Power Nap. Micro Nap. Disco Nap. We’ve all grabbed a nap at one time or another, which is why learning about the Sacred Napping Ritual at the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan’s Dharma Shanti Bale seemed like the perfect thing to drift away on this World Sleep Day 2020. That a look at famous nappers to encourage one’s pursuit guilt-free.
Sacred Napping: Bali Style
The creator of the Four Seasons’ Sacred Nap is Ibu Heny Ferawati [Ibu Fera], who drew on what she learned from raising her kids when it came to lulling adults (and kids, too) into a dreamy state.
“Most of us have forgotten how good and nurtured it felt to be rocked to sleep and have somebody read you a bed-time story or sing a lullaby,” Fera says. “I combine this with telling the life story of Buddha and chanting various mantras that I learned when I was a Buddhist nun for seven years. The soothing sound of the singing bowl offers more sacred energy for this experience.”
Mimicking how Balinese mothers rock their babies to sleep in batik slings are the resort spa’s silk hammocks. And yes, nappers are sung a lullaby and told stories until they conk out.
The ritual, per Fera, “Takes you back to experience the beautiful feeling as a baby, combined with
powerful healing of sacred chanting and singing bowl music, engaging your inner self with the nature around you.”
And should a napper fall asleep before their bedtime story concludes? Fera’s working on that with a project nappers can take home with them. A napping album containing the full story of Guatama Buddha overlaid with live recordings of Bali wildlife and nature with some crystal singing bowls ringing in, too.
The Benefits of Napping: World Sleep Day 2020 and Beyond
Feel guilty about taking naps? Here are some health benefits Fera points out, “Deep relaxation which is good for boosting immunity, and maintaining healthy blood pressure, heart and brain circulation.”
Myriad legendary geniuses throughout history were nappers, among them, Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Aristotle to name a few. And who can argue with how well naps benefitted their creative process?
Dali even had a special nap routine ensuring he reached just the right point of nappage: “The moment the key drops from your fingers, you may be sure that the noise of its fall on the upside-down plate will awaken you, and you may be equally sure that this fugitive moment when you had barely lost consciousness and during which you cannot be assured of having really slept is totally sufficient, inasmuch as not a second more is needed for your physical and psychic being to be revivified by just the necessary amount of repose,” he wrote in his book 50 Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship.
Though you might want to skip the key and the plate, don’t skip the nap. Grab a favorite spot (hammock, couch, cuddled up with someone or something beloved), set the mood with some soft music or get into nap mode with a book and just… drift away.
World Sleep Day 2020: Sources
Ibu Heny Ferawati [Ibu Fera]
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan’s Dharma Shanti Bale
Fast Company
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