Welcome back to Savvy Psychologist.

I'm your interim host, Dr. Jade Wu.

While the QDT team searches for a new permanent host for this show,

I'm excited to be back, alternating with Dr. Ellen Hendrickson for the next few weeks.

Every week will help you face life's challenges with evidence-based approaches,

a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment. One cold afternoon in 1869, Russian chemist Dmitri

Menelaev fell asleep on a pile of index cards representing the chemical elements,

only to wake up an hour later,

with the periodic table fully formed in his mind.

Salvador Dali used micro-naps to fuel his surrealist visions, and Winston Churchill insisted that

a daily nap was essential for winning a world war.

Were these geniuses onto something?

Today, we're talking about one of my favorite, and one of the most misunderstood,

topics in sleep science.

That's napping.

Yes, the thing toddlers do, so they don't melt down in grocery stores,

the thing your Mediterranean tour guide disappears to do every afternoon, and the thing you might

secretly crave at 2 p.m. but rarely give yourself permission to take. But we can see from

notable creators and leaders throughout history that NAPS might be a superpower.

And it's not just a few eccentrics. Most cultures outside of modern-day United States

embraced some sort of afternoon napping ritual. Today, we'll dive into what Naps actually do for

your brain and body, who benefits most,

...