Can you perform a WBTB after a midday nap?

[DreamInPeace]

Okay, so recently I've perfected my WBTB routine and it has yet to fail me. Now, my question is: If I take a short nap in the middle of the day (say between 1 and 3 hours) can I just get up, and go about my normal WBTB activities for 30 minutes or so and be successful? Is there something else I should do? Can I use less sleep for the nap? Anything I can/need to do is helpful. Thanks in advance! Oh, and during my WBTB, I usually have a DILD, not a WILD.

[apsinvo]

You have a limited amount of REM sleep each day, so if you sleep all night, then sleep 1-3 hours more in the afternoon that day, your unlikely to get much dreaming by sleeping further after that. If you want to practise in the day, you could set your alarm for 6 hours the night before, i.e. sleep 1am until 7am, then that afternoon, go for your practise. You don't have to only sleep 6 hours the night before, I've just found it to be more effective.

[DreamInPeace]

You have a limited amount of REM sleep each day, so if you sleep all night, then sleep 1-3 hours more in the afternoon that day, your unlikely to get much dreaming by sleeping further after that. If you want to practise in the day, you could set your alarm for 6 hours the night before, i.e. sleep 1am until 7am, then that afternoon, go for your practise. You don't have to only sleep 6 hours the night before, I've just found it to be more effective. Thanks!

[LouaiB]

Yes, naps are great for LDing, especially WILDing, because, if you did not sleep well the night before, it would be like a perfect WBTB, since you are sleepy and have good REM, and at the same time much more aware!

[gab]

A nap taken at the right time is WBTB. If you take a nap soon after you woke up in the morning, you have an excellent chance for a WILD and DILD. As more time passes between your wake up time in the morning and your nap, your chance for a WILD gets lower. I would say, from my personal experience 1-3 hrs after waking up is my best time for a WILD. But I had a WILD even 5 and 6 hrs after waking up. But only once each, and I consider it more of a fluke than a rule. This is why: If we have a good nights sleep, filled with NREM and REM, then when we take a nap, our body knows that we just went through all sleep stages and will put us almost directly into REM. NREM is very important stage for body regeneration. But if we had healthy amount of it during night, then nap can be dedicated to REM. But if we take a nap that's closer to our normal bed time, our body may think we are having an early night and may put us through the NREM and REM stages again. You have to experiment yourself how long after waking up does WILD still work for you on regular basis.