The power of sleep: why “Prioritizing” rest is your body’s superpower
We’ve all been there, staring at the ceiling in the depths of night or day. counting imaginary sheep that stubbornly refuse to jump over a fence. The next day everythings a blur, we struggle to focus, our thoughts become scattered all over. It feels impossible to even pull through a single sensible thought. sleep deprivation isn’t just about isn’t just because you didn’t take your meds or even daily coffee. it turns out getting enough rest is more of a super power within our bodies that we unlock it’ll impact everything from our physical health to our mental health
Today well delve into the science and art behind sleep and when all is said and done by the end, I’m confident you’ll be a sleep warrior
The symphony of sleep: falling through the stages
Sleep is thought to be a passive state of being some call it a half life state but is it the? Id like to think that it’s more of a symphony of the brains and body’s activities through the night (or day). When this happens, we cycle through stages, 4 to be specific. each one as crucial as the last they come and create this symphony that we can referee to as symphony of sleep.
These cycles play a role in our physical and mental restoration. well, delve into them and discuss as needed
1: the non- rapid eye movement (NREM) this is a gentle descent into slumber, our mind mostly conflicted trying to make sure to work as much as possible. our bodies typically fatigued only driven by the mind’s thoughts. get through this stage and we start to feel our heart slow down, no were not dying, muscle loosen and become tender and the thoughts generally decrease
NREM 2 this is the stage within which we spend most of our time. Brain activities dramatically decrease. Here the body is preparing for sleep but a deeper one. This stage is essential for consolidating memories as the brain processes information and the day’s activities and strengthens neural connections.
NREM3, also known as the slow wave sleep things start getting a bit more interesting. Brainwave activities slow down and the bodies enters a state of deep restoration. This is when growth hormone is produced or production is increased promoting body repair and muscle growth and sturdiness. The immune system also increases production of white blood cells to fight any abnormalities in the system (body)
REM most of you have heard of this this is Rapid Eye Movement stage characterized by the eyes movement as the name suggests. At this stage dreams start occurring and it is thought that an emotional offset takes place here
This should give you a proper basis of how and why sleep occurs
Next, we talk about lucid dreaming look out for this as I’m dropping that article in a couple of hours after this
