My Mother Bought Me a Nap
It was… interesting.
See, there’s this place in NYC where you can go take a nap. As I am a seasoned professional in the art of napping, I see the beauty in this logic. Yelo is a place in midtown where you can make an appointment and pay them for a “pod” to take a nap in. I promised my wonderful mother I would write about my experience, so here goes.
In Georgia, working at a bank, being in two comedy improve troupes (we were funny, occasionally!), and going to school at night, I was the queen of taking naps. I knew where all the safe parks were, and I could always count on the parking lots at school to provide the perfect shade to bust out a 20 minute snooze-fest before my classes. In those days, I would tip back my seat in my stripped down 2000 Corolla, set my phone alarm, and snore for at least 15 minutes, coming out looking frazzled, but slightly refreshed. I was looking forward to a place that was not a car to rest for a lil bit of my day, since my home is too far away from my job to sneak away to nap in.
It makes sense, this nap place. I’m always going at full-speed in this town… Making dinner-then coffee-then hanging out somewhere plans right after work that prevent me from any downtime. I will not get home until 10 or 11 on many weekdays, and the idea of stopping to nap sounds pret-ty freaking fabulous to me.
It was a Friday, after a wonderful Thursday night where I did not get much sleep, so I was good n’ ready for a nice nap. My mother had bought me a reflexology treatment, followed by a 20 minute nap in one of Yelo’s pods. I brought my tired body in there and prepared to fall asleep.
I waked into a futuristic storefront with muted colors and people with hushed voices at the front desk. I gave them my info, and they sat me down in the lobby with offers for tea or water, which I had no problem with whatsoever. They handed me a questionnaire to fill out with my preferences for aromatherapy and music. I chose the fig scent because it smelled more delicious than the “romantic breeze” choice, which smelled a little bit like death, which I found not to be very romantic, personally. Being a real 90’s woman at heart (with a cosmic sun tramp stamp to always remind me of the 90’s), I chose some cosmic moonbeam music to have on while getting reflexology and napping. I asked that the music be turned off after the reflexology, since I typically don’t listen to music whilst sleeping, but this caused a great disturbance in my poor reflexologist’s face, as no one had dared requested the music be turned off during a session before! So, against my better judgement, I agreed to have the moonbeam sounds continue on during my snore time.
I went into the tiny pod and sat down on the chair that resembled a dentist chair with no scary instruments. Yelo’s belief is that the feet must be elevated above the heart to slow the heart rate down. I was used to the exact opposite in my car, and whenever I get the distinct pleasure to nap anytime at home, I always fall asleep on my tummy or side, but I brushed my doubts aside, since this place was made for resting. Surely I would adjust.
The reflexologist tipped the dentist chair back until I was nice and supine, while I tried to relax in the soft purple light with the fig scent reminding me that I was hungry, and the moonbeams playing. I tried not to expect a massage, since that’s not exactly reflexology, but still prayed that he would understand that foot massages feel better than pressure points. He rubbed, but didn’t rub, you know? While it was pleasant, I did want to go get a real foot massage immediately after that, but didn’t have the time, since I’d taken up all my downtime at Yelo.
So, I tried to relax my hunger pangs and settle into nap mode. The reflexologist was silent and very gentle, and I began to feel sleepier. As quiet as he tried to be, I did hear him get up and leave after his twenty minutes were up, so I knew in the back of my mind I had twenty minutes all to myself in the now dark pod in my dentist chair.
As the music kept playing and the figs kept filling my nose, I started to drift into my subconscious and let myself flow into sleep. I was getting drowsier and drowsier, and THEN! The moonbeams had a guitar solo! It was frantic! I woke with a start and immediately felt the urge to check my phone and get something to eat.
But being a good test subject, I settled back down and prayed that the moonbeams would stop their urgent “soothing” song. I was a teeny bit annoyed at the guitar solo, but was determined to rest, as my mother had paid good money for me to sleep!
But it was not to be. After being jolted back awake by the music, all I could really think about was how I’d like to flip on my tummy and stretch all the way out, and have my girl Gillian feed me the most delicious fig spread I’ve ever encountered, Ficoco, which is a chocolate fig spread, which means a party in my mouth.
So, I was already putting my shoes back on when the lights rose into a “sunrise” and the music swelled more frantically than before, which surprised me, since I thought it was already so jarringly frantic to being with.
All in all, it was a unique and cool experience that was different than I ever would’ve gotten were I still living in Georgia, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to go have a nap at a genuine nap-place. I think it would be perfect for people who were not as well-versed as I am in the world of naps.
Thanks, Mom.
*Click on the pic to go to the Yelo site.
