Why Do We Sleep?
No one knows for sure why we sleep but sleep seems to be necessary for the body’s immune system to repair itself, for the muscles of the body to recover from the days exertions, for the brain to create the pathways to remember the days events and to prepare yourself for either a moment of greatness like discovering a new planet or for something really stupid like licking a steak knife.
What Happens When We Sleep?
Our bodies are remarkably busy while we sleep. Our brain is active, we dream, all our organs continue to function, blood flows and breathing goes on. You probably change your position many times during the night and you turn over almost two dozen times or more each night.
I used to toss and turn a few hundred times per night. I was like a fish in the bottom of the boat – flip flop, flip flop. I could judge how well I slept the night before by how torn apart my bed was the next morning; pillows on the floor, sheets pulled out, pyjamas on the lamp shade, drool cup knocked over.
It’s natural to wake up during the night. The bad news is we’ll awake a few dozen times when we’re young adults to over a hundred times when we’re seniors (not all are bathroom trips, although sometimes it may seem like it).
The Sleep Cycle
The sleep cycle has two parts; REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non REM) sleep. REM sleep is associated with dreaming. Your eyes actually move back and forth under your eye lids like you’re watching a movie with you eyes closed. During REM your breathing, blood pressure and heart rate are irregular and higher than in a deep sleep. REM sleep is a very light, active sleep mode.
NREM sleep has four stages from stage 1, light sleep where a dripping tap can drive you nuts to the deepest stage four sleep where a Mariachi band playing at your bed side may not wake you. Stages two and three are progressively deeper stages of sleep.
In the simplest terms, you go through several 90 minute cycles from stage 1 through stage 2, stage 3 and stage 4 and ending in REM sleep.
Why Do We Sleep?
No one knows for sure why we sleep but sleep seems to be necessary for the body’s immune system to repair itself, for the muscles of the body to recover from the days exertions, for the brain to create the pathways to remember the days events and to prepare yourself for either a moment of greatness like discovering a new planet or for something really stupid like licking a steak knife.
What Happens When We Sleep?
Our bodies are remarkably busy while we sleep. Our brain is active, we dream, all our organs continue to function, blood flows and breathing goes on. You probably change your position many times during the night and you turn over almost two dozen times or more each night.
I used to toss and turn a few hundred times per night. I was like a fish in the bottom of the boat – flip flop, flip flop. I could judge how well I slept the night before by how torn apart my bed was the next morning; pillows on the floor, sheets pulled out, pyjamas on the lamp shade, drool cup knocked over.
It’s natural to wake up during the night. The bad news is we’ll awake a few dozen times when we’re young adults to over a hundred times when we’re seniors (not all are bathroom trips, although sometimes it may seem like it).
The Sleep Cycle
The sleep cycle has two parts; REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non REM) sleep. REM sleep is associated with dreaming. Your eyes actually move back and forth under your eye lids like you’re watching a movie with you eyes closed. During REM your breathing, blood pressure and heart rate are irregular and higher than in a deep sleep. REM sleep is a very light, active sleep mode.
NREM sleep has four stages from stage 1, light sleep where a dripping tap can drive you nuts to the deepest stage four sleep where a Mariachi band playing at your bed side may not wake you. Stages two and three are progressively deeper stages of sleep.
In the simplest terms, you go through several 90 minute cycles from stage 1 through stage 2, stage 3 and stage 4 and ending in REM sleep.