You’ll find three main elements to self-care: exercise, food, and deep sleeping. These are the foundation for your self-care hierarchy. These are the basics. We all agree that you should eat less processed foods and drink more water. Exercise can also include any activity that gets your heart pumping. What about sleep? You can take naps at work, on the bus, or on the couch while you watch Netflix. These naps can help. These can help. To answer your question, no. Although short naps may give you a boost of energy, they are not a substitute for deep sleep.
What is Deep Sleep?
Each night, your body experiences different stages in sleep. Stage 3 of your sleep cycle, which includes non-rapid-eye movement sleep, is called deep sleep. Adults need to feel refreshed after waking up in the morning. Deep sleep is recommended for between 13 and 23 percent of adults. Adults need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep per night, so it is important that they get 62 to 110 minutes of deep sleep each night.
The Stages of Sleep
Your body experiences three stages of sleep: one rapid eye movement (REM), and three non-rapid (NREM). These stages take between 90 and 120 minutes for your body to complete. The cycle begins again after that.
You will experience the whole sleep cycle up to six times depending on how long you sleep. NERM sleep is more common in the first hour of sleep. Your body will spend more time in REM sleep as time goes by. Let’s look at each stage in order to better understand the sleep cycle.
Stage 1
This is the stage when your body transitions from being fully awake to falling asleep. This stage is easier than others. This stage is only temporary and your body quickly moves on to the next. To help you sleep, your brain activity and sensory stimulation start to drop.
Stage 2
You will still be in a light sleep at this point. Your heart rate and breathing will slow. Your body temperature will drop and the tension in your muscles will diminish. This stage is more common than the others. This stage will account for half of your sleep.
Stage 3
This is the stage when deep sleep begins. The 3rd stage allows you to relax your whole body by lowering your heart rate and breathing rate. As the brain waves slow down and tension decreases, your eyes will relax and muscles will relax. It’s difficult to get up at this stage and you will experience the most common symptoms of sleep disorders, such as sleepwalking.
REM Sleep or Stage 4
This is the final stage of your sleep cycle. Around 90 minutes after falling asleep, REM sleep takes place. Your body will first enter the REM stage for 10 minutes. As your body experiences more sleep cycles, this time will increase to at least 15 minutes. When you begin dreaming and your eyes start to move under your eyelids, this is the stage where you can actually wake up. Stage 4 is when your brain starts to function in the same way it does when you are fully awake.
Benefits of deep sleep
It is vital to get the 7 to 9 hours of sleep you need each night to feel energized every morning. Deep sleep has many benefits. Deep sleep increases brain glucose metabolism. It also supports both short-term and long-term memory. It also has an added benefit: it can improve your learning ability.
Slow-wave sleep also marks the time when the pituitary glands release a large number of growth hormones. This is important for the body’s development and growth.
These are just a few of the many benefits to deep sleep.
- Increase blood supply to muscles
- It helps to restore energy
- Regeneration of cells
- Repair of bones and tissues
- Encourages growth
- Strengthen your immune system
Are you curious about the health issues you could face if your sleep habits are not optimal? Slow-wave sleep is a way for your brain to process all the information it has collected throughout the day. Your brain might have difficulty storing this information in long-term memory if you don’t get enough quality sleep. You are also at greater risk for developing conditions like:
- Stroke
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
How can you get deeper sleep?
Sleeping is the easiest and most important thing you can do. To get quality sleep, you should aim to sleep for at least seven hours each night. You can also try these other methods:
Exercise
Can’t get to sleep? Can’t go to sleep? sleeping. Reduce alcohol consumption in the hours leading up to bedtime for deep sleep.
Coffee
It’s known that coffee is a stimulant, which can help you stay awake at night. Many people don’t know when to stop drinking caffeine for the day. If you don’t know this, coffee should be avoided seven hours before you go to bed.
You may feel tired or cranky upon waking up each morning because you haven’t had enough sleep. These are some ways to avoid feeling tired and cranky when you wake up in the morning. Stable sleep cycles help your body to gain strength, increase memory and prevent the development of heart disease.
