Thread: How do you take a nap?

You should nap when you feel tired, its hard to sleep when your not tired and feel awake which is why your not being able to nap. Theres lots of ways you can make urself tired and easily be able to nap, i'll tell u a few tips.

1. Eat alot of carbohydrates. This includes things like rice. After eating a meal with rice I always feel very tired for a while, not sure if its the same for everybody else.

2. When you sleep at night, only get around 6-7 hours sleep making you feel my tired throughout the day(I wouldn't recommend this unless on weekend)

Theres lots of other methods you can get tired but those were just a few. Getting tired/sleepy = easy nap

I only take a nap when I am very tired and unless I lay down on my bed I never truly fall asleep. Reason for that is that I am quite tall (6'5 or 1.98m) so if I lay down on my couch my legs are still standing on the ground. I do drift away though and sometimes do have the falling sensation when I lay on my couch so the drifting may even turn into sleeping at times. Key for me is to be actually tired, otherwise I will not fall asleep. Usually I leave some music on and focus on the music, which helps me relax and that in turn helps me to drift off/fall asleep.

I find that using a sleep mask and earplugs really help. By blocking out light and sound, it makes it easier for me to wind down and avoid distractions as I drift off to sleep.

I find it amazing anyone can sleep during the day; I'm one of those people that just can't break out of my 'daytime' thinking and move into the incoherent thought and hypnagogic imagery that's a precursor to sleep unless it's night time or early morning.

Perhaps you're the same?

I find that personally I nap better in loud areas. Some of my favorite lucid dreams were attained by lucid napping in a class at school or while watching tv after just getting home. Obviously not everyone enjoys sleeping with the sound, but, it's a must for me to attain lucidity in a short nap.

One thing that I would suggest is to definitely wait until you're tired to nap. Trying to force yourself to fall asleep is just going to wreck your sleeping cycle and probably going to force you into a stressful dream which would be counterproductive.


As a former insomniac, I do recognize that falling asleep at night is quite hard and it takes hours sometimes to actually fall asleep. This simply means that you're not tired enough. What I usually did was workout a little bit or play some brain games/read interesting facts to give my brain some new facts to dream about and also make it tired enough to allow me to sleep.

I hope some of the information I gave was relevant to you and aids you in any way; good luck.

Crashyy,
I recommend using relaxation and meditation techniques to help you fall asleep. This should help you fall asleep much quicker at night, and help you to sleep, or at the very least have some nice relaxing visuals, during naps. Here is one I have been using for over years and allows me to fall asleep within 5 minuets, even if I am not tired:

Imagine a place you find comforting. For me it is a beach, but it can be anywhere, even an imaginary place. Visualize yourself lying down here. Take a few moments to notice your breath and feel its rhythm. Start with your toes, and as you exhale, feel all tension, stress, and worry leaving. Inhale, and feel calm, peace, and relaxation enter. As I lay on the beach, I visualize the tide slowly rising and releasing all my tension and stress. However, you can change the visualization part to suit what feels best for you. Continue to inhale and exhale, releasing stress and tension, and move from your toes up to your feet. Slowly, proceed up your entire body until each part feels perfectly relaxed. If you feel your mind wandering, you can also add in a simple mantra on your exhale breath such as "Sleep" or "Lucid Dream". Most people will find themselves asleep long before they complete the exercise.

I don't recommend eating carbohydrates (which can be unhealthy) or things geared simply at making yourself sleepy. I would focus more on learning to control your mind, thoughts, and sleeping patters. Even if you are not tired, a trance-like nap can still be useful.

Hope this helps

Originally Posted by hermine_hesse

Crashyy,
I recommend using relaxation and meditation techniques to help you fall asleep. This should help you fall asleep much quicker at night, and help you to sleep, or at the very least have some nice relaxing visuals, during naps. Here is one I have been using for over years and allows me to fall asleep within 5 minuets, even if I am not tired:

Imagine a place you find comforting. For me it is a beach, but it can be anywhere, even an imaginary place. Visualize yourself lying down here. Take a few moments to notice your breath and feel its rhythm. Start with your toes, and as you exhale, feel all tension, stress, and worry leaving. Inhale, and feel calm, peace, and relaxation enter. As I lay on the beach, I visualize the tide slowly rising and releasing all my tension and stress. However, you can change the visualization part to suit what feels best for you. Continue to inhale and exhale, releasing stress and tension, and move from your toes up to your feet. Slowly, proceed up your entire body until each part feels perfectly relaxed. If you feel your mind wandering, you can also add in a simple mantra on your exhale breath such as "Sleep" or "Lucid Dream". Most people will find themselves asleep long before they complete the exercise.

I don't recommend eating carbohydrates (which can be unhealthy) or things geared simply at making yourself sleepy. I would focus more on learning to control your mind, thoughts, and sleeping patters. Even if you are not tired, a trance-like nap can still be useful.

Hope this helps

Thanks alot! I'll give it a try. A comforting place for me is a beach aswell, so I'm gonna visualize that. ;p

No ideas for this but I just wanted to say feel free to post as often as you like