Good Sleeping!!!

Sleep was long considered just a uniform block of time when youare not awake. Thanks to sleep studies done over the past severaldecades, it is now known that sleep has distinct stages that cyclethroughout the night in predictable patterns. How well rested you areand how well you function depend not just on your total sleep timebut on how much of the various stages of sleep you get each night.Your brain stays active throughout sleep, and each stage of sleepis linked to a distinctive pattern of electrical activity known asbrain waves.Sleep is divided into two basic types: rapid eye movement (REM)sleep and non-REM sleep (with four different stages). (See “Typesof Sleep” on page 5.) Typically, sleep begins with non-REM sleep.In stage 1 non-REM sleep, you sleep lightly and can be awakenedeasily by noises or other disturbances. During this first stage ofsleep, your eyes move slowly, and your muscle activity slows. Youthen enter stage 2 non-REM sleep, when your eye movements stop.Your brain shows a distinctive pattern of slower brain waves withoccasional bursts of rapid waves.When you progress into stage 3 non-REM sleep, your brain wavesbecome even slower, although they are still punctuated by smaller,faster waves. By stage 4 non-REM sleep, the brain producesextremely slow waves almost exclusively. Stages 3 and 4 are considereddeep sleep, during which it is very difficult to be awakened.Children who wet the bed or sleep walk tend to do so during stages3 or 4 of non-REM sleep. Deep sleep is considered the “restorative”part of sleep that is necessary for feeling well rested and energeticduring the day.