What's A 'Nap Cafe' I Hear You Say?

.....Well, one just opened in Tokyo (of course!).  The concept of having coffee in a cafe is nothing new....most of us do that most days, if not more than once a day.   But a daytime snooze in a cafe, in the city....well, that's something else.   Read on to discover more about this new experience and the benefits of sleeping on the go...😴

Grab a decaf. Hit the hay. Have an espresso.

The worst part about being out and about in the world is that, at any given moment, you don't have access to a bed. (Ever felt like you really wanted to take a nap in the middle of some mundane activity? Yeah, exactly.)

But, lest you spend the rest of your days cloistered at home with easy bed access, a new cafe in Japan is trying to make the world a better place. For a limited time only, the Harajuku district in Tokyo will be home to a nap cafe. The dimly lit eatery features 10 beds—each outfitted with headphones and a special light for optimal snoozin' and cruisin'.

The nap cafe—which is taking over the Nescafe Harajuku for the time being—is a partnership between Nescafe and France Bed Co., which provided all of the cafe's $9,000 mattresses. The occasion for the cafe's opening was World Sleep Day, which took place March 17. Per Mental Floss, the location will remain REM-enabling until March 26, at which point regular ol' coffee will revert back to being the cafe's way to make you feel refreshed and alive.

But while the naps last, there are rules. Customers are required to buy at least one food item to qualify for naps, and there's a two-hour limit on the dozing off. (Any longer and you'd have to call it a sleep cafe anyway.) Nescafe Harajuku is, however, giving nappers a presleep cup of decaf coffee and a post-nap jolt of real java.

Nescafe Harajuku's nap cafe is not Japan's first experiment with the form. Back in 2012, a series of cafes that encouraged napping popped up throughout Tokyo. Nap cafes are still something of a novelty, though, perhaps because the mass of clientele undeterred by sleeping around dining strangers was too scant to start a global trend. But for those driven purely by a love of naps, you have five days left to enjoy Nescafe's offerings. Sweet dreams.


Article Source and Images

Obesity Can Wreak Havoc On Your Sleep Patterns

Daily Habits for Better Sleep

Let’s talk about how to sleep better by harnessing the power of a few simple, daily habits.

Get outside. Aim for at least 30 minutes of sun exposure each day.

Turn out the lights. When it gets dark outside, dim the lights in your house and reduce blue or full-spectrum light in your environment. F.lux, a free software app for your computer, makes the color of your computer’s display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day.

Avoid caffeine. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, eliminating caffeine from your diet is a quick win. If you can’t go without your morning cup of coffee, then a good rule of thumb to keep in mind is “No coffee after noon.” This gives caffeine enough time to wear off before bed time.

Stop smoking or chewing tobacco. Tobacco use has been linked to a long line of health issues, and poor sleep is another one on the list. I don’t have any personal experience with tobacco use, but I have heard from friends who have quit successfully that Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking book is the best resource on the topic.

Use the bedroom for sleep and sex only. Is your bedroom designed to promote good sleep? The ideal sleeping environment is dark, cool, and quiet. Don’t make your bedroom a multi-purpose room. Eliminate TVs, laptops, electronics, and clutter. These are simple ways to improve the choice architecture of your bedroom, so that sleep is easier and distraction is harder. When you go to the bedroom, go there to sleep.


Natural Sleep Aids

Exercise. There are too many benefits to exercise to list them all here. When it comes to sleep, exercise will make it easier for your brain and body to power down at night. Furthermore, obesity can wreak havoc on your sleep patterns. The role of exercise only becomes more important with age. Fit middle-aged adults sleep significantly better than their overweight peers. One caveat: avoid exercising two to three hours before bedtime as the mental and physical stimulation can leave your nervous system feeling wired and make it difficult to calm down at night.

Temperature. Most people sleep best in a cool room. The ideal range is usually between 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 21 degrees Celsius).

Sound. A quiet space is key for good sleep. If peace and quiet is hard to come by, try controlling the bedroom noise by creating “white noise” with a fan. Or, use ear plugs (here’s a good pair).

Alcohol. This one is a slippery slope. It is true that having a drink before bed — a “night cap” — often does help people fall asleep. However, while it makes it easier to fall asleep, it actually reduces the quality of your sleep and delays the REM cycle. So you fall asleep faster, but it’s possible that you’ll wake up without feeling rested. It’s probably best to improve your sleep through other methods before resorting to alcohol to do the job.

Final Thoughts on How to Sleep Better
Cumulative sleep debt is a barrier between you and optimal performance. If you want to know how to sleep better, the answer is simple but remarkably underrated in our productivity-obsessed culture: get more sleep.

See the full article here by James Clear