rem-sleep

Phases of sleep are important for physical regeneration

31. March 2017 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

A healthy, restful sleep is very important for our body. When you are lacking sleep, symptoms like lack of concentration, tiredness and fatigue might arise. Sleep consists of five different phases of sleep that alternate during the night. Besides the phase of falling asleep there are the phases of REM-sleep and deep sleep. During the last mentioned phases, our body cells are working at full blast. Cell repair takes places, growth hormones are released, impressions and learning contents are processed and saved.

Different phases of sleep

During night, the five sleeping stages repeat up to six times. The phases of falling asleep resp. of light sleep are phase one and two. There are two phases of deep sleep that form stage three and four. REM-sleep is the fifth phase. The longest phase of deep sleep is the first one; it takes about one hour. In the course of the night the duration of phases of deep sleep decrease and the duration of REM-sleep-phases increase.

Function and task of deep sleep

Deep sleep is the most relaxing one for our body. Here, the cortisol level is the lowest.

During deep sleep, muscle tension, body temperature and blood pressure decrease. The circulatory slows down. Also, growth hormones are released. These hormones stimulate cell repair and strengthen the immune system. The regulation of metabolism takes place. Furthermore, learning contents and impressions are solidified during sleep. A transfer from short-term memory into long-term memory takes place.

Consequences of missing deep sleep resp. of lack of sleep

Due to a natural rhythm of rest and activity vital body functions like breathing, heart frequency, muscle tension and body temperature remain constant. Missing or too short deep sleep unbalances these important body functions. Lack of sleep leads to an increased release of cortisol; permanent stress might arise. This in turn might negatively influence metabolism. Furthermore, people with a shortened or missing deep sleep have a decreased learning capacity and retentiveness.

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The dark third of our life

18. October 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

We all have a dark and mysterious part in our life in which we have no control about the things happening around us. Ideally, this period of time lasts a third of our lifetime, after all! Whether you like to integrate this dark side into your life or not – after having read the following article you will realize how important this unknown is.

Of course, we are talking about sleep. From a purely scientific point of view it’s not ultimately clear why we actually sleep. But, numerous studies prove the importance of sleep for our health and performance. During this seemingly useless period that often is considered as a waste of time we are creating the basis for a happy, balanced, healthy and successful life resp. for recovering again.

Basics

A healthy sleep has 5 different sleeping phases – and each of these phases fulfils its own important task. The first two phases of sleep are called light sleep, the following phases three and four are phases of deep sleep. The remaining fifth sleeping phase is the so-called REM-sleep. Passing through these sleeping phases once is called a sleeping cycle which lasts about 1.5 hours. In total, a sleep-healthy person repeats these cycles four to five times which leads to an ideal sleep duration of about six to eight hours. The stay in the respective phases is changing from falling asleep to waking up.

The first sleeping phase is the phase of falling asleep and happens – as the name suggests – only during falling asleep. All other sleeping phases repeat during the night.

Deep sleep

Phases of deep sleep are especially important for our body. Our body is totally relaxed, frequency of pulse and breathing decrease, physical recovery starts. But, complete relaxation also might have negative consequences: the tongue and the soft palate sink backwards, the “deep-sleeper” starts snoring. Sleep apnoea is an increased and life-threatening form of snoring. Here, the airways are completely blocked, breathing stops that might last up to a minute occur. A person suffering under sleep apnoea has to startle – only then the person can gasp for breath and oxygen can flow to the lungs again. Due to the startling the blood pressure rises, longer lasting breathing stops might lead to brain damages or even to suffocation. People suffering under sleep apnoea never really reach deep sleep meaning they lack the positive effects of deep sleep. During deep sleep our brain is processing and consolidating cognitive learning contents. Thus, deep sleep is essential for taking in and applying new knowledge.

A hormone important during and for deep sleep is the growth hormone which is mainly released during deep sleep. Of course this hormone is – amongst other things – responsible for the longitudinal growth of children and teenagers but it is also important for adults. Since longitudinal growth is completed it here has a strengthening effect on the fasciae system and musculature. It also is playing an essential role for regeneration, wound healing, bone strength (keyword osteoporosis) etc.

