10-15 minutes of sleep can restore our strength. It remains only to master the technique of express siesta. Expert advice.
It is worth talking about a siesta, and a picture immediately appears before your eyes: the hot sun, a hammock, a feeling of sweet half-asleep, a straw hat pulled down over your very eyes. But the habit of daytime sleep can help us out even on those days when it is cloudy outside the window, there is still a lot of work ahead, and strength is almost running out.
Luxury or necessity?
Despite the fact that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Ronald Reagan, and even financial genius John Rockefeller liked to take a nap after dinner, the culture of daytime sleep did not immediately find understanding in modern society, which lives on the principle “time is money”. A person who decided to take a nap in the middle of the day could easily earn a reputation as a lazy and quitter. But studies in recent years have shown that 20 minutes of rest does not impair performance, but, on the contrary, helps to concentrate, improve memory and reaction. In one such experiment, students were asked to memorize several pairs of words, such as “glasses” – “hair”. After that, they were given time to rest, during which half of the subjects read magazines and watched movies, and the other was asked to sleep for about half an hour. A few hours after the start of the experiment, they were again brought together and tested. Those students who managed to sleep performed 15% better on memory tasks than those who were awake during the day*. But that’s not all. A short “reboot” of our brain during sleep literally changes our view of the world: we begin to better perceive the emotions of other people, especially positive ones**.
Rest properly
So, the benefits of daytime sleep are obvious. But how to achieve the desired effect? How to understand that right now the body needs a pause? Indeed, for each person, the recovery time is individual, it depends on the resources of the body, biological rhythms, and the degree of fatigue. Commented Dr. Gonzalo Arboleda, specialist at the Spanish Sleep Center in Valencia: “A person has, on average, two or three moments a day when he wants to sleep. These moments can be considered the best time for a siesta. But the optimal length of one such session should not exceed 25-30 minutes. This duration corresponds to two phases of “slow” sleep. “At this time, the cerebral cortex seems to “stop communicating” with other parts of the brain,” says somnologist Sergei Stebletsov. – During slow sleep in the hippocampus (this is one of the most ancient parts of the brain with many functions), the same groups of neurons are excited and in the same sequence as in the learning process that was carried out before falling asleep. That is, the hippocampus in a dream, like a diligent student, repeats the information received during the day, which contributes to better memorization. The most important thing is not to oversleep for too long. Then the brain starts a deep sleep program that lasts 90 minutes. This can disrupt the biological clock and lead to insomnia. In addition, a sudden awakening during the deep sleep phase leaves a feeling of heaviness in the head and general lethargy.
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Hastily
- If there is no time at all, you can try to master a quick siesta, which lasts only 2-5 minutes. This option takes practice, but the result is worth it.
- To begin with, you should gradually reduce the time of sleep, bringing it to ten minutes, and then to five.
- Take time to prepare. There should be no bright colors around, inscriptions, screens, nothing that could distract you and lead you into an excited state.
- Tune in to sleep in advance: take a deep breath, then exhale, slowly close your eyes and raise your pupils up – this is their usual position during sleep.
- Various relaxation exercises help to manage the process of falling asleep and waking up: meditation, yoga, tai chi and qigong. They allow you to establish the correct rhythm of breathing, relax the body and better control sleep time. To practice, choose the days when your routine is not rigidly tied to specific cases. For example, you can arrange a family siesta training during the New Year holidays.
* Cerebral Cortex, 2010, vol. 21 (1).
** Nature Neuroscience, 2011, vol. 4.
Practical advice
- Make sure to create a favorable sleeping environment. Make sure you can lie down, or at least get into a comfortable sitting position. Dim the lights or wear a special eye mask. Use headphones to block out ambient noise.
- 10-15 minutes before bedtime, try not to do things that require increased mental stress, do not use the phone and computer.
- During the day, do not drink a lot of coffee and other stimulating drinks, and do not eat foods high in sugar and fat. Instead, drink milk or eat cottage cheese. Foods high in calcium and protein promote sleep.
- During sleep, the body temperature drops, therefore, in order to wake up comfortably, it is better to cover your shoulders and legs with a light blanket or blanket.
- Don’t take your siesta too close to the end of the day – that’s when you’re more likely to get a deep sleep. The best time to sleep is between XNUMX and XNUMX pm. If you practice siesta regularly, over time, the body itself will remind you when it needs a break.