Tag: REM sleep

How Deep Sleep Awakens Your Best Self

Published on by Nikken

Did you know that your body goes through four stages of sleep? As you sleep, your body cycles through those four stages. Sleep cycles vary throughout the night, with the shortest at the beginning of the night, typically lasting between 70 to 100 minutes. Later on, sleep cycles can last between 90 to 120 minutes.

Each of the four stages of sleep serves a purpose. Stage 1 is the lightest stage and occurs when you first fall asleep. Stage 1 allows your body to slow down and begin the process of relaxation. It is easy to be awakened, and if so, you have to repeat stage 1 until you’re asleep. If you stay asleep, your body will move into Stage 2.

During Stage 2, your muscles relax, body temperature drops, your heart rate and breathing both slow down. Brain activity also slows down in stage 2. During the first sleep cycle, stage 2 might last 10-25 minutes and each stage 2 later on, may become longer. Sleep experts estimate that a person generally spends half of a night’s sleep in stage 2.1

Stage 3 is where you get the deepest sleep. This stage is especially important because during deep sleep, your body recovers and grows. In other words, stage 3 is when your body experiences restorative sleep and the immune system and other major bodily processes are strengthened.2 Stage 3 is also known as delta sleep or slow-wave sleep, due to the identifiable pattern of brain activity. Muscle tone, pulse and breathing rate all decrease, and although brain activity slows, there is evidence that deep sleep contributes to insightful thinking, creativity and memory.3

During the early sleep cycles, deep sleep typically lasts from 20-40 minutes. As you continue sleeping, stage 3 sleep actually shortens and more time is spent in stage 4, REM sleep. Because the eyes are moving rapidly even though they’re closed during stage 4, that’s why it’s called REM sleep.

Perhaps the most attention has been paid to stage 4 REM sleep, because it’s during this phase that brain activity increases, almost to the levels of wakefulness. In contrast to the active brain, the rest of the body experiences a temporary paralysis of the muscles (known as atonia), with the exception of the rapid eye movement and the muscles involved with the breathing process. Although you can dream throughout the night, it’s during REM stages that the most vivid ones occur, probably due to the increase in brain activity.

But why is stage 3 deep sleep considered the key to awakening your best self? Take a look at what happens during deep sleep.

•          Your body’s natural processes of repair take place and grows bone, muscle and tissue.

•          Hormonal shifts take place to support the immune system. In fact, growth hormone is released, which helps with cell regeneration.

•          The body’s energy molecule, known as ATP, is produced. This readies your body for awakening and facing the day.

•          Memory is enhanced during deep sleep. Studies have shown that people who get enough sleep perform better on tests or when undertaking a new task.3

•          Getting enough deep sleep is linked to better moods and decreasing the risk of depression.

•          There is evidence that enough deep sleep can help prevent mental fog and help retain information.4

To get enough deep sleep, make sure you create the best possible sleep environment for yourself. Nikken can help you with free ground shipping on select Kenko sleep products through October 31st this month. (Free ground shipping does not apply to the Kenko Power Sleep Mask.)

1, 2 https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep

3 https://aasm.org/college-students-getting-enough-sleep-is-vital-to-academic-success/

4 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7983127/

What Happens to Your Body During Sleep?

Published on by Nikken

Were you ever told not to eat too much before going to bed at night? Or to make sure you apply moisturizer at night? It’s because your body is busy repairing cells and finishing digestion while you sleep. Those are just two key activities your body performs during sleep.

Hormone production changes during sleep. Growth hormone production increases while stress hormones decrease. In fact, cortisol, known as the stress hormone, goes down when you fall asleep but then rises again, before you wake up. Melatonin, on the other hand, rises when you are ready to sleep and falls when daylight approaches. In healthy bodies, kidneys make less urine during sleep, so you don’t have to get up to use the bathroom during a good night’s rest.

Another change the body undergoes during sleep is body temperature. It goes up and down a bit throughout the day, but at night, body temperature tends to be one to two degrees lower than during the day. The lower body temperature helps you stay asleep because humans sleep better when cooler. To prepare for the next day’s activities, your body temperature starts rising as morning approaches.

“Sleep is a period during which the brain is engaged in a number of activities necessary to life—which are closely linked to quality of life,” says Johns Hopkins sleep expert and neurologist Mark Wu, M.D., PhD.1 Throughout your time asleep, your brain will cycle repeatedly through two different types of sleep: REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep and non-REM sleep.

The first part of the cycle is non-REM sleep, which is composed of four stages. The first stage comes between being awake and falling asleep. The second is light sleep, when heart rate and breathing regulate and body temperature drops. The third and fourth stages are deep sleep. Though REM sleep was previously believed to be the most important sleep phase for learning and memory, newer data suggests that non-REM sleep is more important for these tasks, as well as being the more restful and restorative phase of sleep.2

As you cycle into REM sleep, the eyes move rapidly behind closed lids, and brain waves are similar to those during wakefulness. During the day, your breathing changes a lot, depending on what you’re doing and feeling. During non-REM sleep (about 80% of an adult’s sleeping time), you breathe slowly and regularly. But during REM sleep, your breathing rate goes up again, which also dreaming time. Breathing also becomes more shallow and less regular during this sleep phase. Some of it may be due to throat muscles relaxing. It may also be due to less movement of the rib cage during REM sleep. Whenever you’re sleeping, your oxygen levels are lower and your carbon dioxide levels are higher because your level of breathing goes slightly down.3

During non-REM sleep, your brain takes a real rest; however, during REM sleep, your brain may be even more active than when you’re awake! Blood flow to the brain and metabolism in the brain increases during REM sleep, which supports activity. Your brain also uses your sleep cycles to consolidate memories. So, staying up all night to cram for a test or a special work project might be counterproductive.4. In other words, when you sleep too little, you are unable to process what you’ve learned during the dayand have more trouble remembering it in the future. Simply put, restful sleep is important so that your body can utilize the time to rejuvenate and ensure optimal levels of immunity, metabolism and brain function.

Throughout the month of October, Nikken is offering 20% off our Kenko sleep products (except for the Kenko PowerSleep Mask) plus free ground shipping. The Makura Sleep Packs are already priced with a 10% discount, but we’re adding another 10%, so you still get 20% off plus free ground shipping. Take advantage of this great sale to help your entire body enjoy the luxury of restful sleep!

1, 2 https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-science-of-sleep-understanding-what-happens-when-you-sleep

3, 4 https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/what-happens-body-during-sleep