NSDR and the flash nap: recovering in ten minutes
The non-sleep deep rest protocol for recharging attention in the middle of the day.
The problem of the afternoon trough
Between 1 and 4 pm, sleep pressure and the circadian trough combine. Alertness drops, attention fragments. It is not a lack of discipline, it is a biological rhythm.
Three possible responses: push through, which is poor; caffeinate, which postpones the problem and degrades the night; or recover.
NSDR, non-sleep deep rest
NSDR refers to a state of deep rest reached while awake, close to yoga nidra and to self-hypnosis. The point of it, documented notably by work on yoga nidra, is a significant rise in striatal dopamine after twenty minutes, associated with a restoration of learning capacity and alertness.
The decisive advantage over a nap: no sleep inertia. You do not wake up groggy, because you did not fall asleep.
The NSDR protocol, ten to twenty minutes
- Lying down, on your back, legs slightly apart, palms up. A light blanket: body temperature drops.
The rest is part of the Instant Focus module
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