You're listening to Life Kit from npr.
Hey, it's Marielle.
Before we start the episode, I want to thank you for listening to Life Kit and to ask you a favor.
We'd love to know what you think about the podcast.
Help us out,
tell us what you like and how we can improve by completing a short anonymous survey@npr.org lifekitsurvey.
We'll also have a link in our episode description and thank you.
So every time I take a nap, it's the same routine.
You know, I'm on my couch, my eyes start closing, and I decide, screw it, I'm going all in.
This nap may mess me up later, but there is nowhere else in the world I'd rather be right now.
And it is happening.
I don't even set an alarm.
And then I wake up like four hours later feeling groggy, often a little sad,
and guilty for having slept so long so close to my bedtime.
So, look, it turns out we're actually wired to take some kind of break or rest during the day,
which can include naps.
Our body's internal clock, our circadian rhythm, is built to have these natural dips.
Whether it's because the midday sun is too hot for us hunter gatherers to, you know,
be functioning at that time for whatever reason, we evolved to have this little early afternoon dip.
And if we sort of ride that dip and take our nap as we're feeling that,