The surprising complexity of achieving the perfect nap

© Getty

Some doctors also warn about the fact that sleeping longer than an hour per day consequently increases the risk of diabetes.

Brilio.net/en - What is a nap actually? Dont confuse the original nap with the power nap! Nap here means the rest one takes after lunch, approximately around 2 p.m. (depending on the country), that is to say roughly at equal distance between waking up in the morning and falling asleep at night.

A power nap on the other hand, can be taken at pretty much any time of the day and this is actually the reason why many doctors criticise it. There might be a risk of disturbing the natural body rhythm. According to some experts, power naps could even provoke sleep problems. Sleeping after 5 p.m. for example, even if its just for twenty minutes, will decrease the quality of the night sleep and sleeping too early in the morning could increase the loss of concentration.

Also, power naps last about twenty to thirty minutes when the ideal nap should last about forty-five minutes, but not longer. To exceed this length of time could indeed mislead the body: there are two stages in the sleeping process, the light and the deep sleep. Once the deep sleep stage has been reached, it is harder for a person to return to his activities, to fully focus on a topic, and of course harder to fall asleep when the night comes. Some doctors also warn about the fact that sleeping longer than an hour per day consequently increases the risk of diabetes.

Image viaThoughtpursuits

The ideal nap raises a few issues: first of all, some people simply cant fall asleep during the day, rather because they dont have the time, or because their body doesnt allow it.

In the first case, it has been proven by a study conducted by the American national commission that napping was increasing creativity and above all, that the rest taken by the workers during napping was allowing companies to save money on the tiredness phenomenon that cost millions of dollars every year (disinterest, absenteeism, burnout, etc.). However, most countries dont have any real regulations yet about napping at the office.

In the second case, there are nowadays many techniques to help hyperactive people to finally take some rest during the day. Experts explain that if someone manage to create the necessary conditions and trains every day, it should be possible after a few weeks of practice to fall asleep.

Some techniques such as sophrology, qi gong, meditation could also be of a good help. There are even classes, where one can learn the theory of breathing, blood circulation and muscle functioning along with some exercises such as dynamic relaxation, energetic gymnastic or diaphragm-muscle-development.