So, what really happens when you shut those eyes and go to sleep ?

Sleep occurs in a cycle of 90-110 minutes and is divided like this; non REM (rapid eye movement), which is further split into four stages and REM sleep. Let me explain to you what this is all about.

Non REM sleep

Stage 1 Light sleep, this is when we are half awake and half asleep. Muscle activity slows down and you may start twitching slightly (not to be confused with restless leg         syndrome). At this point we can easily be awakened.

Stage 2 True sleep comes after about ten minutes of light sleep and lasts for about 20 minutes. Breathing slows down as does heart beat.

Stage 3 Deep sleep – is when the brain produces delta waves, which is a wave that has high amplitude and low frequency. Breathing and heart are very slow now.

Stage 4 Deep sleep – rhythmic breathing and limited muscle activity and if awakened at this time it is hard to adjust and people often feel disorientated for a few minutes. It is at this time that children experience bedwetting, night terrors and sleep walking can occur.

REM sleep

The first rapid eye movement begins around 70-90 minutes after we fall asleep. You have around three to five REM’s per night, the brain is quite active, although you are not aware of this (or should not be), and it is when most dreams occur. Breathing rate rises as does blood pressure but the body is completely still.

After REM the whole cycle begins again.

That is how it should be…… Go through the above and when you go to bed to-night try to understand what should happen. These studies were done with people who would have been wired up in a sleep experiment so would not have been eating late, drinking alcohol or probably even stressed so whilst this shows what should happen you can see why we are all so different, our lifestyles, work, babies and children, all have an impact on what is termed “normal”.

Just a bit of fun – did you know a Giraffe sleeps around 1.9hr whilst a python sleeps around 18 hours, an African elephant sleeps around 3.3hrs whilst a tiger around 15.8 so there is “norm” for any of us.

Sleep well…