Hello #Vivers! Many of the students in our Spanish classes for foreigners tell us that one of the things that Spain is best known for in their country is the custom of taking a nap.
“nap” is probably one of the most international words in our vocabulary. Thus, it has been transferred to languages as diverse as English (siesta), French (sieste), German (siesta), Danish (siesta), Hungarian (szieszta) or Polish (sjesta)...
What is the nap?
It refers to the time dedicated to resting after eating, between three and five in the afternoon and comes from the Latin sixta, which means “the sixth hour of the day” and corresponds, approximately, to noon among the Romans.
As we have mentioned previously, the nap is a time of rest and relaxation, which allows you to regain strength for the afternoon, thereby significantly increasing performance. We all need time to rest throughout the day.
For many years, the Nordic countries considered that people who took naps (preferably Spaniards and Italians) were truly lazy. For this reason, taking a nap after eating was considered inappropriate for hard-working and industrious people, but what they did not know is that it is scientifically proven that a nap of no more than 30 minutes improves general health and prevents stress. In addition, it promotes memory and learning mechanisms.
To enjoy a nap you can sleep for a while, but relaxing or simply stretching for a few minutes can also be considered a kind of short nap. The nap is related to our “biological clock”: brain and physical activity decreases every four hours and to renew it, the body needs a few minutes of rest, which corresponds to the time of the mid-afternoon nap.
It is advisable to take a nap after an excessive meal, to promote digestion and regain strength before resuming activity. It is also very convenient in times of work pressure or if you feel tired or sleepy while driving during a trip.
Advantages of the siesta
The main advantages of taking a nap are:
- Improves the feeling of general well-being.
- Increase vitality
- Reactivates reflections.
- Improve our level of attention.
- Increase the efficiency of our work.
- Reduces the risk of cardiovascular accidents.
So now there is no excuse not to take a “nap” after eating. Sweet dreams!
Sources: Wikipedia and kioskea.net (under Creative Commons license).
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