REM-sleep

This sleeping phase has two faces: on the one hand the muscle tone is reduced to a minimum, on the other hand pulse and breathing are increased due to the dreaming happening during this phase. REM-sleep is very important for processing daily impressions, emotional experiences and inner stress. Furthermore, processing and consolidation of motoric skills are happening during REM-sleep. In the beginning of sleeping, phases of deep sleep prevail. The closer the morning comes the longer the phases of REM-sleep become.

Our hormonal balance is similarly distributed: in the evening the cortisol level decreases, the sleeping hormone melatonin prevails. Thanks to our modern lifestyle characterized by stress our cortisol level often is much too high. Furthermore, light and electromagnetic pollution seriously disturb melatonin production which makes falling asleep and sleeping through much more difficult.

To be able to wake up and get up in the morning, cortisol production is increased the closer morning comes, production of melatonin is reduced.

Receive further information in our sleep-healthy-guidebook “sleep yourself young, fit and successful”, free of cost.

Image source: @shutterstock

Sleep – perfect pre-condition for enjoyable hiking

23. September 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

Fantastic Indian Summer days invite to more or less extended hikes. Only when you begin well rested your hike will become enjoyable. Which leads us directly to sufficient and healthy sleep. Only when your sleep will be like this, you will be able to mobilize physical and mental commitment for joyful hikes in the long run.

Sleep duration

The optimal sleep duration varies from person to person, but from six to eight hours are perfect. During this time, there is a cycle of constantly changing different sleeping phases, each one with its individual task. Besides the so-called phase of sleep onset as well as phases of light and average sleep there are especially phases of deep-sleep and REM-sleep.

All these phases taken together become one sleeping cycle which lasts about 90 minutes. Ideally, one sleeping cycle is passed through four to five times per night. This leads to an ideal sleep duration of about six to eight hours.

Deep sleep

Especially during the first third of the night, the phases of deep sleep are more pronounced. Besides processing new learning contents in the brain especially physical regeneration is happening during deep sleep. Furthermore, especially during this phase the growth hormone somatropin is released. This hormone is not only important for longitudinal growth during childhood. Our muscles, too, need somatoprin for their growth. Hence, sufficient deep sleep cares for perfect pre-conditions for a fit and rested body.

REM sleep

The longer you sleep the shorter phases of deep sleep get and the longer the phases of deep sleep become. The deep sleep is especially important for our mental recovery as well as for processing and saving motion sequences. Flexibility in the motoric – especially important when the underground is changing. During hiking, a change of a paved way to forest paths or a rocky terrain etc. is a constant companion. So, indulge yourself in sufficient sleep! Because, the perfect time to review sensory impressions and well-being taken along are definitely vast phases of REM-sleep.

Receive further information in our sleep-healthy-guidebook “sleep yourself young, fit and successful”, free of cost.

Image source: @fotolia

Why and how are we dreaming?

11. August 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

About a quarter of the time sleeping we are spending in REM-sleep. Another quarter we are in deep sleep, the rest of the time is either light sleep or the change from one sleeping phase into another. Everyone is dreaming every night, independent from being able to remember the dreams the next morning or not. Most of the time we only remember the things we dreamt right before waking up.

Why are we dreaming?

There are different scientific theories about why dreams occur. One theory is that we are processing the daily events. Events, unconsciously perceived and repressed things, wishes and desires are dealt with. Another assumption is that dreams are helping to prepare oneself to real, bad events.

How long does a dream last?

The first dream is short and lasts about five minutes. The longer we are sleeping the longer the phases of REM-sleep become. The last phases of REM-sleep might last up to 20 minutes. Depending on the total sleep duration, there are four to six REM-sleep phases which leads to about 1.5 hours a day spent dreaming.

Why can’t we remember every dream?

We are only able to remember a dream when a part of our brain still is active. But, the more realistic and exciting a dream is the more we are going to remember it.

Is it possible to control dreams?

Some people are able to have “lucid dreams”. During lucid dreams you are well aware that you are dreaming, you are able to control your dream and – up to a certain degree – to steer it into the direction desired. Furthermore, you are having direct connection to your subconscious. More and more psychologists, doctors and sports physicians use lucid dreaming in their therapy. It is said that it supports stress relief, increases performance in sport or is helpful when having relationship problems.

