How to take a nap?

 Napping has many virtues. This protects against cardiovascular disease, helps to sleep better at night and contributes to well-being.

Nevertheless, for it to be effective and for you to enjoy all its benefits, you must know how to organize yourself to take a nap.

1. Organize yourself to take a nap

To take a good nap, you need to organize a minimum.

Determine the most opportune time, knowing that is ideal and prick a small sum after lunch, in the early afternoon.

If necessary, untie your tie and/or the button on the top of the shirt to make breathing easier.

Ideally, you should be able to relax your body as much as possible and a comfortable armchair or chair is the best solution (the bed is the place reserved for the night):

• On public transport, place your elbows on your lap and place your head in your hands.
• In the office, fold your arms on the worktop and put your forehead on your forearms.
• Do not cross your legs.

Make sure to isolate yourself, that is to say, to cut yourself off from outside noise (use earplugs or even an eye mask if it can help you).

Turn off your phone and tell those around you (colleagues, family...) not to disturb you for about 20 minutes.

2. Get ready to fall asleep

Basic principles

To fall asleep, after taking the necessary measures:

• Close your eyes.
• Breathe more and more slowly, making sure to keep a relatively natural breath (this must be done smoothly).
• Don't think about your work or what's going on around you.
• Make sure to relax your muscles, release residual tensions throughout the body.

Alternate on these last three points:

• slowing down of pulmonary ventilation;
• relaxation of thoughts;
• relaxation of tensions.

Exercises to facilitate napping

You can also promote muscle relaxation:

• contracting your muscle groups statically (without displacement) and releasing them one after the other from top to bottom (jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, fists, back, abdominals, thighs) before the nap;
• by reviewing all the parts of your body one after the other, from top to bottom, by visualizing them getting heavier, as if gravity was increasing;
• by imagining all the parts of your body one after the other, from top to bottom, warming up pleasantly.

What can also help you fall asleep is, while keeping your eyelids closed, rotating your eyeballs 10 times clockwise and then 10 times counterclockwise before letting them go up.

3. Take a twenty-minute nap

An effective nap lasts no more than 20 minutes. Beyond that, you will find it difficult to return to work effectively.

It is also possible to take 10-minute micro-naps, but it takes a little more training to master them.

4. Wake up properly

It is essential to wake up well to be effective immediately after napping.

First of all, your nap must not have exceeded 20 minutes.

You can:

• either set an alarm clock;
• or decide just before sleeping when you need to wake up (be self-convinced!).

As soon as you wake up, focus on your goals so you don't go back to sleep.

• Inhale deeply and gently move your fingers and toes.
• On the other hand, do not get agitated right away. Take a minute to quietly sit down properly.
• Gently massage your face.
• Quietly stretch your arms and legs by breathing deeply.

5. Nap notes

Even if you don't quite sleep the first few times, keep the pose careful to be perfectly relaxed. This will help you relax and make you recover.

In any case, persevere, sleep will come over time, especially when you are reassured about the conditions of your nap (environment, the alarm clock that works ...).

Daily training to take a nap is recommended in the early stages.