WHY DO WE NEED AN LONG 8 HOUR SLEEP?
Most of us are aware of the keys to living a content and peaceful life, and one of the most crucial reasons we come across majorly is that of a good night’s sleep and a healthy balanced diet. Today, I will be focusing on only the former aspect and will surely ponder upon the latter part in the future.
FUN FACT:
Some people might actually develop an addiction to sleeping because sleeping causes our heart rate to slow down; furthermore, blood flow increases throughout our body along with the release of ‘feel-good hormones. This condition is known as hypersomnia---which can lead to various health problems, including memory loss!
Reasons for getting uninterrupted sleep
Our sleep cycle consists of 5 stages in total, and we cover most of the cycle sleeping “lightly.”
But let me tell you… that it is quite different from brief awakenings in between. If you’re experiencing too frequent awakenings throughout your sleep cycle, then that may be a sign of an unhealthy lifestyle. For example, watching videos on your mobile phone just before sleeping.
[We all know that’s our guilty pleasure, don’t we? 😉]
1. The first stage involves short awakenings, which we might not be aware of or remember doing. Suppose we were maybe tossing and turning at night to find the right position to sleep unconsciously.
Small tip for people out there who’re tired after a long day but having trouble sleeping due to stress: JUST TWO THINGS. Sit down/lay down on your bed. Now try and breathe deeply (take time to inhale and exhale. Close your eyes if you need more focus).
2. Now, we enter the phase where our body starts to be calm & relaxed. This is the time when someone wakes you up suddenly, and you feel so angry at life. Although studies show that interrupted sleep could cause negative effects on our mood and physical health if done regularly.
Our body can wonderfully heal itself mentally and physically during this time. Now that’s what I call MAGIC!
3. Personally, the next phase is my favorite. It’s called the REM phase(Rapid Eye Movement phase). This particular phase is important for our memory development, so if you’re studying for your exams planning to pull an all nightery, that is definitely a bad idea.
This is the moment where dreams come true 😊 Just kidding…our minds generally create dreams during this phase and presumably the time when our subconscious comes up with coping mechanisms against events that didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to. Our dreams function as expressing different emotions and finding links or connecting the dots to find meaning. According to Activation Synthesis Model, our brain is designed so that it is highly curious for quests.
So far, so cool, right?
If you’re wondering, all of this happens in 8 long hours. Then you’re partially right.
However, the entire sleep cycle occurs quite a several times. That means each phase can occur more than once, and the cycle can repeat all over again.
Although the sleep cycle pattern depends on person to person, typically, our body experiences 4-5 cycles every 90 minutes. So, when we’re taking short naps, the cycle doesn’t repeat as frequently as during nighttime.
It has been found that most of the time, we tend to spend in the light sleep phase during our cycles.
Maybe that’s why we feel so good when taking naps as it completes one full sleep cycle. In other words, the light sleep phase only occurs once, and we don’t stay “awake’’ as much as compared to an 8-hour sleep.
Let me know in the comments section if naps feel better to you too.
On a special note, women also feel the need to sleep more than usual before or during their menstrual cycle, which is completely natural as their body is preparing itself to align hormones and other bodily functions.
RESOURCES:
https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-dream-top-dream-theories-2795931
Why my article no be approved please tell me i submit article yesterday night it is showing New pending request
It took just a bit more than 1 week for mine to approve. Be patient.
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