A neuroscientist and sleep researcher explains the physical, psychological, and cognitive benefits of the good old-fashioned nap. Research has revealed a well-timed nap can increase alertness, boost creativity, reduce stress, and improve perception, stamina, motor skills, and accuracy. Even better, a napping habit can enhance your sex life, help you make better decisions, keep you looking younger, aid in weight loss, reduce the risk of heart attack, elevate your mood, and strengthen your memory. In this guide, a researcher at the Salk Institute and the leading authority on the study of the nap reveals a scientifically based breakthrough program that shows how we can fight the fatigue epidemicwhich afflicts approximately fifty million Americansthrough a custom-designed nap. Sara C. Mednick explains the five stages of the sleep cycle, particularly Stage Two, Slow Wave Sleep, and REM, and the benefits each one provides; how to assess your tiredness and set up a personal sleep profile; and how to neutralize the voice in your head that tells you napping is a sign of lazinessafter all, JFK, Churchill, Einstein, and Napoleon weren't exactly slackers. Using the unique Nap Wheel, discover exactly when your optimum napping time is, and exactly how long you should try to sleepand how it's possible to design a nap to inspire creativity one day, and the next day design one to help improve your memory. Also included are tips on how to create the right nap environment, a sixteen-step technique for falling asleep, a six-week napping workbook, and more.

Imagine a product that increases alertness, boosts creativity, reduces stress, improves perception, stamina, motor skills, and accuracy, enhances your sex life, helps you make better decisions, keeps you looking younger, aids in weight loss, reduces the risk of heart attack, elevates your mood, and strengthens memory. Now imagine that this product is nontoxic, has no dangerous side effects, and, best of all, is absolutely free. This miracle drug is, in fact, nothing more than the nap: the right nap at the right time. The work of Sara C. Mednick, Ph.D., a researcher at the Salk Institute and the leading authority on the study of the nap, Take a Nap! Change Your Life. is the scientifically-based breakthrough program that shows how we can fight the fatigue epidemic—which afflicts an estimated 50 million Americans—through a custom-designed nap. Take a Nap! Change Your Life. explains the five stages of the sleep cycle, particularly Stage Two, Slow Wave Sleep, and REM, and the benefits each one provides; how to assess your tiredness and set up a personal sleep profile; and how to neutralize the voice in your head that tells you napping is a sign of laziness. (Not that anyone would have called JFK, Churchill, Einstein, or Napoleon a slug-a-bed.) Using the unique Nap Wheel on the cover and interior graphs and charts, it shows us exactly when our optimum napping time is, and exactly how long we should try to sleep—even how it’s possible to design a nap to inspire creativity one day, and the next day design one to help us with our memory. There are tips on how to create the right nap environment, a 16-step technique for falling asleep, a six-week napping workbook, and more.

Contents Introduction: The Couch at Harvard xiPart One: The Basics Chapter 1. The new nap: not your grandfather’s siesta 3 It is written . . . in our DNA 4 The siesta is dead. Long live the nap! 7 Chapter 2. Fatigue: a hidden epidemic 10 The walking tired 11 Asleep on the job: a threat to safety 12 Warning: Losing sleep is hazardous to your health 16 Chapter 3. The nap manifesto: what napping can do for you 23 Part Two: The Principles Chapter 4. The stages of sleep: building blocks of the nap 31 Waves and scans: the sleeping brain revealed 32 The sleep cycle 33 To be continued . . . 44 Chapter 5. Dissecting sleep: making a nap work for you 45 The shadow cycles 46 Stage 2: the constant companion 50 Napping vs. nighttime sleep 51 Chapter 6. Optimized Napping: the secret formula 55 The lark and the owl 56 A nap to call your own 59 How to use the Nap Wheel 61 Part Three: The Program Chapter 7. Your sleep profile: getting to know yourself 65 How tired are you? 66 Checking your calendar 67 Different naps for different folks 75 Chapter 8. Nap time: it’s easier than you think 85 It’s about time 86 Clearing the way 86 Free your mind and your nap will follow 95 Okay, you’re cleared to nap! 97 Stay motivated! 102 Chapter 9. Extreme napping: exploring the outer limits 103 Ü berman to the rescue? 104 Napping for “normal” emergencies 109 Napping across time zones 113 Chapter 10. A nap-positive society 117 Workers of the world, nap! 119 Power points of workplace napping 122 Appendix Glossary 127 The scientific formula for creating the precise nap to suit your needs 139