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.
理想情況下，我們可以在忙碌的一天的中午時間好好休息并且獲得充足的睡眠。但由于現(xiàn)實中我們無法擠出太多白天的時間來打盹，所以我們真正需要的是睡眠的技巧，以幫助我們充分利用可以打盹的時間。

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.
薩拉·梅德尼克博士是一名睡眠研究者，近來她在OWNSHOW上分享了一系列可以幫助我們改善午睡的科學(xué)方法，這些科學(xué)方法有助于改善我們的身體健康。

The magic nap number: 90 minutes.
神奇的午睡時間：90分鐘

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 out 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."
據(jù)梅德尼克博士說，只要你不克扣自己的睡眠時間，90分鐘的午睡和一晚上充足睡眠的效果等同。所以如果你有時間，別猶豫，趕緊鉆進被窩里吧！她解釋道：“這樣做的原因是在90分鐘的午睡中，你能經(jīng)歷所有的睡眠階段：第二階段睡眠、慢波睡眠和快速眼動睡眠（REM）。在這期間，你能增強注意力，鞏固記憶，改進心血管，減輕抑郁，并且改善新陳代謝?！?/div>

If naps typically make you feel more tired, try this trick.
如果你覺得午睡讓你更累，試試只睡10分鐘

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."
不是所有人都會在午睡醒來后感覺精神煥發(fā)。如果你也是如此，梅德尼克博士建議減短你的午睡時間，這樣就不會進入到短波睡眠的階段。她說：“短波睡眠讓人非常難醒來。對于這些人，我建議午覺只睡10-15分鐘即可。這將會讓你經(jīng)歷很多對記憶和健康非常有好處的第二階段睡眠。”

Even if you don't think you're tired, lie down.
如果你并不覺得累，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."
有時你會感覺很難入睡，特別是當(dāng)你試圖在緊張的日程表中擠出一個午睡時間的時候。不過別擔(dān)心--只要躺下就會有很大不同。梅德尼克博士說，“就算我們只躺20分鐘并且根本沒睡著，也會像睡了一覺一樣，我們總在實驗室里這樣做。因為你并不容易感覺到，只是躺下歇一會兒就能是自己從身心俱疲的狀態(tài)中恢復(fù)過來?！?/div>

Try to take your nap six hours after you get up in the morning.
盡量起床6小時后午睡

"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."
梅德尼克博士說，“這正是你生理驅(qū)動開始下降并且最想睡的時候。這時你身體的中心溫度和認知加工的速度都會下降，并且你會覺得有點困倦。這就是休息一下的最好時候?！?/div>

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，梅德尼克博士說，盡管你有可能不能每天午睡，但這四條策略可以讓你盡量利用自己的午睡時間。

"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."
她說：“最重要的是你的午睡要與你的日程表協(xié)調(diào)。所以，我推薦的是每周進行三次午睡，每次午睡進行20分鐘。這將能幫助修復(fù)所有你需要的健康和認知功能。如果偶爾再來一個‘完美午睡’，也就是經(jīng)歷各個睡眠階段的90分鐘的午睡，那將提供給你所需的全部身體修復(fù)?！?/div>