The Sleep Cycles - Simplified!

Now that you have a better understand of sleep stages, the final piece of the puzzle is sleep cycles. Instead of progressively going through each stage and waking up after reaching stage 5, the body instead goes from stage 1 to 5 multiple times in a specific order. This is known as a complete sleep cycle.

Now, the way we travel through our sleep stages is as follows:

1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM…

Do you see a pattern? It repeats every 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, REM!
Each cycle takes about 60 – 100 min for an average person.

Here are a few points you might be interested in.
•    The 1st period of deep sleep is the longest, and it gets shorter and shorter as time goes on. Toward the end, deep sleep almost becomes non – existent.

•    The 1st period of REM sleep is the shortest, and it gets longer and longer as time goes on. Toward the end, it becomes the longest.

Sleep also becomes lighter and lighter as the night progresses. We do not spend the same amount of time in each stage of sleep.

Now, you might be wondering to yourself, how does this all relate to insomnia and snoring? Well, you must first understand how you sleep, before you can correctly diagnose your problems. This should build upon my previous article on the stages of sleep. Check out my other articles, where I will talk about numerous other sleep disorders and their solutions!