone perform a job function. It’s 15 minutes well spent by an employee.

I toss walking into my downtime pot as well. It relaxes me to stroll around my neighborhood in non-electronic mode. Not in a race to get anywhere, just ambling along with creative brainstorms flashing across my mind. Maybe that’s why I like to have wine with friends. It’s a slow activity centered around relaxing and conversing.

For me, downtime makes me feel more awake, more alert, more happy. I’d like to see schools implement downtime as well. The kids hop from one activity to another, when I bet a lot of them might like a nap. Why we think naps are just for tiny children makes no sense to me. (more…)