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This business will put you to sleep

If you’re working or shopping in midtown and and feel you need a nap to help you get through the rest of the day, there’s a place you can get it now.

Nap It Up is Canada’s first napping studio, located at 2300 Yonge St. in the Yonge Eglinton Centre.

Mehzabeen Rahman, who opened Nap It Up with her husband Omar in October, had the idea for the business when she used to work in a corporate job, nine to 10 hours a day “staring at the computer,” she says. Sometimes she would drink coffee after coffee to stay awake.

One snowy day, she and her co-workers were so exhausted that a few of them closed their eyes in the staff lounge.

When she woke up, she asked her co-workers, “Would you pay to take a nap somewhere if such a place was available?” They enthusiastically replied “Yes!”

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A nap could also improve their well-being. Researchers in Toronto hospitals and universities have determined that “napping increases alertness, reduces stress, expands cognitive functioning and improves health over all,” according to Rahman.

The Rahmans chose the Yonge Eglinton Centre to benefit from the foot traffic from the subway but mainly because of the corporate offices — with their sleepy workers — around the area.

Nap It Up owner
BEDTIME: Mehzabeen Rahman got the idea for Nap It Up after falling asleep at work. Now her work is to help others get their naps.

Nap It Up is also being used by university and college students, and even by air travellers on a long lay-over, Rahman says. Drivers also come in to take a nap to help them to be more alert before a long trip.

The atmosphere is calm, serene and clean. “We change pillow case and sheets every single time, after every single guest,” Rahman says. They have 96 sets of sheets in stock, so they won’t run out.”

To ensure optimal comfort, Nap It Up uses tea-leaf infused, memory foam mattresses. They are said to soothe the body and put the napper in a relaxed mode.

To aid clients’ sleep further, the sleep studio also has light dimmers, a lavender diffuser, a white noise machine and an air purifier. It is a “quiet, cell phone free zone,” Rahman says.

Customers must be 18 and over. Eye masks and slippers are also available. Standard or premium beds are offered.

Naps are available in durations of 25, 55 or 85 minutes, for fees ranging from $10 to $35.

To help clients get on with the rest of their day without feeling like they just got out of bed, mints are provided after each nap, as well as bottled water, free with premium beds or $1 with standard beds.

Rest assured, a nap there will be money well spent.

For more information see the Nap It Up website  call 647-342-8627.

Nap It Up beds
SIDE BY SIDE: Two beds await sleepers at Nap It Up.