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Rather than naps, I can personally recommend yoga nidra, AKA non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) meditation. There's no effort involved. You just lie down and listen to

Rather than naps, I can personally recommend yoga nidra, AKA non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) meditation. There's no effort involved. You just lie down and listen to an audio track. Lots of tracks available on YouTube and Spotify. With yoga nidra, you stay awake and get just as recharged from a good nap but without the risk of waking up groggy. It's a game changer. If you're interested in the science behind it, Andrew Huberman often talks about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rSOn0PurVc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rSOn0PurVc

bryanlarsen 3y ago
Note that you shouldn't be groggy if you limit your naps to less than 20 minutes.
- irrational 3y ago
  But, how do you limit your naps to 20 minutes? What if it takes 19 minutes to fall asleep and then your alarm goes off after 1 minute of sleep?
  - carstenhag 3y ago
    Sometimes you know how long you usually need to fall asleep, for me it's 5-10 min or I am not falling asleep (for a nap). So I set the timer to 35min.
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    > What if it takes 19 minutes to fall asleep and then your alarm goes off after 1 minute of sleep? That's a successful nap. IME there's not much difference between 1 minute of sleep and 15 minutes. Both give me a similar recharge. I think a large part of it is relaxing enough to actually fall asleep. https://www.livescience.com/little-known-sleep-stage-may-be-creative-sweet-spot https://www.livescience.com/little-known-sleep-stage-may-be-...
- gochi 3y ago
  It's why meditation apps can be so useful, there are so many options in the 10-20 minute range and you feel much better than trying to time a nap and setting a horrible alarm sound to wake you up. Most of them also have nice endings, in that they encourage you to stretch or something of the sort to "wake up" from your meditation.
simple10 3y ago
This is my favorite yoga nidra track on spotify (30 min): https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3 And here's a shorter one (10 min) from Andrew Huberman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGrmY8OSHM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGrmY8OSHM
wnolens 3y ago
> With yoga nidra, you stay awake Huh I precisely use yoga nidra TO help me fall asleep. It's so powerful as a sleep aid that I resurrected an old iPod to hold a single yoga nidra track and I keep it plugged into a speaker on my nightstand. Of the maybe 200+ listens in the past few years I've heard the end of of this 20min track less than 10 times!
- simple10 3y ago
  Nice! And good point. It works for both sleep and non-sleep power "nap." There are different scripts for sleep vs mid-day rest. The main difference seems to be whether or not you set the intention to stay awake or fall asleep at the start of it.
  - wnolens 3y ago
    Interesting, I shall try this for rest as I hate naps - they leave me miserable.
viesauvage 3y ago
Why you need to follow specific techniques just to relax? They sound like more work and skill obsession. You know, you can just lay low and relax...
- xyzelement 3y ago
  Why read a science book when you can, you know, just figure it out? Yoga is a tradition honed over millennia, it's weird to assume that your first swag at the topic is just as good.
- simple10 3y ago
  You don't need to learn any new techniques. That's why NSDR / yoga nidra is useful. You just listen to a track. No breathing techniques or anything required. Same idea I guess as listening to music for productivity or workouts. Do you need it? Nope. But it helps.
- kdmccormick 3y ago
  For many of us, just laying down to "relax" tends mean either scrolling through news, or closing our eyes and getting lost in racing thoughts while trying to resist the urge to take out our phone scroll through news... Obviously, that's not great, so strategies to relax more naturally can be really helpful. Saying "just relax, it's natural" is like saying "just be a marathon runner, it's natural". Both may be true, but in 2023 it can take some work and help for us to get back to those natural abilities. There's a reason mindfulness and meditation is a thing people do for mental health. If we could all easily just, you know, chill out, then a lot of issues people face with anxiety and stress wouldn't exist :)
- wnolens 3y ago
  Like how the simple recipe for happiness is "stop being sad"
irrational 3y ago
> You just lie down and listen to an audio track. > you stay awake Yeah... If I lie down, I will not be staying awake.
- amelius 3y ago
  Perhaps you have to choose the audio track such that you don't fall asleep.
  - simple10 3y ago
    Yes, the track matters. A good track for non-sleep deep rest will have you set an intention not to fall asleep and then keep your mind busy doing a body scan. I was the same way... skeptical I'd stay awake. But it actually works. Try this track https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3
seeknotfind 3y ago
One time, after sleeping only 3 hours, I held a rope on someone's backpack, and hiked 2 hours with my eyes closed, just following them (and stumbling). I even conversed the whole time and hiked 4 more hours, and afterwards I felt rested enough to finish the day.
ufish235 3y ago
Andrew Huberman, the same guy who panders chewing on a rubber ball to change your “face shape”?
- FacZap 3y ago
  Yeah, the same guy who "heard from a cardiologist buddy" of his that 'no amount of exercise offsets the damage of sitting for 6-7 hours a days' (absolute bullshit icydk).
  - pablasso 3y ago
    you’re mocking his weak references but you’re not offering one yourself
    - pc86 3y ago
      I think it's completely fine to be extremely skeptical of, and yes even outright mock, the idea that sitting for 6 hours a day does permanent, irreparable damage to the body until proven otherwise. It's also probably fine to be skeptical-bordering-on-mocking of people who use sources that sound authoritative to push something controversial. It's really hard to become a cardiologist. They know a great deal about a lot of things, but you know what they typically don't know anything about? Exercise. They're not physical therapists, they're not exercise physiologists, they don't have PhDs in kinesiology. Sitting is bad for you, sure. But some random guy's random cardiologist friend likely knows less about exercise science than a $50/hr personal trainer at your local Gold's.
JW_00000 3y ago
Not saying you're wrong, but isn't it strange to respond to an article that attempts to answer a question by summarizing several scientific studies, with something akin to "ignore that, do this instead"?
- simple10 3y ago
  Good point. I didn't provide context in my comment. Just trying to be helpful. The studies in the article show naps improve several factors like alertness. Anecdotally, many people either have a hard time falling asleep mid day or fall asleep for too long and wake up groggy. Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) has the same benefits of napping without the downsides. I believe there are studies on it, but I don't have references handy. Just speaking from personal experience.
dev_hugepages 3y ago
About yoga nidra : wikipedia tells us about a n=1 study[0] that found NREM sleep waves during yoga nidra, it seems that if this generalize, it would be equivalent to taking a nap [0]: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.016 https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.016

