Tuesday, March 25, 2008
5 stages of sleep
Lately I feel like I have not been getting enough sleep. I am constantly tired and I am always too busy to take a nap. I started reading things online about sleeping and tips to help with your sleeping habits. One thing they said is that if you are living a busy life and the recommended number of hours of sleep is difficult to fit in your schedule then at least fit seven hours in. One thing I found interesting is that you may not know this, but while you are sleeping, your brain is still active. As you sleep, your brain cycles through five stages of sleep. One complete cycle takes about 90-100 minutes. Therefore, during an average night of sleep, a person’s brain goes through four or five cycles. The first two stages of sleep are periods of light sleep in which a person can easily be awakened. During these stages eye movements slow down and eventually stop. Your heart and breathing rates slow down and your body temperature decreases as well. During stages three and four, a person is in their deep sleeping stages. If awakened during these stages, a person will often feel groggy and disorientated for a few minutes. These are the most refreshing stages of sleep that our bodies crave when we are tired. The final stage of sleep is known as REM sleep due to the rapid eye movements which occur during this stage. Other physical changes take place such as, breathing becoming more rapid and your heart beating faster. This stage is also when a person has the most vivid dreams, the ones that you remember when you wake up in the morning. I thought this was really interesting because I always wondered what went through our minds and bodies while we are sleeping.
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6 comments:
The stages of sleep are very interesting. I just learned about it in psychology this year and found it to be a great topic.
I find that i also don't get enough sleep, guess its just the college lifestyle. The stuff on brain activity during sleep is pretty interesting, i remember reading about that stuff in psychology. I recently put up a post about how i cant get any sleep and my frustration with it.
ughhh i feel the same way, i really dont get enough sleep here, sometimes i get at least 8 and then other ngihts ill get only five!
ugh i cant wait to sleep in this summer!
I never get enough sleep but I try to make up for it on the weekends even though you can't really make up lost sleep.
We learned about this in psychology..its pretty interesting that there are differnt stages of sleeping and casue differnt types of dreams and so on. i really dont get that much sleep eiether.. in my dorm people are always up making noise so its kind of hard, i guess its just the college sleeping pattern
Now that it's spring, my husky keeps hearing creatures outside every 20 minutes all night and wants out.
I'm exhausted. I'm tempted to just leave her out.
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