Odd feeling an indicator of lucidity?

Hey guys

I've been off school recently and stuck at home with not very much to do, being told to spend most of my time in my room or sleeping (damn flu, suppose it does have some upsides). As a result I've been napping allot more than I normally would due to now having the time in the middle of the day. Because of this I've noticed a strange feeling, one that I've had before but never thought to question.

Upon waking from a long nap and sometimes after waking up in the morning it feels like no time has really passed, as in I know I've been sleeping in my bed the whole night but it feels like I've been doing something the whole night. Not to say that I feel tired or exhausted, but I definitely feel like I've had a change of scene rather than waking up several hours later. Any explanation for this feeling?

Thoughts and comments always appreciated :)

I can't say that I had something like that. Maybe it's a feeling, a hunch that you had some dreams at nigh, but you don't remember them?

I think it's more kind of a physical feeling too, like I've been running around all night and seem to remember doing stuff just recently but don't feel tired :P

I've experienced this is different ways. I think, in general, our bodies and minds are used to sleeping about 8 hours. So on most mornings, the familiar feeling when you wake up is "yeah, I got an average night's sleep of about 8 hours." It feels normal. And it's somewhat common to get an hour more or less than average and you can recognize what that feels like too. But when you have an very unusual amount of sleep, like a nap, the feeling is unfamiliar and the clouded mind is likely to misjudge the passage of time, either too much or too little. It's only because it's unusual and your mind makes a hurried guess. Other factors like illness, medication, or sleep deprivation can contribute to the unusualness of a sleep period.

If your sleep situation is unusual, you mind tends to be more alert and cautious. And this can lead to improved chances of lucidity. For example, I have great success becoming lucid when I've slept in a hotel. Other techniques along these lines are to sleep in the opposite direction of your bed (foot to head instead of head to foot), or to move from the bed to the couch.

Might actually give that head to foot thing a go :P