What Is Sleep Architecture?
If you have heard of sleep architecture, you may have thought, I’ve never dreamt of building houses! While it doesn’t refer to actual buildings, sleep architecture is a useful metaphor because it does convey the idea that sleep has a basic structure that builds on itself throughout the night.
What sleep architecture is really referring to is the four stages of sleep. These stages can be further broken down into two main categories, REM and non-REM sleep.
Non-REM sleep happens first in three stages, followed by REM sleep, where you are most likely to dream vividly. But what else happens during each stage? Let’s talk about it!
Stage One
The first stage of non-REM sleep begins and ends in just a few minutes, and refers to the act of falling asleep. During this stage your eye movements are slow and rolling and your muscles begin to relax while your breathing begins to slow down.
This stage is also the lightest of all of the stages and when people are woken from stage one, they may not have even perceived they fell asleep in the first place!
Stage Two
Stage two of your sleep cycle is also sometimes referred to as light sleep and is typically where you spend the longest amount of time.
During this phase, your heart rate and breathing continue to slow and your eye movement stops completely. At this point, your body temperature also begins to drop.
Stage Three
This stage of non-REM sleep is when you experience your deepest sleep of the night and also where your body begins to repair itself and takes care of other health-promoting tasks it can’t get to when you’re awake.
During this phase, your heart rate and breathing are at their lowest and your body is doing things like cellular repair and regeneration, tissue repair and growth, and your immune system gets stronger.
Stage Four
After 90 minutes, your body finally enters REM sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement. This is the phase of sleep when you begin to dream vividly and lasts anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes, in longer increments when it repeats every 90 minutes.
During this phase of sleep, your eye movements switch between stillness and rapid movements and your muscles are actually completely paralyzed. Your breathing and heart rate also becomes more variable and generally increases.
How It All Comes Together
The sleep cycle repeats about every 80 to 100 minutes and you can go through the whole cycle up to six times during a full night of sleep!
Despite being essential to our health, stress and environmental factors can keep many of us up at night- about 70 million annually according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
So, here are a few tips to help you get better sleep:
Have a bedtime routine.
Turn off all screens 30 minutes before bed.
Make your space clean and comfortable.
Avoid caffeine after lunch.
Avoid alcohol altogether.
Take magnesium supplements for trouble staying asleep.
