Well, I never knew what napping is. Since I came into existence in this world, I never napped. I never slept after school when other kids used to sleep, or maybe were forced to sleep by their mothers.* I was always the hyperactive type who would rather do something during that time. I have always, always slept for 8 hours during the night. This is like my standard. I would just sleep once in the 24 hours and that would be during the night. I would wake up right when my circadian clock hits the eight-hour mark, and I can't stop appreciating this magical human body. Even now, whenever I'm working from home, I prefer not to use an alarm clock because I know if I sleep say by 11:00 p.m., I would be awake by 7:00 a.m. no matter what. This gives me a very pleasant start to the mornings as I believe waking up with an alarm clock puts stress on your body, albeit not visibly. Just my theory!
Okay, coming back to napping. I used to always wonder how do people nap? What IS it actually? Do you sleep for those 15-30 minutes? Or do you just close your eyes and relax? How do you feel before and after napping? Because whenever I have tried to close my eyes during the day, I have woken up feeling as if I have missed a train or something. So, I napped last week! Yeah, right. According to me, it was napping. Let me explain what I mean by that, and it would be good to hear what others feel. So, last week, I was working from home on Wednesday. It was some time in the afternoon, and I felt sudden tiredness in my body, wanting to just lie down for a bit. My bed was right next to me, so I went ahead and lied down. I automatically closed my eyes. I felt a sense of calm, and it was a good feeling. I lied down for a good 10-15 minutes. I know I didn't sleep because somewhere I was thinking something which I don't remember now, but for sure I wasn't asleep. I opened my eyes after 15 minutes, and I was fresh and active like before. I don't know if that will classify under the act of napping, but that's what my understanding is of the phenomenon. I would like to know from "professional" nappers, though, if napping actually involves deep sleep or just closing your eyes for a bit and its impact on your state of mind.
*Okay there were some instances that I can count on my fingers when I did sleep in the afternoon say at 2 and woke up at 9 in the night with absolutely no clue of who I was :( Certainly that wouldn't be counted as napping.
4 comments:
That's an interesting topic.
I am not a professional napper and typically someone who has slept for double digit hours in one go all through my college life :P
Though I have started taking day naps in office and will qualify myself as a novice. I typically put a soothing music vai headphones, put my phone on DND and close my eyes. You would be amazed to see the wonders it does to a long working day. Idle time to take this is an hour after lunch.
Best nap is if you reach REM sleep but if you are even able to close your eyer for those 15 mins and clear your mind of random thoughts, it's really refreshing.
No need to set alarms. If you do it at an active space and uncomfortable sleep conditions, you will wake up refreshed in 15 mins. But yeah, don't try this on bed :D
Hope the novice's experience helps :)
Haha! Good to know but my question remains unanswered, do you 'actually' sleep in those napping minutes? In other words, is your mind active, mildly active or not active during that time? Sorry for being so inquisitive but I really wanna know :(
You get in with the intention of sleeping. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. But you end up being refreshed every time you try. Hope that answers.
Got it. Clear on the napping basics.
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