It's no secret what an important role sleep plays in a person's life. And, perhaps, only a person is able to consciously ignore (though only for a certain time) the body’s natural need for rest, where sleep plays a vital role.
It is not without reason that a lot of attention is paid to sleep in folk wisdom – sayings and proverbs –. At the same time, sayings clearly define different aspects of sleep, both useful and harmful, and sometimes they also have a philosophical meaning. They mention the ability to treat sleep with rest, that it is good in moderation, that it often acts as a brother of laziness, and sometimes, it is called a brother of death, they also talk a lot about the power of sleep, which is beyond the control of either the prince or the hero.
A lot has been said about the benefits and harms of sleep deprivation, as well as the harms of lack of sleep. Even the international holiday – World Sleep Day, celebrated in March on the Friday before the spring equinox, is dedicated to sleep – itself as an integral part of a person’s life.
However, another holiday dedicated to sleep has appeared, – is less famous, as it is associated with the manifestation of a person’s tendency to sleep in an unusual environment. This holiday is called Public Sleeping Day or Public Sleeping Day. It is celebrated annually on February 28.
It is believed that this holiday, associated with the phenomenon of a person falling asleep at the workplace (at a table, at a meeting, etc.), is an attempt to draw an analogy with the Japanese tradition of «inemuri». Literally this Japanese word means «be present and sleep». Traditional Japanese culture has many subtleties, but the essence of inemuri comes down in general terms to the fact that a person dozing or sleeping outside the home is a – sign that he is tired due to the large amount of work he does. This is a kind of indicator of hard work.
That is why the practice of sleeping in public places is common in the land of the rising sun, and not just in the workplace, where it is subject to the principles of subordination and is associated with social status. In many ways, the Japanese tradition is due to the fact that people really do not finish their sleep at home without having time to recuperate.
The new holiday, which is becoming increasingly widespread and acquiring an international character, is primarily aimed at drawing public attention to the importance of sleep in human life. He draws attention to the fact that the spread of the tendency to sleep outside the home is a clear indicator of the level of psycho-emotional and physical stress on society or individual social groups.
Organizers of events dedicated to this unusual holiday offer the easiest way to celebrate it: take a nap in a public place or outdoors at least for a short time, giving the body the opportunity to regain strength by performing a kind of reset.
• Infographics – poster «February 28 — Public Sleep Day»
• Story «Fruit of the Empty»