In our time, most of us have difficulty finding the time in our daily lives to enjoy a short afternoon nap, while there are others who don't want to hear about it at all.

The city lifestyle doesn't help either, where office work, the fast pace of life, technology and the distractions it brings keep us away from the deep need to truly take care of ourselves.

Although the afternoon nap has been considered sacred in many parts of the world - for thousands of years - nowadays, the hours when the sun is still high in the sky are intertwined with work and productivity in general.

And yet, as science better understands the physiology of sleep and how our internal "clock" works, we understand why our ancestors held the afternoon nap in such high regard.

It's all a matter of timing.

A long nap has longer-lasting benefits compared to a short one, but with a price: it causes dizziness and a feeling of disorientation for a long time after waking up.

Regardless of the length of your nap, scientists confirm that napping during the day can lead to a number of mental and physiological benefits. Now, how you benefit from a nap depends largely on the stage of sleep in which you wake up.

A typical sleep cycle lasts 90 to 110 minutes and consists of 4 stages that distinguish between REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and NREM (non-REM) sleep:

• Stage 1 (NREM): Lasts 5 to 10 minutes and is the transitional phase from wakefulness to sleep. This is light sleep but can cause intense and vivid sensations
• Stage 2 (NREM): Lasts about 20 minutes and marks the official start of sleep. Also light sleep with stage 1 but more rhythmic and more relaxing for the mind and body (drop in body temperature, muscle relaxation, slowing of heart rate). This phase is also characterized by the presence of spindles, which are believed to play a role in important role in memory consolidation .
• Stage 3 (NREM): This is where deep sleep begins and the body begins to repair damaged tissues. Stage 3 sleep is also the most difficult to wake up, leaving you feeling groggy and completely disoriented.
• REM: Begins about 90 minutes into the sleep cycle and varies in duration. This is the stage where we dream and our body is paralyzed. Waking up during REM sleep allows for maximum relaxation as well as easy wakefulness for the individual.

[Read: How to increase deep sleep ]

How long should you sleep at noon?

According to research, even a 10- or 20-minute nap can help you restore lost energy and clear your mind. This, as you can imagine, can dramatically benefit you at work, as it's like starting your day all over again, refreshed and focused.

Furthermore, because the brain progresses through a series of distinct stages after you fall asleep, naps of different lengths can have completely different effects.

In most cases, a short nap of between 20 and 30 minutes is ideal because the brain does not have time to progress to the deep sleep stage. In experiments conducted, it was found that short naps of this duration do not lead to dizziness and a feeling of drowsiness, on the contrary they promote a brief "burst" of energy and alertness.

But if you sleep for 45 to 90 minutes, your brain will enter what's called slow-wave sleep, which is the deepest stage of sleep. If you wake up during this phase, you're sure to "ruin" the rest of your day, as you'll feel drowsy, clumsy, and in a bad mood for at least an hour (scientists call this phenomenon "sleep paralysis"). sleep inertia ).

The interesting thing is that - according to studies - long naps lead to longer periods of alertness, so if, for example, you are driving for many hours and want to stay focused, a longer nap may be the solution to achieve your goal.

All you need to do after you wake up is give yourself more time to recover.

The sleep of success

In some parts of the world, the culture of napping has been embraced in workplaces. In Japan and the In Korea , workers are encouraged to take a midday nap to increase their productivity. This trend has also been adopted by some of the world's largest technology companies, such as Google and Uber .

For the ideal nap, find a quiet and comfortable place that will help you fall asleep easily. Set your alarm to go off after 20 minutes, but also allow for about 5-10 minutes for you to fall asleep.

Take off with a... napuccino!

If you want to take it a step further, drink a cup of coffee before your nap. It may sound crazy, but the results are impressive.

THE restorative sleep (Coffee nap, caffeine nap, occasionally napuccino) was invented by British researchers Horn and Reyner to be more effective than classic sleep in improving alertness and cognitive function.

Here's why it works: It takes about 20 minutes for caffeine to travel through your gastrointestinal tract and bloodstream to reach your brain. Plus, caffeine makes you feel more energetic by replacing a chemical called adenosine, which makes you feel tired — and sleep naturally clears adenosine from your brain.

This means that when you wake up after 20 minutes and the caffeine reaches the brain, it has less adenosine to compete with, enhancing the effect of the caffeine. Some studies have shown that people who take a nap after a cup of coffee are more alert and perform better on memory tests than those who simply drink coffee (without sleeping) or simply sleep without coffee.

10 science-based reasons to start taking a nap

The steady and gentle pressure exerted by the Prosleep gravity blanket can help you fall asleep faster in the afternoon, as it relaxes the nervous system and reduces cortisol levels in the body.

So here are 10 science-backed reasons why you should consider incorporating a nap into your daily life.

1. Improves memory and learning

A quick nap in the afternoon can help us store in our memory what we have just learned (e.g. in students). Even 20 minutes of sleep can clear our minds, help consolidate already learned information, and allow our brain to take in new material faster and more efficiently.