What are we dreaming about?

Shortly after falling asleep we are dreaming about less exciting things; most of the time things of the previous day. During the second half of the night, extraordinary things are going to happen in our dreams, like we are able to fly, all of a sudden. It depends on our emotional life whether we are dreaming in color or black and white. When we are having a good connection to our emotional life, colorful dreams are possible.

Do our dreams have special meanings?

There are scientists who assume that dreams reveal our most secret wishes and fears. So, when trying to see behind the meaning of your dreams you might learn a lot about yourself.

Receive further information in our sleep-healthy-guidebook “sleep yourself young, fit and successful”, free of cost.

Nightmares part 1

2. June 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

Every one of us knows them: nightmares. Fear is spreading and horrible sceneries develop in front of the inner eye. The heart beats faster. Suddenly you wake up and are glad that it just has been a dream.

Nightmares belong to the so-called parasomnias. Here, the sleep is disturbed by events or processes like sleep walking or pavor nocturnus, for example.

What happens during a nightmare?

During dreaming the heart- and breathing-frequency increase resp. fluctuate. The person dreaming awakens and is able to remember the experienced emotions and pictures. Nightmares often include acute risk of death, risk for losing self-worth or for the own safety. Children often dream that they are persecuted. In about half of the nightmares the sleeping person dies, flee, suffer serious injuries or fall into a bottomless abyss. Men often are the threatening persons. During the dream emotions like grief, anger and sensations of pain may occur besides of fear.

Types of nightmares

Unpleasant dreams (dysphoric dreams)
Bad dreams (without waking up)
Nightmares (including waking up)
Post-traumatic nightmares and flashbacks (after an experienced trauma like for example natural disaster or war). A flashback is a sudden und imaginative re-experience of the trauma.

When do nightmares occur?

Nightmares occur especially during the second half of the night during a long phase of REM-sleep. During REM-sleep the sleep is only superficial but the body is very relaxed.

Who is affected by nightmares?

Nightmares often occur when someone had a traumatic experience or during burdening and stressful circumstances.

In the age from six to ten years nightmares occur more frequently. But also adults might suffer under nightmares. Different studies show that about 5 % of the participants suffer under recurring nightmares, whereby women are more concerned than men.

Having a nightmare once in while is not unusual. Only, when nightmares occur frequently and lead to a psychological strain and to sleep disturbances they might impair health.

Why are we not falling out of the bed during the night?

27. May 2016 von Redaktion Leave a Comment

In our dreams we are turning into some kind of Indiana Jones. We are experiencing numerous adventures, we are turning into celebrated dancer or even into a super hero. But in spite of all adventures, dance performances or nightly flights we are not falling out of the bed. But, why are we not?

Our sleep is divided into different sleeping phases. We hardly move during deep sleep and during REM-sleep. The decreasing muscle-tension is one reason for that. Our muscles are somehow paralyzed only our eyes are rapidly moving during REM-sleep (REM=rapid eye movement). That’s the reason why we are relatively safe during dreaming, because, not everything we are dreaming about is transferred into an actual movement. Except for sleep walkers who mostly wander around during deep sleep and people who suffer under the so-called “REM-sleep-behavior-disorder”, short, RBD. RBD is a sleep disturbance in which people concerned act out the dreamed movements during the REM-phase. This might be a risk of injury, for the people concerned as well as for their bed-neighbors.

Tossing and turning during sleep mainly happens during light sleep. Here, we are awakening but quickly fall asleep again, for example, when we are freezing and are looking for our blanket. When changing the position, our muscles are activated and we shortly awaken. According to studies, this process might repeat up to 10 times per hour. The better your sleeping underlay supports and adapts to your body, the less shifts are necessary, by the way. Subconsciously the dreaming persons realize their local position and adjust to it. That’s why we are able to realize when we are at the edge of the bed.

Small children often sleep in a crib to prevent them from falling out of the bed. Adults on the other hand, seem to have a protective mechanism. With children, this function is not so much pronounced and therefore, they fall out of the bed, once in a while. Similar to the learning effect of walking this process has to be learned.