The Power of a Siesta: Why a Short Rest Can Make a Difference
We are very good at pushing through.
Tired? Have more coffee.
Dragging in the afternoon? Keep working.
Overwhelmed? Finish one more thing.
Rest is often treated as something we earn after everything else is done.
The problem, of course, is that everything is almost never done.
Sometimes the more useful choice is much simpler: stop for a little while.
What exactly is a siesta?
A siesta is traditionally a period of rest taken in the afternoon, often after the midday meal.
It does not have to mean disappearing for two hours or reorganizing your entire day around a nap. For many people, a brief period of rest is enough to create a noticeable reset.
Research on daytime napping suggests that short naps can improve alertness, mood, and some aspects of performance. Mayo Clinic recommends keeping naps relatively short, generally around 20 to 30 minutes, and taking them earlier in the afternoon when possible.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute similarly notes that daytime naps may give a short-term boost in alertness and performance, while reminding us that naps do not replace adequate nighttime sleep.
Why do we resist resting?
For many of us, the challenge is not finding 20 minutes.
It is allowing ourselves to take them.
We have absorbed the idea that being busy is virtuous and resting is lazy. Even when our bodies are asking for a pause, the mind can immediately produce a list of reasons we should keep going.
There is another possibility.
Rest can be part of taking care of the system that is doing all that work.
You charge your phone before the battery reaches zero. Humans are allowed to recharge too.
A short nap may be enough
Longer is not necessarily better.
Short naps can improve alertness without requiring a large chunk of the day. Longer naps are more likely to leave some people feeling groggy afterward, a phenomenon known as sleep inertia.
If you want to experiment with a daytime nap, try:
choosing the early afternoon rather than late in the day
setting aside roughly 20 minutes
finding a quiet, comfortable space
putting your phone aside
setting an alarm if you are concerned about sleeping too long
giving yourself a few minutes to fully wake up afterward
And remember that you do not actually have to fall asleep for the pause to be worthwhile.
Sometimes what you need is rest, not sleep
This is where the idea connects beautifully with yoga.
Yoga continually asks us to notice what is actually happening instead of automatically overriding it.
Am I tired?
Am I overstimulated?
Am I holding tension?
Do I genuinely need more effort right now, or do I need recovery?
Rest might mean a nap.
It might mean lying on the floor for ten minutes.
It might mean turning off your screen, closing your eyes, and breathing.
It might mean sitting outside without accomplishing anything at all.
And sometimes it might mean a practice such as Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra: another way to practice rest
Yoga Nidra is often translated as “yogic sleep,” although it is not simply taking a nap.
It is a guided meditation practiced in a comfortable, supported position. Rather than trying to perform poses or concentrate intensely, you are invited into a state of deep rest while maintaining gentle awareness.
At Just Plain Yoga, our monthly Yoga Nidra practice is intentionally about moving from doing toward being. No physical yoga experience is required, and there is no need to be “good at meditation.”
For people who find it difficult to give themselves permission to stop, sometimes having a designated practice of rest makes that permission a little easier.
Rest is not a reward
This may be the most important point.
Rest does not have to be something you deserve because you worked hard enough.
It is part of being human.
Yoga philosophy has long challenged the idea that more effort is always the answer. Practice includes effort, certainly, but it also includes awareness, moderation, surrender, and learning when not to push.
That lesson matters far beyond the yoga mat.
There will always be another email.
Another load of laundry.
Another item on the list.
Sometimes the healthier response to that list is not to become more efficient.
Sometimes it is to lie down.
A few things to keep in mind
Napping is not ideal for everyone.
If naps regularly make it difficult for you to sleep at night, shortening them or skipping them may make more sense. And if you suddenly find yourself much sleepier than usual or frequently need naps despite getting adequate nighttime sleep, Mayo Clinic recommends talking with a healthcare professional.
The goal is not to create another wellness rule you have to follow correctly.
It is simply to become a little more willing to listen when your body says:
Enough for now.
Need a little practice doing less?
If slowing down is harder than it sounds, you are not alone.
Our classes include gentle, breath-centered options as well as monthly Yoga Nidra for people looking for a quieter way to reconnect and rest.
Sources
Mednick, Sara, Ken Nakayama, and Robert Stickgold. “Sleep-dependent learning: a nap is as good as a night.” Nature Neuroscience, vol. 6, 2003, pp. 697–698.
Faraut, Brice, et al. “Napping Reverses the Salivary Interleukin-6 and Urinary Norepinephrine Changes Induced by Sleep Restriction.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 100, no. 3, 2015, pp. E416–E426.