Well, sleep is something beautiful that exists in this world. And we all have to sleep in order to continue our existence. Sleep can also be defined as a special state of rest and rest, in which consciousness stops its work.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF SLEEP?

Sleep is our charger. And it charges us like we charge our phone thereby affecting almost all types of tissues and body systems — from the brain, heart and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood and disease resistance. It helps us to learn new information and remember old ones, solve problems, make decisions, be creative, positive, look good and feel good, be attentive and much more. Without sleep, you can’t form or maintain pathways in your brain that allow you to learn and create new memories, and it’s harder for you to focus and react quickly.

SLEEP STRUCTURE

There are 2 phases of sleep, namely:

1. Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (Non-REM Sleep)
   2: Rapid Eye Movement Sleep phase (REM Sleep)

The phases of NREM and REM sleep change with each other in turn. First of all, a person goes through the NREM sleep phase with all its stages. It takes about 90 minutes. Next comes the REM sleep phase. The first time it is short and lasts no more than 5 minutes. This is called a sleep cycle that repeats during sleep. In the future, the time of NREM sleep decreases, and REM sleep, on the contrary, increases (up to 1 hour).
A healthy person, as a rule, goes through 5 such cycles during sleep.

1. Non-REM Sleep

When you go into a phase of NREM sleep, your body will repair tissues, build muscles, strengthen the immune system. In addition, there is a process of memory consolidation, fixing everything that was deposited in the brain during the day. And brain waves during slow sleep transfer information from temporary storage to more reliable storage of the cerebral cortex. As a result, you not only memorize the necessary information for a long time but also get free space in the memory storage for the perception of new data. And the most interesting thing is that the brain chooses what to remember and what not!

The NREM sleep phase usually consists of 3 stages:

Stage 1 begins when you fall asleep and is considered very short (usually less than 10 minutes). We can say that it is a transition from a state of wakefulness to sleep.

What’s happening?

• heartbeat, breathing and eye movements slow down;
• the muscles begin to relax, but periodic twitching may occur.
• your brain waves begin to slow down due to daytime wakefulness.

During this phase, you can easily wake up.

Stage 2 is when you go from light sleep to deeper sleep. The stage lasts from 30 to 60 minutes.

What’s happening?

• the heartbeat and breathing will continue to slow down, and the muscles will relax even more;
• your body temperature will decrease and your eyes will stop moving;
• the activity of brain waves slows down, but is characterized by short bursts of electrical activity associated with the process of memory consolidation;
• you are less aware of your surroundings.

It should be noted that it is in the second stage of sleep that we spend more repetitive sleep cycles than in other stages.

Stage 3 is a deep sleep that lasts from 20 to 40 minutes. This stage of sleep is very important, as it helps you feel rested in the morning. After all, you are moving into your deepest sleep, thereby starting the process of restoring your body.

What’s happening?

• your heartbeat and breathing slow down to the lowest level during sleep;
• brain waves become even slower, and a person may have somebody movements;
• your muscles are completely relaxed;
• your blood pressure is dropping;

It will not be easy for you to wake up a person at this stage.

2. REM Sleep

At the end of the three phases of NREM sleep, the REM sleep phase begins with a duration of 10 to 20 minutes. Our body is temporarily paralyzed at this stage.

What’s happening?

• temperature and pressure increases;
• rapid heartbeat;
• the body is immobilized, except for those muscles that are responsible for heartbeat and breathing;
• eyeballs make rapid movements under closed eyelids;
• the active work of the brain is characteristic;
• and most importantly — WE DREAM.

During REM sleep, there are also processes to consolidate information in memory, which makes it an important stage of learning.

The sequence of sleep stages

It is important to understand that all these stages of sleep do not go through an ideal sequence.
When you have a full night of uninterrupted sleep, the stages develop as follows:

1. Stage 1 of NREM sleep begins;
2. Stage 1 of NREM sleep goes into Stage 2;
3. This is followed by Stage 3 of NREM sleep;
4. Then Stage 2 is repeated;
5. And only then does the person plunge into the REM sleep phase.

As soon as REM sleep ends, the body usually returns to Stage 2 of NREM sleep before starting the cycle again.

CONCLUSION

Sleep is the basis of our health, on which much depends. So many different things happen during sleep and we don’t even realize it when we sleep. We produce a number of important hormones, regenerate our tissues and replenish our physical strength. And the brain works all the time.
There is also a selective erasure of our memory. And the brain itself evaluates the information received during the day, selects the unnecessary and sends it to the “basket”, and the necessary from short-term memory is “archived” into long-term memory. This is how memories are created. We also have improved perception, concentration and learning ability.

Of course, even though sleep is an important part of everyone’s life, sometimes I wish there was a way not to sleep all my life and not want to, as well as maintain my condition and health at the same time. And all this in order to live more in a state of wakefulness. After all, how much time do we spend on it? Think about it. On average, it is about 6 years. One way or another, we cannot change this for us! But maybe later, who knows?

Thanks! AND NIGHT NIGHT