科学午睡的4个大招 你知道吗

In a perfect world, we'd all be able to take a break from our busy days and recharge with a much-needed nap. But since it's virtually impossible to carve out time for a daily daytime snooze, what we really need are sleep strategies to make the most out of the few times we are able to catch a few zzzs.

理想情况下，我们可以在忙碌的一天的中午时间好好休息并且获得充足的睡眠。但由于现实中我们无法挤出太多白天的时间来打盹，所以我们真正需要的是睡眠的技巧，以帮助我们充分利用可以打盹的时间。

Dr. Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher and author, recently shared with the web series #OWNSHOW several scientific ways to help improve our naps -- and our health in the process.

萨拉·梅德尼克博士是一名睡眠研究者，近来她在OWNSHOW上分享了一系列可以帮助我们改善午睡的科学方法，这些科学方法有助于改善我们的身体健康。

The magic nap number: 90 minutes.

神奇的午睡时间：90分钟

According to Mednick, a 90-minute nap gives you the same benefits as a full night of sleep, as long as you're not skimping our your nighttime rest. So if you can spare the time, don't hesitate to crawl into bed. "The reason for this is because in a 90-minute nap, you go through all the major sleep stages: stage two sleep, slow-wave sleep and REM sleep," she explains. "You're going to get the benefits of increased attention, memory consolidation, cardiovascular improvements, decreased depression and also better metabolism."

据梅德尼克博士说，只要你不克扣自己的睡眠时间，90分钟的午睡和一晚上充足睡眠的效果等同。所以如果你有时间，别犹豫，赶紧钻进被窝里吧！她解释道：“这样做的原因是在90分钟的午睡中，你能经历所有的睡眠阶段：第二阶段睡眠、慢波睡眠和快速眼动睡眠（REM）。在这期间，你能增强注意力，巩固记忆，改进心血管，减轻抑郁，并且改善新陈代谢。”

If naps typically make you feel more tired, try this trick.

如果你觉得午睡让你更累，试试只睡10分钟

Not everyone wakes from a nap feeling refreshed. If this is you, Mednick suggests shortening your naps so that you don't reach the slow-wave sleep stage. "Slow-wave sleep... is very difficult to wake up out of," she says. "For those people, I recommend they take 10- to 15-minute naps. That will allow you to have a lot of stage two sleep, which is really important for memory and health."

不是所有人都会在午睡醒来后感觉精神焕发。如果你也是如此，梅德尼克博士建议减短你的午睡时间，这样就不会进入到短波睡眠的阶段。她说：“短波睡眠让人非常难醒来。对于这些人，我建议午觉只睡10-15分钟即可。这将会让你经历很多对记忆和健康非常有好处的第二阶段睡眠。”

Even if you don't think you're tired, lie down.

如果你并不觉得累，躺下就好了

Sometimes it can be tough to fall asleep, especially if you're trying to squeeze a nap into a tight schedule. Don't worry -- simply lying down can make a big difference. "Even if we're lying there for about 20 minutes and we think that we haven't been sleeping, it's quite likely you actually have gotten some sleep -- it happens all the time in [our] lab," Mednick says. "Because you're not so good at detecting it, just lying down and taking a break is going to be really great to recover from some of the mental and physical exertion that we have during the day."

有时你会感觉很难入睡，特别是当你试图在紧张的日程表中挤出一个午睡时间的时候。不过别担心--只要躺下就会有很大不同。梅德尼克博士说，“就算我们只躺20分钟并且根本没睡着，也会像睡了一觉一样，我们总在实验室里这样做。因为你并不容易感觉到，只是躺下歇一会儿就能是自己从身心俱疲的状态中恢复过来。”

Try to take your nap six hours after you get up in the morning.

尽量起床6小时后午睡

"This is the time when you're going to a decrease in your circadian drive and an increase in sleepiness," Mednick says. "So it's this... mid-day slump where you're going to have a decrease in your core body temperature, in your cognitive processing and you're just going to get a little sleepy. That's a perfect time to take a break."

梅德尼克博士说，“这正是你生理驱动开始下降并且最想睡的时候。这时你身体的中心温度和认知加工的速度都会下降，并且你会觉得有点困倦。这就是休息一下的最好时候。”

Ultimately, Mednick says, these four strategies can help you make the most of your naps -- even if it's not possible to take a snooze every single day.

最后，梅德尼克博士说，尽管你有可能不能每天午睡，但这四条策略可以让你尽量利用自己的午睡时间。

"The most important thing is that you nap where it suits your schedule," she says. "So, what I recommend is three naps a week of 20 minutes each. That's going to give you all the benefits to health and cognition. And then every now and again, you throw in this 'perfect nap,' which is the 90-minute nap where you go through all the different sleep stages. That's really going to outfit you with everything you need from napping."

她说：“最重要的是你的午睡要与你的日程表协调。所以，我推荐的是每周进行三次午睡，每次午睡进行20分钟。这将能帮助修复所有你需要的健康和认知功能。如果偶尔再来一个‘完美午睡’，也就是经历各个睡眠阶段的90分钟的午睡，那将提供给你所需的全部身体修复。”