It is very important to allow your body and your mind to recharge and repair itself overnight, leaving you refreshed in the morning.
To better understand how sleep works, there are 2 types of sleep cycles, REM (Rapid Eye Movement, which there is only 1 stage) and Non-REM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement, which have 3 different stages). Your sleep pattern is not uniform and will progress throughout the night. Here are the stages of a sleep cycle:
NREM Stage 1/N1: Dozing Off (1-5 minutes)
The first stage is when your body hasn’t fully relaxed, your body and brain activities are in the process of slowing down, you will experience some periods of movements (twitches) the light changes in your brain activity is associated with falling asleep in this stage. During it a person can be easily woken up but if undisturbed can rapidly move to stage 2.
Note: A lot of people find that they have trouble falling a sleep, and this stage would be impacted, it is a very important stage if you do not have the ideal conducive environment for sleeping, it could take you a lot more time to get to stage 2. We will touch base on how you can improve your sleeping environment in a following section.
NREM Stage 2/N2: Light Sleep (10-60 minutes)
In the second stage your body enters a quieter state, your body temperature will lower, your muscles will relax, your breathing and heart rate will slow down. Simultaneously your eye movement stops, brain activity slows down, but you can experience short bursts of activity that will help you prevent being woken up by an external stimulus.
NREM Stage 3/N3: Deep Sleep (20-40 minutes)
This is the stage where you are getting restorative sleep, allowing your body to recover and grow. It may boost your immune system and other key bodily processes. During this stage your body has relaxed even further; muscle tone, pulse and breathing rate decreases. Some people refer it as the delta waves pattern.
REM Stage/REM Sleep: (10-60 minutes)
This is known as the stage where you would have the most vivid dreams. It is also a very important stage for cognitive functions like memory, learning and creativity. During REM you would experience an uptick in brain activity.
What is the recommended number of hours of sleep based on your age?
Why is it important to follow the recommended number of hours of sleep?
Because insufficient amount of sleep can lead to serious repercussions. Because sleep depravation can cause physical and mental issues, the brain cannot function properly, this can impair your abilities to concentrate, think clearly and process memories and weakened your immune system.
Healthy sleep also helps the body remain healthy and keep at bay diseases. It’s your body’s reset process.
How can I better my sleep? - TIPS
1. Improve your sleep environment by setting yourself up:
2. Eliminate noise and light disruptions, the darker the room, the better. (Blue light is the biggest culprit; computer, laptop, flat screen tv, all phones, tablets use LED technology that emits very high amounts of blue light)
3. Maintain a consistent bedtime schedule
4. Invest in good quality bedding, mattress, pillows & sheets
5. Avoid eating before bedtime
6. Avoid alcohol before bedtime
In a nutshell, sleep is a critical, yet oftentimes neglected, factor of our overall well-being in our modern society, and we are feeling the negative impact. Your sleep is important to enable your body to repair and reset itself to be ready for another day, so now more than ever it is important to make sure you are doing everything you can to get a good night’s rest each night.
You can set yourself up for success by following some of the tips we shared with you, creating a sleep schedule – trying to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. This will help train your body to know that it’s time to rest, so you can get to sleep easier. Make your bedroom as comfortable as possible to allow for a conducive sleep environment by keeping the room cool and dark. Also, try to give yourself a solid 30 to 60 minutes before bed to relax and unwind, anything that will help you quiet your mind and thoughts when it's time to close your eyes.
If you have trouble sleeping how else can we help you?
If you have chronic pain that prevents you from falling asleep, we can help managing the pain with NIR (Near Infrared) Light Therapy, Seqex ICR ® PEMF Therapy and Acupuncture.
If you are having trouble sleeping because your little hamster won’t stop spinning in its wheel, you need to quiet your mind, we can help you with Seqex ICR ® PEMF brain waves therapy, this can also help you reset your sleeping cycle.
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