Sleep cycle: all our advice

Appreciated by some and feared by others, sleep has its own structure that deserves close study. At Bonsoirs, we are concerned about your well-being, so it is essential that we explain the different phases of sleep to you.

 

First phase: slow wave sleep

 

This first phase is broken down into 3 stages which let us gradually and deeply fall into the arms of Morpheus, essential to recover from our past day and be ready for the one to come.

 

falling asleep

 

You have just turned off the light and you close your eyes, you are in a state of drowsiness. In a few minutes, you enter stage 1 of slow wave sleep, falling asleep. The heartbeat slows down, brain activity decreases and the muscles relax causing small contractions that give us that famous feeling of falling into the void. We have all experienced this before!

 

Light slow sleep

 

After about ten minutes, you enter the light slow wave sleep stage which represents 50% of your total sleep time. Eye and muscle activity decreases more and more but it is still possible that a light or a noise wakes you up. Sleep intensifies, then you enter stage 3, that of deep sleep.

 

Deep slow sleep

 

It is now difficult to wake up because you sleep like a log. During this period, your brain emits slow and ample waves, your neurons synchronize, thus consolidating your memory and thus consciously remembering a fact and being able to tell it. This sleep allows the physical recovery of the body thanks to the secretion of growth hormone which allows the elimination of toxins accumulated in the brain. This last stage of slow wave sleep represents about 25% of the total sleep time, it precedes the second phase of the cycle.

 

Second phase: paradoxical sleep

 

The second and final stage of sleep is called REM sleep. It's paradoxical because your brain is active while you're asleep. It is also called REM (Rapid Eyes Movements) stage, because it is characterized by rapid eye movements. The cause ? Our dreams which are more elaborate and longer allowing us to consolidate our motor learning of the day.

This phase appears after about 1h30 at night and only lasts a few minutes. Its duration will lengthen during the cycle and this stage occupies a total of 20 to 25% of your night.

When you enter this sleep, the brain shifts into light sleep, the activity of which is similar to that of waking or beginning to fall asleep. This results in either waking up or REM sleep. Your cycle ends with waking up, which is not easy, especially when you have to leave the Bonsoirs sheets , so soft and comfortable, ideal for spending the morning in bed!

 

How long is a sleep cycle?

 

As you will have understood, a sleep cycle is composed of several stages and lasts approximately 90 to 100 minutes. To get a normal night's sleep, around 8 hours, this cycle is repeated 4 to 6 times. The first half of the cycle is particularly rich in deep slow-wave sleep, while the second half is essentially made up of light sleep and paradoxical sleep.

The length of a cycle varies from person to person and also varies throughout life. Indeed, sleep becomes less deep as we age, which explains the increase in sleep disorders. It is the same with paradoxical sleep which lasts less time in adulthood.

 

How to regulate your sleep?

 

We all know the restless nights and the debt of sleep that accumulates and that is felt on our morale and our body. Of course, we keep repeating to ourselves “tonight, I'm going to bed early” but it's always easier said than done... So here are some tips, more or less obvious, to help you (re)take good sleeping habits!

 

#1 - Adopt regular sleeping hours

 

The basis for having a good sleep rhythm is to respect a certain regularity in your bedtime and waking times so that your body regains its internal balance. This depends on your need for sleep but also on your constraints (atypical working hours, sleep deprivation, etc.), two elements that can be difficult to manage but not impossible;)

A word of advice: avoid taking a nap during the day because you won't want to sleep at night, and it would be a shame to disturb your sleep pattern that you've had so much trouble getting;)

 

#2 - Expose yourself to light

 

If you also watched Fred and Jamy's show, you know that we live with a biological clock in our brain. It basically works with day and night light. When it's daytime, this clock tells the brain that it's not time to sleep, unlike when it's dark. In order not to disturb this well-honed internal mechanism, it is important to see the light during the day and to sleep in the dark or with a small night light for the most fearful.

A word of advice: avoid screens before going to bed because they give off strong light and this can slow down the arrival of melatonin, the sleep hormone.

Now that you know all about the sleep cycle and how it is regulated, discover our tips for better sleep in order to be in top shape as soon as you wake up.