bryanlarsen 3y ago

Note that you shouldn't be groggy if you limit your naps to less than 20 minutes.

irrational 3y ago
But, how do you limit your naps to 20 minutes? What if it takes 19 minutes to fall asleep and then your alarm goes off after 1 minute of sleep?
- carstenhag 3y ago
  Sometimes you know how long you usually need to fall asleep, for me it's 5-10 min or I am not falling asleep (for a nap). So I set the timer to 35min.
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  > What if it takes 19 minutes to fall asleep and then your alarm goes off after 1 minute of sleep? That's a successful nap. IME there's not much difference between 1 minute of sleep and 15 minutes. Both give me a similar recharge. I think a large part of it is relaxing enough to actually fall asleep. https://www.livescience.com/little-known-sleep-stage-may-be-creative-sweet-spot https://www.livescience.com/little-known-sleep-stage-may-be-...
gochi 3y ago
It's why meditation apps can be so useful, there are so many options in the 10-20 minute range and you feel much better than trying to time a nap and setting a horrible alarm sound to wake you up. Most of them also have nice endings, in that they encourage you to stretch or something of the sort to "wake up" from your meditation.

simple10 3y ago

This is my favorite yoga nidra track on spotify (30 min): https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3 And here's a shorter one (10 min) from Andrew Huberman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGrmY8OSHM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKGrmY8OSHM

wnolens 3y ago

> With yoga nidra, you stay awake Huh I precisely use yoga nidra TO help me fall asleep. It's so powerful as a sleep aid that I resurrected an old iPod to hold a single yoga nidra track and I keep it plugged into a speaker on my nightstand. Of the maybe 200+ listens in the past few years I've heard the end of of this 20min track less than 10 times!

