Information about different stages of sleep.
Each night, we get into bed and hope to fall asleep quickly. Before we know it, the alarm goes off, and it's time to start the day. Hopefully you got a good night's sleep, and are well rested. But what actually goes on during the night, while you are asleep?
There are 5 different stages of sleep.
When you first fall asleep, you start with stage 1 and progress from there. Each night, you go back and forth between the different stages of sleep, without even realizing it.
Here are the different stages, and what they do:
Stage 1:
This is the beginning of the 5 different sleep types. It is the point where you are just falling asleep, and if someone wakes you up at this stage you probably will think you didn't fall asleep at all. At this stage, your body temperature starts to fall, your muscles start to relax, and your heart rate starts to slow down. You will be in this part of the sleep cycle for only about five to ten minutes.
Stage 2:
This is where you are considered fully asleep. Your body temperature continues to lower, your heart rate continues to slow down, and your muscles are now relaxed. At this stage your brain waves start to become slower, and your eye movements will stop. You will spend 45% - 60% of your sleep in this stage.
Stage 3:
This is the beginning of deep sleep in the different stages of sleep cycle. You are completely relaxed and your brain waves are even slower. They are called delta waves, and are mixed with very small fast waves. This along with stage 4 is where you would sleepwalk, or talk in your sleep. You usually enter this stage about 40 minutes after you fall asleep, and spend about a total of 3% - 8% of your sleep in this stage.
Stage 4:
This is the stage that is the deepest part of sleep. There are even more delta brain waves occurring at this stage. There is no muscle movement, and no eye movement as well. If you get woken up during this stage, or stage 3, you will be very groggy and disoriented for a little while after being woken up. You spend about a total of 10% - 15% of your sleep in this stage.
REM Sleep (Rapid Eye Movement):
This is the "busiest" part of sleep. This is where you dream. While you are in this stage, your heart beats faster, your breathing becomes irregular, and your eyes move back and forth rapidly. You spend about 20% - 25% of your sleep in this stage.
During the night, you will go through 2, 3, 4, different stages of sleep and REM sleep about every hour and a half.
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