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Healthy Sleep
What constitutes healthy sleep? The amount of sleep you get is extremely
important. But the type of sleep you get also determines how well-rested
you’ll be when you awake.
Why you need good, healthy sleep
You need good, healthy sleep so that you can function well — both
mentally and physically — during your waking hours. Good, healthy sleep
can enable you to work productively, make sound judgments, avoid harm, and
interact with other people effectively. |
Sleep also helps us in less visible ways. During sleep, the body secretes
a hormone that repairs and regenerates tissue throughout the body. Sleep
may also be instrumental in reinforcing our memories and, some experts
believe, essential to processing complex emotions.
Your personal sleep needs
Different people require different amounts of sleep. The vast majority of
us need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night. Some people need
more than nine hours, and that’s perfectly normal for them. Some others
can sleep less and wake up completely refreshed.
How to know if you’re getting enough sleep
After sleeping uninterrupted, you should wake up feeling well-rested and
ready face the day. Most importantly, you should generally have no
sleepiness during the day, even when involved in boring or mundane
activities.
If you’re feeling drowsy during the day, you may not have gotten enough
healthy sleep.
The types of sleep you need
In healthy sleep, we experience different kinds of sleep and — just as
important — we experience them in a particular sequence of stages.
There are two primary sleep stages.
Non-rapid eye movement (NREM) accounts for longer periods of sleep during
which our brain activity and bodily functions slow down. Rapid-eye
movement (REM) happens in brief spurts of increased activity in the brain
and body. REM is considered the dreaming stage of sleep.
Healthy sleep is characterized by a specific “sleep architecture,” or
sequence of stages. The sleep cycle usually begins with a period of about
80 minutes of NREM sleep followed by about 10 minutes of REM sleep. This
90-minute cycle is repeated four to six times each night. If the sequence
is interrupted (for example, by external noise or a sleep disorder), the
quality of our sleep suffers.
How Sleep Loss Affects You
You know firsthand that sleep loss is not just a “nighttime” problem.
Its impact can extend far into the day, limiting how well you can function
physically and mentally. The table below lists just a few ways that a
sleep deficit becomes a “daytime deficit.”
And while there is clearly no substitute for a healthy sleep, there are
ways to increase your chances of staying alert on the job and behind the
wheel. It’s also helpful to know how (and how long) to nap.
Learn more about the importance of a good night's sleep and some
variables that can affect your sleep experience.
Click
here to find out about the benefits of a Dormia mattress and invest in
your sleep today!
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