‘You sleep you win’: Hundreds gather in South Korea for ‘power nap’ contest

Hundreds of South Koreans on Saturday (May 18) gathered in the capitalSeoulforan unusual yet significant event: The sleeping contest. Dressed in sleepwear, people shut their eyes and got comfortable for one hour and 30 minutes at the Han River Park to sendoutan important message to fellow South Koreans and the world: Taking rest isimportant.

The eventwas held to raiseawareness about the importance and significance of taking timely breaks and rests.

Tolevel up the challenges for participants,some distractions like feather tickling, whispering and mosquito noises were used.

Then,their heart rate measurements were taken. The participant who experienced thelargestdeviation between the heart rate before and during the nap wasto bedeclared the winner as it would indicate the best sleep quality.

Event organisers and participants said they wanted to bring theworld'sattention to the importance of sleep and rest in a world that has become too challenging for many.

“Our country is known for its competitive society, and the importance of sleep seems to be undervalued,”said Son Ji-hong, 24, who came to the contest with a neck pillow and sunglasses.

Lack of sleep is amajorproblem in South Korea. SouthKorea’sNational Assembly reports that its citizens get the leastamount ofsleep on average compared to other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations. They clock in at just 7 hours and 41 minutes per night,which isnotably lower than the OECD average of 8 hours and 22 minutes.

Watch:South Koreans participate in 'power nap' contest

India is also theworld'ssecond most sleep-deprived nation after Japan. A 2023 survey revealed that around 55 per cent of Indiansaren'tgetting enough sleep or are sleeping for less than 6 hours. Another survey found that a whopping 88 per cent of Indians wake up multiple times during the nightandat least 25 per cent of Indians say theysuffer from insomnia.

(With inputs from agencies)