In short, it's like pressing the "Save" button on our computer to store in its memory all the work we have done previously.

Even in the early stages of sleep, the brain begins to clear adenosine - a chemical that is created as we work and learn. This means that when we wake up, the brain is now able to collect more information, since it has extra free space. A slightly longer nap of 60-90 minutes has even more benefits, since it mimics nighttime sleep and allows us to learn twice as fast.

2. Improves mental and physical alertness

As we go through the day, we naturally lose energy. Our brains start to wander, get distracted, and forget to give us short breaks in whatever we're doing. This situation usually translates into low productivity, which in some jobs can be disastrous.

To fix this problem , a Harvard study recommends a 20-40 minute nap so that the person who naps can be more alert, have better reflexes, and make fewer mistakes. Brain scans show that people who nap perform better at work because their brains are functioning exactly as they would after a night's sleep.

3. Boosts mental health

Combined with mild exercise, regular naps can help enhance and maintain mental health, especially in older people.

A study found that when older participants were encouraged to take a nap after lunch followed by mild exercise in the afternoon, they showed better overall mental health. They also had better physical health and reported better quality sleep at night.

4. Improves cardiovascular health

Napping helps reduce sleep debt our body and thus has various benefits for our health. Especially the Short naps (30 minutes or less) are more beneficial, as they do not cause sleep deprivation and other related health concerns.

One study found that people who don't get enough sleep each night have a significantly higher risk of high blood pressure and heart problems. Napping helps reduce fatigue and thus allows our bodies to recover more effectively. Of course, this benefit of a short nap is best achieved when combined with regular exercise.

5. Promotes creativity and productivity

When you feel like you can't find a creative solution to a problem that's bothering you, try taking a short nap. People experience immediate improvement in creative thinking and problem solving after a short period of sleep.

This is because the brain makes connections between different pieces of information without our conscious thought reining it in. It could also be that the right hemisphere of the brain - the section related to creative thinking - clears up obstacles to our thinking while we sleep.

It also integrates our new experiences with older stored memories while we sleep, which can lead to finding unexpected connections and innovative solutions. A 60-90 minute nap seems to be most effective for boosting creativity.

6. Reduces stress

Even a 10-minute nap can reduce stress and help us relax during the day. This is because sleep helps the body and mind take a "mini vacation," bringing stress back to normal levels so we feel refreshed and ready for the next challenge.

The best part is that we can enjoy these benefits even if we don't fall asleep completely. Simply the act of resting and focusing on ourselves for a few minutes is enough to reduce stress.

7. Improves mood

Napping helps us to we feel better and improves our mood. People who regularly take afternoon naps report higher feelings of well-being, improved mood and energy levels compared to those who do not take afternoon naps.

They also report lower levels of fatigue and feel less agitated compared to their pre-nap state. And we all know that happy workers are also effective workers.

8. Helps with weight control

It may seem counterintuitive that when we sleep we help the body control weight gain, but napping can actually keep us in shape. When we are sleep deprived, the body responds by increasing the production of Ghrelin, (the hunger hormone), which triggers a hunger response, and by decreasing the production of the hormone Leptin, which helps us feel full.

So, We are more likely to increase the amount of food we eat when we haven't had enough sleep. This also explains the desire to snack in the afternoon – which is also reduced when we take a nap. So those who take a nap are less likely to consume unnecessary calories.

9. The desire for caffeine and alcohol consumption is reduced

Instead of grabbing a cup of coffee or tea to fight afternoon drowsiness, take a nap. Research shows that sleep-deprived people are more likely to consume (and even abuse) caffeine compared to someone who feels more alert. refreshed.

Sleep deprivation has also been linked to increased alcohol consumption, perhaps because it is a way to boost energy in social situations. Napping helps us feel refreshed and energized, reducing our dependence on alcoholic beverages.

10. You look younger.

If your skin is looking tired, give it a rest! Regular naps reduce the impact of fatigue on the skin – thus reducing the fatigue we feel in the body.

Even a very short nap allows our body to restore and "repair" old and tired cells, making us to look fresher than ever.

Tackle stress and insomnia with a gravity blanket

Gravity blankets are the most effective way to deal with insomnia and stress without medication, as they have been used for many decades to help people suffering from anxiety disorders, autism, and other sensory disorders.

How do they work?

They are designed to apply gentle, steady pressure to the entire body, which occupational therapists call “ Deep Tactile Pressure .” This steady pressure relaxes the nervous system and helps the body naturally increase levels of serotonin and melatonin (the hormones of happiness and sleep) while reducing levels of cortisol, which is responsible for stress.

As a result, the mind stops "racing", the heart rate drops, the mood improves and the body enters a state of complete relaxation.

Choose the one that weighs closest to 10% of your body weight and upgrade your sleep from the very first night.