On Wednesday, July 11, 2007, thousands across the United Kingdom celebrated a very special occasion in a rather unconventional way.
They dozed off at work for 20 minutes right underneath their bosses' scrutinizing eyes.
Yes, it was National Siesta Day.
Talk about getting creative with holidays in Europe.
La siesta, or an afternoon nap, is more than just the epitome of laziness monopolized by the Spaniards or a little power recharge in preparation for la fiesta. In fact, it is as essential to our health as respiration and excretion.
We as college kids - sleep-deprived, highstressed overachievers at an Ivy League school- would do well to master the art of siesta.
But first, a little etymology lesson.
The Spanish word "siesta" comes from Latin "hora sexto," meaning the "sixth hour" of the day. The Romans believed that six hours from dawn is midday, the perfect time for lunch followed by a rest.
According to a Washington Post article last February, a Harvard School of Public Health study showed that a short period of shut-eye in the afternoon can actually reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 34 percent.
Tests by NASA also found that after a short nap, astronauts improved their performance by 34 percent and their alertness by 54 percent.
In addition, recent studies have suggested a biological need for afternoon naps. The human body is on a 24-hour body clock, making it wind down between 1:00 a.m. and
6:00 a.m., and again in the three hours right after lunch.
Furthermore, la siesta as a method of combating heat and post-meal lethargy during the hottest hours of the day has gained global popularity. In many Asian countries, naps are mandatory. In fact, the right to nap is guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution.
When students go home for lunch before returning for classes, schools require parent signatures to certify their kids' daily nap - I can personally attest to this rule, having gone through schooling in China until age 12.
Not to be stereotypical, but if the Chinese think napping would increase productivity, that must mean something. After all, we did invent the compass.
But I digress.
Sara Mednick , a Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego, who has dedicated her whole career to the study and promotion of naps, recently published a book entitled Take a Nap! Change Your Life. Mednick argues that "the right nap at the right time" is a "miracle drug," providing many health benefits from weight loss to a better sex life.
William Dement, founder of the sleep-research center at Stanford University, echoed these findings in his book The Promise of Sleep, advocating naps as a possible way to treat sleep deprivation, a serious illness whose dire consequences I'm sure we are all too familiar with.
And, FYI, for you conformists out there, napping is so in. Your average suit-donning, Blackberry-carrying New Yorker today is paying as much as $24 for a 20-minute power nap at trendy sleep salons like Yelo , where you may call to reserve the next available "YeloCab," a.k.a. a fancy napping booth.
With that said, Penn should change its scheduling of classes so that students can nap between the hours of 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., when the body feels the most sluggish.
After all, the brain can neither comprehend the accounting equations nor compute partial derivatives in such an inattentive state of mind. A timely nap would be the ultimate restorative measure, boosting our alertness, stamina, mood and memory.
Unfortunately, Dennis DeTurck , dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has his reservations. Although DeTurck, too, believes in the importance of napping, he nevertheless feels hesitant about instituting napping hours. College kids run on different biological clocks, he argued, and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. seems to be the ideal class time slot for faculty and students.
Besides, "the idea of telling people when to nap runs counter to Penn's philosophy of freedom of choice," DeTurck said. Instead, students should be able to "do what they want, when they want it."
Heeding DeTurck's words, I soon proceeded to a delightfully satisfying two-hour nap session in my lovely abode - in place of my Statistics lecture, that is. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made to uphold our free will.
Jenny Zhan is a Wharton sophomore from Pleasanton, Calif. Her e-mail address is zhan@dailypennsylvanian.com. Jenny from the 'Burbs appears on Fridays.
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