Nap Class Is on the Menu at European Fitness Club David Lloyd
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When you’re tired at work, pulling a George Costanza and napping under your desk is tempting but not the best option. Instead, why not sign up for a midday nap class?
European fitness club David Lloyd has developed what it thinks may be the cure to lunchtime sleepiness—“Napercise” class. As detailed in a video the gym released, the 45-minute-long class starts with gentle stretching and then uninterrupted nap time in your very own bed. The class is geared toward parents, because according to the video, a quarter of parents sleep for less than five hours a night and nearly a fifth of parents admit to falling asleep while on the job.
“The frantic nature of modern life means that few of us seem to get enough sleep, and if you’re a parent, a good night’s rest becomes even more of a luxury,“ reads the course description on David Lloyd’s website. “So [we’ve] created a new group class—group napping classes for exhausted mums and dads to help boost their mental and physical well-being.” The description also explains that the class “is designed to reinvigorate the mind, the body, and even burn the odd calorie.”
SELF recently spoke with Yelena Pyatkevich, M.D., director of the neurology clerkship and associate director of sleep disorders at Boston Medical Center and Dianne Augelli, M.D., a sleep expert at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine to find out exactly what happens when we don’t get enough sleep. They explained that lack of sleep can cause a “fuzzy” brain, mood swings, a heightened appetite for fried foods, a slowed metabolism, a weakened immune system, and more. So maybe a nap in the middle of the day is just what some of us need.
SELF also interviewed two doctors about other ways to reenergize yourself when your desk starts to look about as comfortable as your bed. Rachel Salas, M.D., an associate professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine and Taz Bhatia, M.D., an integrative medicine expert, suggested taking a walk outside, meditating, coloring, chatting, using aromatherapy, eating high-protein foods or dark chocolate, and working out.
Trials of the David Lloyd nap class will be this coming weekend on April 29 and 30. Watch their promo video here.
This story originally appeared on Self.
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