The Benefits of taking a Nap

You may have heard the benefits of taking a nap. This short sleep time in the afternoon has a good effect on recharging your brain, giving you more energy to carry on with the activities of the day. At the same time, a nap can be both an art and a science. You can very well plan your ideal nap, including how long to take a nap and at what time. The experts on the subject of sleep are of the view that a short duration of ten to twenty minute power nap will give you the best performance for the rest of the day.

At the same time, depending on what you want the nap to do for you, other durations may also be ideal. If you want a quick boost of alertness, experts say that a ten to twenty minute nap is more than enough to get back to your work in a flash. This short duration of ten to twenty minutes usually limits you to lighter stages of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, making it easier to get up immediately after waking. For cognitive memory processing, however, a sixty minute nap may be better as per a specialist in sleep, who is also an author of a book on sleep including slow-wave sleep.

As per that specialist the deeper type of sleep helps you to remember faces, places and other facts. The only problem with this type of deep sleep is that you may face some tiredness, upon waking. To conclude, the ninety minute nap probably involves a full sleep cycle, which helps inspiration and procedural and emotional memory, such as learning to ride a motorcycle. As per the doctors, waking up after REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, generally means a minimal amount of sleep inaction. In addition to these suggestions, a surprising advice is to take your nap in a sitting position (good for office workers), with the spine erect to some extent.

This will help you prevent a deep sleep. If possible, thirty minute naps should also be avoided. It is because they would leave you in the middle of the road with a feeling of confusion and drunkenness that can last for another thirty minutes after waking until the healing effects of rest are felt. Sometimes, you may find yourself dreaming during naps. If so, it may be a sign that you are sleep deprived.

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