The Importance of Sleep
Sleep is one of the most essential bodily functions that we humans, for whatever odd reason, seem to neglect nowadays. Whether it’s the grueling society we live in that plummets our overall health with unhealthy foods or overwhelming work schedules, or even the fact that we seem to not cater to our particular sleep styles that really bury us in the hole.
It’s imperative for adults to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep nightly. On the other hand, when it comes to children and teenagers, they require a bit more rest to recover from all their expended energy. A combination of healthy eating habits and good sleep routines contribute to a heavy reduction of illnesses like chronic lack of sleep and sleep disorders.
There’s more to Sleep than meets the eye
Science has come a long way to explain the important benefits that sleep provides and how it works to improve our daily lives. Our circadian rhythm, or the 24-hour internal clock we operate on, dictates how we feel from the moment we wake up until we begin to shut down at the end of the day. It’s important to be aware of this and acknowledge that there are stages of sleep.
Stages of Sleep
There are four main stages of the sleep cycle. The first three are known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, while the 4th and final stage is categorized as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
Stage 1 NREM:
This stage consists of threading the thin line between being awake and being asleep. It’s a light sleep that involves muscles relaxing and your heart rate, breathing, and eye movement slowly winding down. In addition, your brain also slows its processes down and begins to produce more melatonin and can last several minutes.
Stage 2 NREM:
The second stage is a deeper sleep as both breathing and heart rates continually slow down and muscles become more relaxed. Your eyes will cease to move as much and body temperature also decreases. This is the normally the longest stage of the four sleep stages.
Stage 3 NREM:
This is the pivotal stage that affects your mood and how rejuvenated you feel the next day. All bodily activities such as brainwaves, heartbeat, and breathing all drop to their lowest levels. It’s critical to maintain this stage for as long as possible in order to easily transition to the 4th and final stage of sleep.
Stage 4 Rapid Eye Movement (REM):
The final stage of sleep most likely will occur for you about 90 minutes after you begin to fall asleep. As the stage name suggests, your eyes will be moving rapidly underneath your eyelids and this is typically where dreaming takes place. Many studies have suggested the process for turning recently learned experiences into long-term memories happens at this stage as well.
Benefits of having a full night’s rest
Insufficient sleep can cause many severe side effects to your health and really set you back on your health. Even those who think they feel good after their rest may not be appropriately getting what they need and thus can lead to serious chronic sleep deprivation. Other diseases and conditions linked to a bad sleep routine include obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and overall poor mental health.
Ways to improve your sleep include setting up a realistic bedtime and be consistent about following it. In addition, do not eat large meals or drink sugar-containing beverages that may cause disturbance in your sleep. Exercising is a great way to maintain a balanced lifestyle that will allow you to get your body ready to relaxed for deep sleep sessions.
Have you considered that your bed might be the problem?
Having a comfortable sleeping environment is extremely important in contributing to a full night’s rest. For those needing extra support for your neck and back, try the Dosaze Therapeutic Wedge Pillow.
Those who prefer sleeping on your side should also check out the Dosaze Side Sleeper Pillow.
Finally, if you’ve been feeling a little hot under the covers, then definitely try the Dosaze ThermaCool Temperature Regulating Sheet Set as it allows your sleep environment to maintain temperature regulation throughout your rest.
Catch ‘Zzzs’ If You Can
We hope that after reading this you’ve come to realize how pivotal sleep actually is. Ignoring it and not catching up to it will bite us in the end if we’re not careful. After all, shouldn’t our health be the number one priority?
Take control over your sleep today and make sure to practice good habits to start feeling refreshed right away!
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