Have A Power Nap!

Wake up to the benefits of sleeping.

- I. M. Soni

Asiesta is a short nap taken in the afternoon often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in countries where the weather is warm.

In the United States, United Kingdom and a number of other countries, a short sleep has been referred to as a “power nap” a term coined by Cornell University social psychologist James Mass.

Siesta is referred to as vamkukshi in ayurveda.

The word siesta derives originally from the Latin term hora sexta – the sixth hour (counting from dawn, hence midday rest). Siesta, common in Italy, is called riposo which is action to repose.

The Life of Charlemagne recounts the emperor’s summertime, siesta: “In summer, after the midday meal, he would eat some fruits and take a drink; then he would remove his shoes and undress just as he did at night, and rest for two or three hours.”

The main factors explaining the geographical distribution of the modern siesta are high temperature and heavy intake of food at the midday meal. Combined, these two factors contribute to the feeling of post-lunch drowsiness.

However, siesta is also practiced in some cold regions which indicate that siesta is linked more with the culture than the climate. The timing of sleep depends on a balance between homeostatic sleep propensity, and circadian rhythms which determine the ideal timing of a structured and restorative sleep. The homeostatic pressure to sleep starts slowing upon awakening. The circadian signal for wakefulness starts building in the late afternoon.

As Harvard professor of sleep medicine Charles. Czeisler notes the circadian system is set up in a way to override the homeostatic drive for sleep.

Siesta is adopted in summer to avoid the high temperature of the day, as a way to extend social life till the fresh late evening and enjoy holidays with their fiestas.