Siesta Hour
Contributed By - Dr. Jaswant Singh Sachdev, M.D., F.A.A.N*
On arrival in the western world, most of the people from the Indian subcontinent and other South Asian countries are taken by surprise when they find out that majority of the westerners do not take a mid-day nap after lunch. Instead, the work continues from 8 am to 5 pm, of course with lunch and couple of other short breaks. After a while, one overcomes this urge of taking mid-day nap as it does not take long to recognize that to be successful one has to do in Rome as Romans do. Yet everything people do in the West may not always be healthy and good. Taking a mid-day nap after lunch as practiced in some countries is not representative of laziness.
Physiologically, sleep pattern among adult humans is mostly monophasic with one period of sleep as opposed to sleeping twice over 24 hours known as bimodal or biphasic sleep. The young children and elderly persons may take several naps of short periods. During sleep humans usually go through repeat sleep cycles of about one hour of deep sleep followed by half hour of light sleep. Waking up in light sleep leaves one fresh and alert while during deep sleep it is the opposite. Another form of sleep, seen in elderly, in people with less than good health and those without any physical activity or exercise is called segmental sleep, divided sleep or interrupted sleep where there are one or several shorter periods of wakefulness (Wikipedia.)
Mid-day nap, also known as ‘Siesta Hour,’ is actually a period of afternoon rest taken during the hottest hours of the day in a hot climate. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, “the ancient Romans counted the hours of the day from sunrise to sunset, an average of about 12 hours. This sixth hour of the Roman day passed into Spanish as ‘siesta hour’ and into English as “Siesta.” It initially referred to the hot period around the middle of the day that fell around noon. Gradually it started to imply as nap, doze, power nap, etc. taken during this period, after the midday meal and is typically an adjunct to the night time sleep period.
Siesta hour is not exclusive to some parts of the world, rather, it is a common tradition in warm, hot and humid countries where the tendency to fall asleep during afternoon hours will be more frequent than places where the days are short and temperature is cold. That is why siesta is common throughout the Mediterranean and Southern Europe. It is the traditional daytime sleep in Indian subcontinent, China and Philippines as well as in South American countries with Spanish influence.
We, the people from India do recall afternoon hours of nap especially in summer days, when the business activities were often reduced. Hot sun with humidity prevents one from continuing work at full zest. Schools close in early afternoon and children are encouraged to take a nap. Lack of air conditioning at majority of places with humidity causing extreme degree of sweat makes sitting and studying difficult. Even people in government jobs would rather not carry out their duties. Instead the work starts at early hours and stops early with the remaining time covered in the evening after Siesta Hour. During Siesta people would go home for lunch and take a nap to refresh. The physicians would set up clinics again in the afternoon and evening session became as important as in the morning.
In old days, before the advent of electricity, the sleep hours among the human beings were not that messed up. The people had not much to do at night except to stay home and did only what one could do at night. With the advent of electricity, the evenings and nights turned into days allowing countless activities. Consequently, the sleep pattern changed and people stayed awake late at night. Yet the sun always arose at the same time, resulting in less sleep hours. The sleep deprivation became more prevalent. As per National Sleep Foundation, the western world has become even more and more sleep deprived, not only due to activities going through late night but also thankfully due to a busy lifestyle. Keeping awake almost up to midnight has become a common phenomenon among the youth.
Taking a short nap of 10-20 minutes during daytime, therefore, can help improve mood, alertness and performance without leaving one groggy, disoriented or having difficulty in regular sleep pattern especially among those who already experience difficulty in falling asleep at night. The National Sleep Foundation points to a study in a research journal ‘Sleep’ suggesting a 10 minute nap to be most beneficial in reducing sleepiness and improvement in cognitive functioning. On the other hand, an extended nap more than 20-30 minutes can lead to sleep inertia with resultant feeling of grogginess and disorientation albeit for a short duration. Sleep Foundation also reports that a long nap or a nap taken too late in the day may adversely affect the length and quality of nighttime sleep and more so, if one already has trouble sleeping at night.
As stated in the beginning, the mid-day nap of short duration shouldn’t be considered a sign of laziness, lack of ambition or be denigrated as low standard reserved only for elderly. Such concepts are not accurate on scientific basis and are even contrary to widespread belief. Perusing the pages of history, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and George W. Bush all enjoyed a short daytime nap. By any stretch of imagination, they were not short on ambition or lazy. The answer to stay alert and feel best is to get enough sleep on regular basis with a quick nap of a short time if fatigue sets in, of course circumstances permitting.
*The author of 4 books including “Western Mirror, Eastern Reflections.”