Thread: Why are naps composed mainly of REM sleep?

Hmm... Interesting point. Because all dreaming takes place in REM sleep, right? I've always wondered how people have tricked their minds into going straight into REM sleep...

This sound like if it can be perfected This could be the holy grail of lucid dreaming and Prolonged lucids.

I should take a nap someday... Really... I never have before...

Ya I've also noticed that you go right into dreaming when you take a nap.
I wonder if anyone has studied to to any extent?

Okay seriously, why hasn't anyone told me this? You mean I could go straight into dreaming if I tried this napping business?

Well I'll be damned.

... you don't only dream in REM.

Why do you appear to recall dreams more easily when you are napping than the first couple hours of sleep... I've often wondered this.

Just to clarify, I was asking why, I'm not the one suggesting it!

So it seems that nobody knows why...

Perhaps it's just a myth?

I have read Exploring the world of Lucid Dreaming by Stephen Laberge... it was a while ago so its kindof fuzzy... but I def remember reading about daytime naps, and how they are really good for ld's. The book is an excellent reference and source of inspiration, I recommend it to anyone. I am currently not living where the book is, haha, otherwise i'd quote something.

check out the "In what stage of sleep does Lucid Dreaming occur?" question.
http://www.web-us.com/lucid/luciddreamingFAQ.htm

It kind of answers what you are asking.

It seems it is because your body doesn't need the non-REM sleep at that point, so it goes directly to REM sleep.

"The two kinds of lucid dreams differ in a number of ways. WILDs always happen in association with brief awakenings (sometimes only one or two seconds long) from and immediate return to REM sleep. The sleeper has a subjective impression of having been awake. This is not true of DILDs. Although both kinds of lucid dream are more likely to occur later in the night, the proportion of WILDs also increases with time of night. In other words, WILDs are most likely to occur the late morning hours or in afternoon naps. This is strikingly evident in my own record of lucid dreams. Of thirty-three lucid dreams from the first REM period of the night, only one (3 percent) was a WILD, compared with thirteen out of thirty-two (41 percent) lucid dreams from afternoon naps.

He pretty much gave some anecdotal evidence, but no explanations. That's pretty worthless since we have no idea how tired he was when he went to take those naps and etc. and a lot of the explanations I've read on here are just guesswork.

Anyway according to my online copy he makes no reference or suggestions as to why this dreaming-better-during-afternoon-naps occurs. He does make a point, I know, that morning naps ride the waves of your longer REM periods. Since I can't find that in this online book, I'm strongly suspecting that it is incomplete I'm gonna have to get my hardcopy back Because now I really wanna know if there is more that I'm missing.

I can check my copy when I get home and let you know.

Wierd, whenever I take a nap, I never remember any dreams :\

If I nap in the afternoon or the evening.. I never remember any dreams either.

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I actually take naps for the specific reason to have more REM at night.
I have a much harder time recalling nap dreams, because my naps take care of the deep sleep. Then when I go to sleep at night it's tons of vivid recall.

Though lately my recall has been good enough that I'm recalling a lot from my naps as well.

Originally Posted by Caradon

I actually take naps for the specific reason to have more REM at night.
I have a much harder time recalling nap dreams, because my naps take care of the deep sleep. Then when I go to sleep at night it's tons of vivid recall.

Caradon, that makes alot of sense. I could see it helping me if I napped late in the evening.. say a couple of hours before I go to bed.

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Originally Posted by Clairity

Caradon, that makes alot of sense. I could see it helping me if I napped late in the evening.. say a couple of hours before I go to bed.

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Yeah I use it a lot like a WBTB. I hope it helps you, just be careful that it doesn't make it too hard for you to get back t sleep later. Sometimes I have that problem, but it's worth it.

Does any one know how long a lucid dream could last while taking a nap.

I was wondering if it would last longer or shorted than a dream at the end of your rem cycle.

I've always wanted a good explanation for this, too. The "Why" of our sleep cycles totally baffles me.

For me, I know it depends on the timing of the nap. Afternoon naps always score me some dreams, but I know people who swear by their early evening WILDs.

I'm new but can offer some info here because I researched it several years ago and started napping for the express purpose of more dream recall. It works really well.

I learned in a dream class that we sleep in three hour cycles and that if you only have a limited time for sleep, it's better to sleep 3 hours than 4 or 5. Hour one, falling asleep and falling deeper asleep, hour two, deep sleep and hour three, coming out of deep sleep and then cycle begins again. It is really rough to wake up clear headed after you've been asleep 1 1/2 hours.

The power nap thing wasn't that difficult to learn and a good way to recall dreams.

Anyway, for what it's worth. There it is

Shoot. Forgot the main point of the reply. I believe the reason dream recall is so good during an afternoon nap is that we don't sleep long enough to get into that deep sleep

All I know is that napping for 2 hours gives me multiple and looooong (in 'dream time') dreams. I usually don't nap because I find it harder to wake up after a nap than to just stay awake and be tired It's so hard to get out of bed sometimes