Imagine yourself swaying in a gentle breeze with the warmth of the sun on your face and iced tea in hand on a nice spring afternoon. If that sounds relaxing, it just may be time to move your afternoon nap into a hammock, which one study suggests boasts big benefits for your nap time.
The evidence that showed rocking as you fall asleep affects brain waves was published in the journal Current Biology. 12 male volunteers were recruited by researchers from the University of Geneva to visit a sleep lab on 2 separate afternoons for a 45 minute nap, one on a custom bed that was suspended from the ceiling. Their brain activity was monitored with an electroencephalogram (EEG) as they as slept with the bed swaying one night and remaining stationary the next.
When the bed was rocking all of the men fell asleep quicker and achieved deeper sleep, compared to when the bed remained stationary and they spent half of their nap in the beginning phase of light sleep, the N1 phase. Only 30% of the nap was spent in the N1 phase when the bed rocked for their naps. The amount of time spent in a slightly deeper sleep, the N2 phase, also increased from 50% to more than 60%.
The rocking motion changed the activity of sleep spindles in the men’s brains, increasing their number. Sleep spindles are half-second surges of electrical energy that happen in the N2 phase of sleep. The greater number of sleep spindles a person has as they sleep, the more refreshing a snooze is said to be.
While researchers don’t know if the same benefits would be produced during a longer sleep period, this research encourages us to take the time out to sway while we nap for an additional boost of energy! Have you ever slept in a hammock? What was your experience like?
No comments yet.