Siestas, Riposos, and Naps -- Oh My!

Image courtesy of Pintrest

I was standing inside Swatch at work when a young girl and her mother walked in eyeing some of the watches. The young girl tugged on her mother’s arm when she saw one she had an affinity for. What grabbed my attention was the butterfly clip that was nestled in her hair, sitting on top of her ponytail. The butterfly wings flapped up and down as she jumped in excitement. As if the butterfly were real in those moments brought to life by her own emotion.

The clip pulled me back to my own childhood, specifically my own butterfly clips that in my early preschool days I would wear in my hair: metal clips that had wire butterflies with glitter-filled wings attached to the middle of the barrette. These butterflies sat side by side in my two afro puffs. In preschool, my friend and I would both wear clips pretending that the butterflies would come to life and flap their wings, with the opening and closing of the barrettes.

This all reminded me of the great pastime some might refer to as napping.

Back in preschool, as nap time approached, we would make a pseudo bed for the butterflies in the crest of our shoes. Even then we understood that rest was extremely important.

Napping is held to such a high standard that foreign countries put a pause in their day for moments of rest. Hours are set aside in the afternoon in some countries just for snoozing. In Spain, it’s called a siesta and in Italy, a riposo. The siesta consists of a two-hour break where people can go home for lunch and spend time with their family and friends and then take a rest. Between the hours of 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. stores and businesses close for an afternoon of rest, a riposo.

According to the Japan Times, power napping has become a policy among many Japanese companies. In Japan, restaurants even offer lunch specials, including a meal and a nap in a reclining chair. Greece, The Philippines, Mexico, Ecuador, and Nigeria are just a few other countries that allow napping.

The history of taking a break throughout the day used to be a necessity in certain countries based on climate. The timing of the break would coincide with the hottest point of the day. However, now midday rest is associated with higher performance levels and fewer mistakes. This all does make a lot of sense.

In the United States, however, the idea of naps is not as popular, at least not past the age of six. Instead, there are advertisements for energy drinks, like 5-hour energy, and Red Bull. I call that all countries should put the napping back into the fold of daily routines, at least for 60 minutes.

According to The National Sleep Foundation, “a short nap of 20-30 minutes can help improve mood, alertness, and performance.” Some companies like Uber and Google encourage napping. Google headquarters includes napping pods for employees.

So while at work around 2 p.m. as I watched the little girl jump around with her butterfly clips, I remembered just how much I loved naps.