Understanding the sleep cycles that make up a night's slumber

As we continue our focus on sleep and sleep health, we delve deeper into the cycles that make up a night's slumber.⁠

Instead of aiming for the holy grail of 8-9 hours, it's important to understand that 6 hours of good quality sleep is more beneficial to your health than 8 broken hours.⁠

Our sleep is made up of a number of approximately 90 minute restorative phases which are essential for physical repair, cognitive function, and emotional stability. Understanding these cycles can help to avoid sleep disorders and anxiety around sleep.

Let's Jump In

There are broadly two categories that the stages fall into: REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) and NREM sleep (Non Rapid Eye Movement). 

Within the NREM, there are three stages. When you fall asleep, you typically enter NREM stage 1 (light sleep lasting only a few minutes) and then move into NREM stages 2 (slightly deeper sleep and the longest stage) and 3 (the deepest stage). This is the stage of deep sleep which is vital for physical restoration such as repairing muscles, tissues, regenerating cells, and boosting the immune system. It's hard to be woken up during this stage, and if you are, you'll feel groggy and have a 'mental fog' for about 30 minutes. Not the best start to your day.

Providing you're not woken up during this deep sleep, you slip back into NREM2, the gatekeeper to REM sleep which is the stage so important for cognitive function and memory, and it's where you start dreaming. Your first round of REM sleep will be the shortest, and they may get longer with each cycle throughout the night.

After this REM cycle, you start a new sleep cycle and go back into stage 1 or 2, and the cycle starts over.

So why is it important to understand this? 

The key to waking refreshed is not to have a large quantity of sleep, but to aim for 4 or 5 complete cycles. Understanding your own cycle length will take a few nights of consistency. Here are our tips on how to train yourself and how we can help:

• Set your bedtime according to when you need to wake up. For example, knowing a cycle is roughly 90 minutes and knowing you have to wake up at 7am, go to bed at 10pm, 11.30pm or 1am. 
• Stay consistent. Stick to the same bedtime & wake up time every day including weekends to anchor your body clock.
• Build a sleep routine. Signal to your brain it's time for sleep by reading, taking a warm bath or shower, or listening to calm sounds.
• Build your personal BedScape. We can help personalise your pillows, duvets and bed linen - all to be optimised for your preferred sleeping temperature and position. Contact our Sleep Curator here.
• Be sensible with the electronics, food, alcohol, caffeine - all of which will break a sleep cycle. 

With consistency, you can learn more about your personal sleep cycles and how to maintain a good sleep schedule. We've spent 20 years making the most delightful bed linen that will ensure you don't wake up because of any bobbling, pilling, scratching or sweating. Get in touch to receive sample swatches and really feel the difference.