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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Saturday, March 30, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Sonya’s new chairs want to catch you napping

Busy mum Sonya Georgalis knows a lot about lack of sleep, which is why she opened Snoozapalooza in Civic to give people a chance to refresh and relax. This is a sponsored post.

Sonya Georgalis and her Snoozapalooza pod chair… “It’s private, quiet and a safe place to take a nap. You will rejuvenate your mind and body.”

AS a busy mum of four, Sonya Georgalis knows a lot about lack of sleep. 

“When I went back to work after maternity leave, I was so tired. I used to nap in the car during my lunch break,” she recalls her time working as an administrative professional.

“It was tough being back at work and very demanding,” she says.

Sonya says she used to attend a lunchtime yoga class, but primarily just for the chance to have 10 minutes of “savasana” relaxation at the end in which she used to close her eyes and have a short sleep during that time.   

Sonya noticed that most of her class also fell asleep during the relaxation and wondered if there were others like her who only wanted to take a nap, rather than do an entire yoga class.

The EnergyPod.

Later, when travelling, Sonya noticed an “EnergyPod” chair in an airport departure terminal for travellers in transit to take a nap.

She was inspired to do her research on the chair and understand more about the benefits of napping.

“I thought the pod chairs were brilliant and wondered how I could bring them to Canberra for everyone – office workers, shift workers, new mums or tired students,” she says.

Created in the US, Sonya discovered that the EnergyPod chair was designed by NASA and is the world’s first chair designed for napping.

And a 20-minute nap is all a person needs to feel some amazing benefits to their health and well-being.

“A nap decreases blood pressure, stress and anxiety as well as increases creativity and productivity. Studies have shown that a nap increases memory performance and cognitive function,” she says.

“Twenty minutes is an optimal period of time as it doesn’t impact on nighttime sleep and you are less likely to wake up feeling groggy. It is also the optimum time to improve mental operations, performance and alertness.”

Sonya opened Snoozapalooza in Civic last month, the first shop of its kind in the ACT with two pod chairs, each in their own private room for those seeking a short break in their busy day to refresh and relax.

“People have taken a nap and thanked me. They have asked me ‘where have you been all my life?’” she says.

The comfortable chairs offer three different music settings – nature, classical or a guided meditation.

“People start making lists in their minds and can find it hard to rest so I recommend they listen to the guided meditation to keep their thoughts from wandering,” says Sonya.

“There are also noise-cancelling headphones if people just want to block everything out.

“Once you hop in, you lie back and the chair elevates your feet to about the level of your heart, known as a ‘zero gravity’ effect. It’s a gentle tilt but it is proven to be the best position for circulation and relaxation.”

The EnergyPod allows the user to set the length of time and at the expiration of the timer, the pod will wake the user up gently with a combination of lights and vibration.

Starting her own business has been an exciting step for Sonya and she now wishes that Snoozapalooza was available to her back when she was a tired working mum, falling asleep in her yoga class.    

“If Snoozapalooza was around I could’ve easily had my nap and still had additional time to do other necessary things in my lunch break,” she says.

Sonya encourages people to take some time out and try the experience of Snoozapalooza.

“It’s private, quiet and a safe place to take a nap. You will rejuvenate your mind and body” she says.

Snoozapalooza, 70 Bunda Street, 1st Floor, Garema Centre, Canberra City. Walk-ins are welcome or bookings available via
snoozapalooza.com.au

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