The modern world killed off the nap
We are a culture that celebrates action, doing, achieving, an attitude that leads to a disdain for sleep in general. We stay up late and get up early. We pull all-nighters. We’ll sleep when we’re dead, and in the meantime there’s always a Starbucks on the corner.
It’s a misguided attitude. A good nap is one of life’s great pleasures, and the ability to nap is the sign of a well-balanced life. When we nap we snatch back control of our day from a mechanized, clock-driven society. We set aside the urgency imposed on us by the external world and get in touch with an internal rhythm that is millions of years old.
… and here is a recent article describing the positive effects of napping.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=B8B53939-E7F2-99DF-33BF453C57823825&ref=rss
those who took afternoon siestas of 30 minutes or more at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who did not.