I remember being taught about the sleep cycle in medical school, which ranged from the wake to the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and eventually to the rapid eye movement (REM), with each stage having a time range from light sleep to deeper sleep, deepest sleep, and the dream stage. Yeah, you heard right. For each stage, there are medically proven characteristics that range from a reduced heartbeat to a reduced breathing rate. I will not bore you with the details, but it is vital to know that HEALTHY SLEEP means adequate quantity and quality of sleep. For young adults of productive age, we are expected to have at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It is proven that the early stage of sleep is the light stage, and an individual can be easily aroused while going deeper into the deeper and deeper stages of sleep, which may impair mental function when sleep is interrupted. I remember being told in school about drivers having accidents when awoken before due time.
The rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep is the phase of dreams, fantasy worlds, and even nightmares. Here, the heartbeat becomes significantly erratic, and for me as an example, I have struggled occasionally to wake up from this stage of sleep, usually from nightmares or dreams I am not comfortable with. It is noteworthy that this stage is entered into after barely 90 minutes of sleep and may not necessarily be until after longer hours.
Sleep is sweet, especially when there is nothing bothering our minds and the atmosphere is palatable. We tend to enjoy sleep after a refreshing shower and when there is little or no stress. You will agree with me that troubling events or anticipations have a way of replaying themselves during our sleep hours. This mind connection reflects the interplay of reality with dreams, bringing reality to dreams and sometimes bringing dreams to reality in what some people may term a 'deja vu' experience where they feel they have had similar reality occurrences in a dreamland.
You may have heard some people talk in their sleep, sometimes audible to those around them. Or, an individual may struggle to wake from unpleasant dreams. And yet, I remember waking up smiling often from dreams of pleasure, perhaps fantasy worlds. All these are products of the rapid eye movement stage of the sleep cycle. And as earlier stated, we may enjoy fantasy worlds from images dropped from reality, such as movies and shows. It is possible that we create our own imaginary fantasy world, traverse realms, and probably build a world of ours that may just be perfect.
These are dependent on both the quality and quantity of sleep enjoyed. You will agree with me that naps come occasionally, mostly as a result of poor sleep. The body fights back as hormones are secreted, such as stress hormones. These naps are often short and serve as temporary corrective measures, but they cannot satisfy the need for healthy sleep. It is not unusual to have symptoms such as headaches and mental imbalances when sleep-deprived. Rather than go for over-the-counter medications or hypnotic drugs, the best form of treatment lies in getting adequate sleep to compensate for those lost hours.
Though life's full of stressful events that often require us to stay late in pursuit of wealth and comfort, the importance of healthy sleep to enable us to function optimally cannot be overemphasized. I hope I can work on my sleep pattern thanks to this #inleo prompt today.
Here is my entry into #aprilinleo monthly and daily prompts. You can participate via this LINK
Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions.