Let's Spend The Night Together

Sleep, you guys. We spend about a third of our whole lives asleep, yet no one really seems to understand it. What we do know, however, is that everyone is tired. Ask anyone you know, and they’ll say they aren’t getting enough sleep, or if they are, it isn’t a good enough quality of sleep. Something needs to change; we need to start valuing this amazing process more!
And we have damn good reason to value it.  Studies have shown that sleep improves our memory, moods, stamina, immune system and attention. It can reduce risks of heart disease, depression, and even help you lose weight! If an infomercial were selling a product with these benefits, you’d be buying it before you can even realise that many easy payments of $19.99 is not really that easy. But sleep’s free and relatively easy right?

How Sleep Works
Sleep is broken up into two states: “rapid-eye-movement sleep” (REM) and “non-rapid-eye-movement sleep” (NREM). These two states alternate in cycles between each other at approximately 90-110 minute intervals, and you usually enter sleep through NREM.
NREM contains both the lightest and deepest stages of sleep. It consists of four stages; stages 1 & 2 are considered to be light sleep (in stage 1 you may not even realise you’re asleep) and stages 3 & 4 are “Slow-wave sleep”, a deep dreamless sleep where your brain is relatively inactive and you are very unlikely to wake up.
From Slow-wave, you reach REM sleep, which is the period where one experiences dreams. Weirdly, during this state your whole body is paralysed except for the heart, diaphragm and the muscles that move your eyes. After this stage, you effectively wake up a little bit, then you’re back into light sleep and the whole process starts over again. If you wake up feeling groggy and disorientated, even after a whole night of sleep, it is probably due to being woken up during Slow-wave instead of in the more natural wake–up times.
If you delay falling to sleep till the early morning hours, you will experience more REM sleep, and sometimes REM will be the first state you enter.

A big part of controlling when you’re tired are the Circadian Rhythms, which are the body’s internal “clock” controlling our body temperature and organ functions throughout a roughly 24-hour period.  Body temperature is a big part of this, and we feel the sleepiest as our body temperature drops, which usually takes place at night (although there is a second drop in the afternoon, explaining what that soup ad calls “three thirtyitis”). Also affecting you are your Cortisol levels, which are lowest in Slow-wave sleep, and highest in the early morning, so that your body is fully prepared to be active when you wake up.

How much sleep do we need?

You’ve probably heard that eight hours is the exact amount you need, and then probably heard that this is wrong, and in fact the “magic number” is blablabla and anything other than blablabla is wrong and gonna kill you. The truth however, is there is no magic number, everyone needs a different amount. Pretty much, if you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day, you’ve had the right amount of sleep. Our sleep requirements are determined by number of things like genetics, age and lifestyle. Napoleon Bonapart got by on four hours sleep a night, whereas Albert Einstein needed 9 or 10 hours just to function. It is not important to get to bed at the same time every night, but it’s good to try to get up the same time in the morning, you keep your internal clock regular.
The quality of your sleep is just as important as the quantity. Factors that determine whether or not you get a good night’s sleep include the time you go to bed, time you get up, the environment you slept in, much caffeine, alcohol and cigarettes you have and your general well-being.
The term used for the quality of sleep is “sleep hygiene”. A good bedtime routine will make your sleep hygiene it’s best. It’s important to relax before going to bed, but there is no set way to do such relaxation. If just chillin’ with a book doesn’t stop your mind racing, try meditation (see page 8 for more tips on mediation and stopping your mind racing). Try to have your last meal and drink of the night two hours before sleeping, and don’t drink coffee within 4-6 hours of going to sleep as the caffeine wont even half it’s level in your blood for 3-5 hours.  If you smoke, nicotine has the same effect as caffeine, but withdrawal as the night goes on can lead to nightmares and sleep disruption, so smoke the last cigarette at least half an hour before going to bed. If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up out of bed and go do something relaxing until you feel tired again.