simple10 3y ago
Nice! And good point. It works for both sleep and non-sleep power "nap." There are different scripts for sleep vs mid-day rest. The main difference seems to be whether or not you set the intention to stay awake or fall asleep at the start of it.
- wnolens 3y ago
  Interesting, I shall try this for rest as I hate naps - they leave me miserable.

viesauvage 3y ago

Why you need to follow specific techniques just to relax? They sound like more work and skill obsession. You know, you can just lay low and relax...

xyzelement 3y ago
Why read a science book when you can, you know, just figure it out? Yoga is a tradition honed over millennia, it's weird to assume that your first swag at the topic is just as good.
simple10 3y ago
You don't need to learn any new techniques. That's why NSDR / yoga nidra is useful. You just listen to a track. No breathing techniques or anything required. Same idea I guess as listening to music for productivity or workouts. Do you need it? Nope. But it helps.
kdmccormick 3y ago
For many of us, just laying down to "relax" tends mean either scrolling through news, or closing our eyes and getting lost in racing thoughts while trying to resist the urge to take out our phone scroll through news... Obviously, that's not great, so strategies to relax more naturally can be really helpful. Saying "just relax, it's natural" is like saying "just be a marathon runner, it's natural". Both may be true, but in 2023 it can take some work and help for us to get back to those natural abilities. There's a reason mindfulness and meditation is a thing people do for mental health. If we could all easily just, you know, chill out, then a lot of issues people face with anxiety and stress wouldn't exist :)
wnolens 3y ago
Like how the simple recipe for happiness is "stop being sad"

irrational 3y ago

> You just lie down and listen to an audio track. > you stay awake Yeah... If I lie down, I will not be staying awake.

amelius 3y ago
Perhaps you have to choose the audio track such that you don't fall asleep.
- simple10 3y ago
  Yes, the track matters. A good track for non-sleep deep rest will have you set an intention not to fall asleep and then keep your mind busy doing a body scan. I was the same way... skeptical I'd stay awake. But it actually works. Try this track https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3 https://open.spotify.com/episode/0LXBzjxhdJDFiW2CWINGb3

seeknotfind 3y ago

One time, after sleeping only 3 hours, I held a rope on someone's backpack, and hiked 2 hours with my eyes closed, just following them (and stumbling). I even conversed the whole time and hiked 4 more hours, and afterwards I felt rested enough to finish the day.

ufish235 3y ago

Andrew Huberman, the same guy who panders chewing on a rubber ball to change your “face shape”?

FacZap 3y ago
Yeah, the same guy who "heard from a cardiologist buddy" of his that 'no amount of exercise offsets the damage of sitting for 6-7 hours a days' (absolute bullshit icydk).
- pablasso 3y ago
  you’re mocking his weak references but you’re not offering one yourself
  - pc86 3y ago
    I think it's completely fine to be extremely skeptical of, and yes even outright mock, the idea that sitting for 6 hours a day does permanent, irreparable damage to the body until proven otherwise. It's also probably fine to be skeptical-bordering-on-mocking of people who use sources that sound authoritative to push something controversial. It's really hard to become a cardiologist. They know a great deal about a lot of things, but you know what they typically don't know anything about? Exercise. They're not physical therapists, they're not exercise physiologists, they don't have PhDs in kinesiology. Sitting is bad for you, sure. But some random guy's random cardiologist friend likely knows less about exercise science than a $50/hr personal trainer at your local Gold's.

JW_00000 3y ago

Not saying you're wrong, but isn't it strange to respond to an article that attempts to answer a question by summarizing several scientific studies, with something akin to "ignore that, do this instead"?

simple10 3y ago
Good point. I didn't provide context in my comment. Just trying to be helpful. The studies in the article show naps improve several factors like alertness. Anecdotally, many people either have a hard time falling asleep mid day or fall asleep for too long and wake up groggy. Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) has the same benefits of napping without the downsides. I believe there are studies on it, but I don't have references handy. Just speaking from personal experience.

dev_hugepages 3y ago

About yoga nidra : wikipedia tells us about a n=1 study[0] that found NREM sleep waves during yoga nidra, it seems that if this generalize, it would be equivalent to taking a nap [0]: https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.016 https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.016