This is something that happens to me from time to time since I was a kid.
I would take a nap after lunch, on a day like today. Then sometimes wake up feeling disoriented and depressed. Other times I’d feel fine.
What causes this specifically and why does it only happen sometimes?
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Our sleep pattern cycles every 90 minutes. The first 30 mins is light, the next 30 is deep, and the 30 after that is rousing you back into light sleep. If you never want to have a groggy nap again, sleep either 30 mins or an hour and a half. You’ll be in, or close enough, to light sleep, that it won’t make you feel like you got hit by a truck.
Any more than an hour and a half, your body starts prepping for the big 8 hour sleep where you’re immobilised and going into REM. There’s a bunch of other processes your brain goes through when you go down for the night-time sleep like memory categorisation/body restoration/etc. Your circadian rhythm (24 hour physical/mental/behavioural cycle) can’t usually tell the difference between a 2pm nap and a 10pm bed time. So interrupting that rhythm and those processes ends up feeling quite bad.
(this is VERY generalised information that I’ve gathered over a few years of brushing up against sleep studies and sleep behaviour analyses for pure curiosities’ sake. take it with a grain of salt.)
Our sleep pattern cycles every 90 minutes. The first 30 mins is light, the next 30 is deep, and the 30 after that is rousing you back into light sleep. If you never want to have a groggy nap again, sleep either 30 mins or an hour and a half. You’ll be in, or close enough, to light sleep, that it won’t make you feel like you got hit by a truck.
Any more than an hour and a half, your body starts prepping for the big 8 hour sleep where you’re immobilised and going into REM. There’s a bunch of other processes your brain goes through when you go down for the night-time sleep like memory categorisation/body restoration/etc. Your circadian rhythm (24 hour physical/mental/behavioural cycle) can’t usually tell the difference between a 2pm nap and a 10pm bed time. So interrupting that rhythm and those processes ends up feeling quite bad.
(this is VERY generalised information that I’ve gathered over a few years of brushing up against sleep studies and sleep behaviour analyses for pure curiosities’ sake. take it with a grain of salt.)
Hmm. I thought it was down to me having used up all of the hormone that ‘wakes’ me up, so the out-of-routine nap leaves me groggy.
Hmm. I thought it was down to me having used up all of the hormone that ‘wakes’ me up, so the out-of-routine nap leaves me groggy.
This use to happen to me until lately i discovered that when you nap you should sleep for approximately 1 hr 30 min, this is approximately one cycle of rem and is much easier to wake up from then if you were to wake up in the middle of a rem cycle(45min nap approx), if you wake up in the middle of a rem cycle you’ll find its really hard to wake up have heavy eyes and get moody and takes the body an hour just to wake up.
This use to happen to me until lately i discovered that when you nap you should sleep for approximately 1 hr 30 min, this is approximately one cycle of rem and is much easier to wake up from then if you were to wake up in the middle of a rem cycle(45min nap approx), if you wake up in the middle of a rem cycle you’ll find its really hard to wake up have heavy eyes and get moody and takes the body an hour just to wake up.
I also believe mood on wake-up has to do with dreams you might have been having during sleep. Very good answers here. I’ve noticed that when I remember my last dream vividly, and always fairly pleasant, I wake in a better mood. When I wake up, and I remember buts and pieces, but can’t remember finer details, I am more anxious and irritable. I wonder if my brain is blocking the bad dreams but my subconscious knows what it saw and didn’t like it at all.
I also believe mood on wake-up has to do with dreams you might have been having during sleep. Very good answers here. I’ve noticed that when I remember my last dream vividly, and always fairly pleasant, I wake in a better mood. When I wake up, and I remember buts and pieces, but can’t remember finer details, I am more anxious and irritable. I wonder if my brain is blocking the bad dreams but my subconscious knows what it saw and didn’t like it at all.
Please anyone who sees this, try this once. This is a trick popular by navy seals and is such a great tool to have in your back pocket. I used to take long naps and wake up and my day was ruined, never fully felt like I woke up
Whenever you have a desire to nap here’s what you do: lie down on your back, elevate your feet 6-12 inches above your heart, and set an alarm for 10-20 minutes. You will wake up feeling more rested then ever and it’s almost therapeutic.
I have done this in many ways, on the floor with my feet on a stool, in my bed with my feet on 3 pillows stacked, and on a couch with my feet on the arm rest. I will set an alarm for usually 15 minutes, throw on a podcast and just lie there.
I have ADHD so this can feel difficult when you first lie down. Keep this in mind, you may truly never feel like you fall asleep and that it isn’t going to work. I find myself falling asleep while still sort of being awake. The first 5 minutes I spend moving and adjusting cause I can’t help myself, but every time without fail once I get a grip and just lie there, it works it’s magic. Don’t feel like you are doing it wrong, 10 minutes in you might not feel like it’s going to work but I promise just lie there and distract yourself and you will be shocked at the results.
Please anyone who sees this, try this once. This is a trick popular by navy seals and is such a great tool to have in your back pocket. I used to take long naps and wake up and my day was ruined, never fully felt like I woke up
Whenever you have a desire to nap here’s what you do: lie down on your back, elevate your feet 6-12 inches above your heart, and set an alarm for 10-20 minutes. You will wake up feeling more rested then ever and it’s almost therapeutic.
I have done this in many ways, on the floor with my feet on a stool, in my bed with my feet on 3 pillows stacked, and on a couch with my feet on the arm rest. I will set an alarm for usually 15 minutes, throw on a podcast and just lie there.
I have ADHD so this can feel difficult when you first lie down. Keep this in mind, you may truly never feel like you fall asleep and that it isn’t going to work. I find myself falling asleep while still sort of being awake. The first 5 minutes I spend moving and adjusting cause I can’t help myself, but every time without fail once I get a grip and just lie there, it works it’s magic. Don’t feel like you are doing it wrong, 10 minutes in you might not feel like it’s going to work but I promise just lie there and distract yourself and you will be shocked at the results.
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