& my third & final post - the power nap !!!

[StaceM8]

I do seem to be constantly repeating myself so I've decided t write a post regarding ' the power nap ' & how powerful it really is !!!

Head injury causes nearly all brain injured people to suffer from lack of sleep & I know it's a bit 90s but a 20 minute power nap has really changed my life. Try not to have more than 20 minutes sleep because you go into a different part of sleep / relaxation (this occurs for most people at around the 30 minute stage apparently, but 20 minutes is ideal for most.

All I can say is give it a go - what have U got t lose - 20 minutes, but it could change your life for the better cos sleep deprivation isn't good.

Even if U don't actually sleep literally, keeping your eyes closed for 20 minutes & just totally relaxing has a similar effect.

I even carry on talking for the first few minutes as long as my eyes are closed & that part of my brain is blocked out from things around me & I still come around / wake up feeling totally refreshed.

Sometimes I just don't want t get up after 20 minutes so I have another 20 minutes but I still don't go into that deeper sleep pattern, so I still wake up refreshed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power...

I can't read for any length of time, as I'm sure a lot of U have the same problem, but that link explains how it works ( I assume, cos I dint get past the first couple of paragraphs ;o) but I did notice a section on the benefits too ;o)

Worth copying & pasting the link & reading all about it if U can. And if like me, not so much, just give it a go. I can't recommend it enough & I'm sure I'll get a few others hat have tried & have had similar benefits.

It is particularly important for brain injured people cos as I said the majority of us aren't able t sleep properly, so finding alternate ways t sleep is particularly important for us.

Stace

[RogerCMerriman]

I don't seem to get groggy if I nap in the day, though often I don,t sleep as such but just go somewhere quiet, and stop for a while.

I seem to have a better chance of sleeping if I don't nap so I try not to if I can but equally sometimes I'm exausted and if I say want to drive later I can't risk being tired.

[StaceM8 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

That's it, going somewhere quiet for about 20 minutes & totally switching off is really good for you. Do U find it's usually between 10 & 30 minutes ???

As I said head injury causes the brain t function differently & we don't appear t need a huge amount of sleep, but because the majority try t get their 8 hrs sleep as recommended by all the ' specialists ', that really isn't good & as I said havin about 20minutes in the afternoon makes up for the lost sleep during the night.

You say a better chance of sleeping does this imply more often than not, you don't ???

[RogerCMerriman in reply to StaceM8]

No much longer than 30mins for myself the longer I rest the more rested, 10-30mins for me makes a negligible difference but then it takes me now a good hour or so to fall asleep how ever tired.

And while others manage on low amounts of sleep, I do generally need close on 8hrs, sometimes a lot more, days when I have significantly less than 8hrs I suffer.

My sleeping now nearly a year on is worse than it was before the accident and far worse than the first 9 months.

[StaceM8 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

Hiya, sorry for the delay in responding to this post, but Roger, I kno how U say U need more & so forth, but have U tried closing your eyes for 20 mins, relaxing & then getting up - it's all to do with the phase of sleep / relaxation U go into which is why it's refreshing.

I know U say 10-30 minutes makes next t no difference, but do U know that for a fact - have U consciously had a 20 minute nap & got up, rather than going back t sleep cos the chances are you'll still feel sleepy.

As I have said before tho, if U do still feel sleepy have another 20 minute nap, but don't just go back to sleep until whenever cos that defeats the object.

Regardless, just try setting your alarm for 20 minutes & close your eyes then get up (even if feeling sleepy) try having a drink before U have your nap cos that makes U get up literally.

By the sounds of what you're saying you'll probably be thinking, nah done that or whatever, but I assume U haven't done it properly - just try as a self controlled experiment - have a drink, close your eyes for 20 minutes, maybe sleeping, maybe not, but when yr alarm goes off get up & goto toilet (which you'll probably need by then & have no choice ;o)

Anyway, give that a go & let me know how U get on !!!

[RogerCMerriman in reply to StaceM8]

unless you have no time, all the hard science ie stuff like NASA and so on did is that longer you sleep the better, a 20/30 min nap gives the best bang for buck, and is a useful tool but it's not a silver bullet.

to be properly rested after a nap, rather than just showing some improvements etc. a nap needs to be 60-90 min range.

And to quote the NASA study.

*In general, they found, longer naps were better. No surprise there. But they also found that some cognitive functions benefited more from napping than others:

"To our amazement, working memory performance benefited from the naps, [but] vigilance and basic alertness did not benefit very much,"*

which ties in with my experience that a longer nap/sleep is better.

[StaceM8 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

Fair enough - 20 minutes sure works for me & most people I have mentioned it to which is why I believe in the power of a 20 minute nap ;o)

But as U say it's not gonna work for all people I guess

[RogerCMerriman in reply to StaceM8]

Um thats not what the study or I said.

NASA didn't find that naps improved alertness and vigilance, but did improve short term memory.

And that while short naps even very short ones can work, longer ones work much better.

[StaceM8 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

Fair enough but as I said a 20 minute nap refreshes me completely & last til night time when I have a few hours & then more often than not repeat the next day. Sometimes I might have another 20 minutes durin the mornin, but not always.

To me what would be the point in having a longer nap if 20 minutes works more than sufficiently.

Studies have also shown that a 20 minute nap is better for you than a longer one because U enter a different stage of sleep.

Maybe after 2 hrs or so U enter a third stage I really couldn't tell you !!!

[StaceM8 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

Hiya Roger, the only thing I can find from NASA about power napping is that 26 minutes is the optimum and is really beneficial - can U send me a link to the information you're referrin to please

Cheers mate

[RogerCMerriman in reply to StaceM8]

there you go, <science.nasa.gov/science-ne...

[StaceM8 in reply to RogerCMerriman]

Page Not Found

Unfortunately, the page you were trying to view no longer exists on science.nasa.gov/ or it was moved.

[RogerCMerriman in reply to StaceM8]

poxie forum trunkating links. hey ho okay this may or not work.

[url]science.nasa.gov/science-ne...]

[HannahJ]

Please could someone explain to me why brain injury affects your sleep? Excuse my ignorance but we have never had any advice about it.

[StaceM8]

Hiya Hannah, No eyed deer why, it just seems to ;o( - perhaps if U contact Headway they might be able to explain - U can get contact details in the first part of my profile if U wanted t email them ???

If you have time Hannah would it be possible t write a bit about what happened to you in your profile please. Mine's probably a bit excessive but I think worthwhile ;o)

But as I said the contact details for Headway is the first paragraph !!!

[Broken_Doll]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[StaceM8]

Is that U having yr nap Hannah ???

;o)