You’ll find three main elements to self-care: exercise, food, and rest. These are the foundation for your self-care system. In terms of these basics, there are some ground rules that we all are on board with: eat less processed foods and drink plenty of fluids, and exercise can include anything that gets you moving. How about sleep? How about taking naps at your desk, on the bus, or sitting on your couch while you drift off to sleep while watching Netflix. These can be beneficial. They can be helpful. To answer your question, no. Although short naps can bring you an increase in energy, they’re not meant to replace a long sleep.
What is Deep Sleep?
The body goes through different phases of sleep each night. Stage 3 of your sleeping cycle, which is comprised of non-rapid eye motion sleep, is called deep sleep. This kind of sleep is crucial for adults to feel reenergized as they get their eyes open at the beginning of their day. In reality, 13 to 23 percent of adults’ sleep needs to be a deep sleep. Adults need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep per night, so sleeping deep should be needed for 62-110 minutes.
The Stages of Sleep
When you sleep, your body experiences one eye movement that is rapid (REM) sleep stage as well as three non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stages. It usually will take between 90 and 120 minutes to complete these stages. The cycle starts again following that.
The whole sleeping cycle as many as six times, depending on the length of your sleep. The first few hours of sleep, you’ll are more likely to be in NERM sleep. The body spends more time in REM sleep as the time passes by. Let’s talk about each stage to understand how sleep cycles work.
1. Stage
This is when your body transitions from being fully awake and falling asleep. This stage is much easier than others. Your body stays in this state for a brief time, and then quickly shifts into the next phase. Additionally, the stimulation of your senses and brain activity begin to decrease to allow you to sleep.
Stage 2
You will still be in light sleep at this moment. Your heart rate and breathing will slow. The muscle tension will lessen and your body temperature will decrease. Typically, this stage lasts longer than others. This stage will account for half of your sleep.
Stage 3
This is where deep sleep starts. In the third stage your breathing rate and heart rate are much less, allowing your entire body relax. As brain waves decrease and tension diminishes, your eyes will relax and your muscles relax. At this point, it’s harder to wake up, and it’s where the majority of the symptoms of sleep-related disorders develop like sleepwalking.
Stage 4 or REM Sleep
This is the last stage of the sleep cycle. REM sleep occurs around 90 minutes after falling asleep. Your body will first enter the REM phase for 10 minutes. The duration will grow to up to 15 minutes or longer as your body experiences many sleep cycles. When you begin dreaming and your eyes start to open and close This is the point where you can actually wake up. Stage 4 is when your brain starts to function in the same way it does when you’re fully awake.
The benefits of Deep Sleep
Taking the required 7-9 hours of sleep each day is essential to wake up feeling refreshed and not feeling tireder than the night before. Sleeping in deep is beneficial for many reasons. The deep sleep of the brain increases glucose metabolism. Additionally, it helps with both short- and long-term memory. This is a further benefitas it enhances your ability to learn.
Slow-wave sleep is also the time when the pituitary glands produce an enormous amount of vital hormones, such as growth hormone. This is important for the development and growth.
These are only a few of the many benefits to deep sleep.
- Increase blood supply to muscles
- can help restore energy levels
- Regeneration of cells
- Repair of bones and tissues
- Encourages growth
- Enhance your immune system
Are you wondering what health issues you might have to face in the event that you don’t have enough deep sleep for a prolonged period of time? Sleeping in slow-waves is beneficial to the brain’s capacity to process the vast amount of information it’s collected during the day. Your brain may be having trouble keeping this information in long-term memory if it doesn’t get enough restful sleep. Additionally, you’re at a greater risk of developing illnesses such as:
- stroke
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Diabetes
- heart disease
What Can You Get More Deep Sleep?
The simplest and easiest way to do this is to make sure you have enough sleep. Make sure you sleep for at least seven hours each night to get high-quality sleep. Some more methods that you can practice include:
Exercise
Do you have trouble sleeping? This is a major reason for people who don’t get enough sleep at night, regardless of whether they go to bed on time. To ensure a more restful sleep, try cutting down on alcohol intake during the time before you go to the bed.
Coffee
Coffee is a stimulant and can help you stay awake, so it’s a no-brainer that you should avoid drinking it before bed. However, not many know when exactly to stop their intake of caffeine for the duration of the day. In case you didn’t know, you should avoid taking coffee seven hours before you go to bed.
Bottom Line
If you’re tired and cranky when you wake up early in the morning, it’s likely because you didn’t get quality sleep during the night. There are a few ways to prevent feeling fatigued and cranky when get up early in the morning. A consistent sleep pattern helps your body gain strength, boosts your memory , and helps prevent the development of heart issues.
