‘Democracy Nap’ Wellness Coaches Report 300% Spike in Blanket Requests, Booked Solid Through Thanksgiving

Certified democracy nap coaches across the region are reporting a 300 percent spike in blanket requests following Tuesday’s election, with most practitioners booked solid through Thanksgiving and waitlists stretching into the new year.

“The democracy nap is a 20-minute civic power nap taken in the immediate aftermath of exercising your right to vote,” explained Tanya Redding, Certified Rest Practitioner and founder of the Center for Electoral Repose. “You vote, you come home, you lie down, and you let the republic handle itself for a while. It is the single healthiest thing an American can do on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.”

Redding’s practice has seen demand surge to unprecedented levels. Her signature offering — the Ballot Box Weighted Blanket Session, in which clients rest beneath a 25-pound blanket shaped like a ballot box while listening to a looped recording of a poll worker saying “I voted sticker? We have plenty” — now carries a three-week waitlist. “People are exhausted,” Redding said. “Not from voting. From the group chat.”

The wellness trend has spawned an entire micro-economy. Local retailers report shortages of eye masks, lavender sachets, and what one store manager called “aggressively soft throw blankets.” A startup called Snooze the Vote is selling democracy nap kits containing earplugs, a sleep mask printed with the words DO NOT WAKE UNLESS RECOUNT, and a small card reading “You did your part. The group chat can wait.”

Testimonials are pouring in. Gary Lindqvist, 54, of Millbrook, described achieving what his coach called “a textbook democracy nap” — 22 minutes of deep, dreamless sleep on his couch, still wearing his “I Voted” sticker. “I woke up refreshed, hydrated, and completely uninterested in checking my phone,” Lindqvist said. “My coach says that’s the gold standard. My wife says it’s the first time I’ve napped without snoring since 2019.”

Not everyone is convinced. Dr. Helen Marsh, a sleep researcher unaffiliated with the movement, cautioned that the democracy nap “is just a nap,” adding, “but honestly, given the alternative coping mechanisms, I fully endorse it. Nap away.”

Redding’s new group sessions — “Precinct Rest Circles,” in which entire volunteer teams nap together in a church basement — have drawn particular interest. “There’s something powerful about twelve canvassers snoring in unison,” she said. Not everyone approves: rival coach Brad Mercer, founder of the “Power Through” movement, calls the democracy nap “a surrender nap.” Redding’s response: “Brad hasn’t slept since October. You can tell. His eye is twitching.”

Redding, meanwhile, is expanding. She has hired four associate coaches, ordered 200 additional ballot-box blankets, and begun offering group sessions for entire precinct volunteer teams. “Democracy is a marathon,” she said, dimming the lights in her studio. “And marathons require rest stops.”