The human body is a mysterious thing, and even more so when it comes to our sleep patterns. For example, did you know that there are five stages of sleep?
This may not seem like a big deal at first glance, but it's actually pretty interesting! Let's dive into them now:
Stage 1 NREM Sleep
Stage 1 sleep is the first stage of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. It is characterized by very light sleep, slow, rolling eye movements and low muscle tone.
Stage 1 NREM usually lasts for 5-10 minutes before you move on to stage 2 NREM. When you are in stage 1 NREM, you will be aware of your environment and may wake up quickly if something happens that requires your attention or response like someone calling out your name or making noise elsewhere in the house.
Stage 2 NREM Sleep
Stage 2 NREM sleep is characterized by slow, large delta brain waves. The brain is still active in this stage, but the body is relaxed. While you’re in stage 2 NREM sleep, your muscles are paralyzed—which means you can’t move them at all—and your heart rate drops slightly (so it’s closer to normal than during REM). Basically, your whole body is still in a state of rest and relaxation.
The thing that separates stage 2 NREM from all other stages is its drowsiness factor: You may fall asleep quickly or wake up frequently before making it through the entire cycle. During this stage, you may be able to drift into lighter stages of sleep where your breathing becomes more shallow and irregular; however if anything wakes you up before then (like an alarm clock), then your body will go straight back into deep sleep without any problems whatsoever!
Stage 3 NREM Sleep
Stage 3 sleep is the first stage of sleep in which you can feel yourself falling asleep. It's when brain waves slow down and body temperature drops. Your heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases and breathing slows down. Your muscles relax while your body repairs and restores energy to your tissues and organs.
It's also when your brain restores its own energy; recent research has shown that during Stage 3 REM, the hippocampus replays the day’s events so we can remember them better in the morning (hence why dreams happen during this stage).
Stage 4 NREM Sleep
Stage 4 NREM Sleep is a stage of very deep sleep. This is when the body repairs and regenerates, so if you're not getting enough of it, you might feel tired all the time. Your heart rate slows down and your breathing gets slower and deeper as well. You'd think that this would be a good thing for your sleep cycle to do if it's going to happen at all, because what better time to relax than right before bed? But there's something else that happens during Stage 4 Nrem Sleep: It's called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep!
When we enter this stage, our brains go into overdrive—and they do some pretty weird stuff in there! We lose muscle tone throughout our body (except for around our eyes). Our brain waves become similar to those we see during waking hours—but only for a short amount of time before things get even stranger!
REM Sleep
The fifth and final stage in the five-stage sleep cycle is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is when we dream, which is why it’s also referred to as paradoxical sleep because our bodies are paralyzed during this time. This paralysis prevents us from acting out our dreams while we’re sleeping, which would be a nightmare for anyone who had a fear of frogs or being chased by bees.
The reason that REM sleep is so important is because it’s where we remember things better—including facts about frogs and bees! The brain processes information during this stage and integrates new experiences into existing memories through an active form of dreaming called “parasomnia” (a fancy term for “dreaming while sleeping). That's why even if you don't remember your dreams when you wake up after a night filled with REM, you'll still have learned things from them.
Find out what goes on inside your mind during sleep.
When you sleep, your body and mind are hard at work. Your brain is busy repairing itself, replenishing energy stores and clearing toxins. This process can be interrupted by a number of factors—from poor diet to stress to alcohol consumption—but we'll get into those later.
While it's important to know how much sleep is “enough” for you on an individual basis (and that may change depending on what stage of life you're in), sleeping between six and eight hours per night has been proven beneficial for overall health. It's also worth noting that while we don't need as much rest now as we did 200 years ago (thanks to modern conveniences like electricity), our bodies still require adequate shut-eye in order to function optimally throughout the day.
Of course, there’s more to the five stages of sleep than this brief summary. But it’s a good place to start — and we hope you found it interesting! If you want to learn even more about your sleep cycle and how it affects your everyday life, check out our articles on:
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