Debunking Sleep Series Part 1: The stages of sleep
When it comes to sleep, where should we start?
To better understand the bigger picture of sleep, we need to start with the stages.
Yes, there are actual events or stages that happen in your brain and body that allow you to sleep and dream. It is not magic that happens behind your eyelids.
In general, there are two large overarching areas of sleep called NREM (non-rapid eye movement) and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
NREM has three distinct stages while REM only has one stage as you sleep.
In the first stage of NREM, this is where your body starts to relax and drift into sleep, aka the moment where you snuggle your blanket and get so cozy and relaxed your eyes start to close.
The second stage of NREM is where your heart rate slows down and your body temperature actually starts to fall as you transition into a full, deep sleep.
The third or last step of NREM sleep is where you are deep sleeping. This is where your breathing slows down, you are in pure bliss of relaxation and your brain is processing your memories among other things.
Interestingly, after this third NREM stage, you don’t move on to REM right away.
Your brain switches back to NREM stage 2 and continues to process information, memories, etc. After this repeat stage, you enter the one stage of sleep where the bread and butter is: REM sleep. After this deep relaxation in Stage 2, your brain actually becomes active, your heart rate increases, and you finally start dreaming.
As you play your dreams like a little movie film in your brain, your eyes are moving back and forth quickly (that is why this stage is called rapid eye movement sleep or REM).
Once your brain has had enough of your dreaming stage, you will cycle right back to the second stage of NREM sleep. This repeating cycle of sleep and dreaming occurs throughout the night about 5 times on average, and each cycle lasts anywhere from 1 ½ hours to 2 hours.
I have heard some crazy theories that you should plan your bedtime for how many hours you need to sleep to get full sleep cycles without cutting off a cycle in the middle in order to get the best sleep. Honestly, this is nonsense to me. Now, I am not a sleep expert, but this idea seems outlandish to me for a few reasons. First of all, some people (myself included) drink a lot of water during the evening and may need to pee in the middle of the night. This idea of timing around sleep cycles is also unachievable, because the transition of sleep cycles throughout the night is also different for everyone! There are a few common patterns for how people transition from one stage of the cycle to another, but not everyone is the same. Lastly, this is not attainable by people who experience sleep disorders: sleep apnea, insomnia, etc.
Here is my biggest piece of advice in regards to sleeping: you know your body and brain the best.
Try different bedtimes, sheets, pillows, routines, etc. to find what allows you to have the best sleep possible. Everyone is different so don’t fall into the trap of putting pressure on yourself to get a certain amount of hours of sleep and stop comparing yourself to others.
I am hoping that this helps explain the hows and whys of the sleep cycle stages.
As always, reach out with questions!
Stay humble,
Emily
