How sleep works
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For those shifting or entering the void with sleep methods, this will be incredibly helpful information.
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When you sleep, you go through about four stages:
Stage 1 - This is the transition from wakefulness to sleep, lasting about 5-10 minutes. In this stage, you close your eyes and get comfy in bed.
Stage 2 - This stage, which makes up about 45% of your sleep, lasts 25-30 minutes. Your eye movement stops, your heart rate and breathing slow, and your muscles relax. K-complexes, which are brief, high-amplitude brain waves, occur sporadically. They help protect sleep by reducing responses to external stimuli and supporting memory consolidation. Simultaneously, sleep spindles, which are bursts of rhythmic brain activity, help integrate sensory information and maintain sleep stability.
Stage 3 - Known for deep sleep, this stage lasts about 30-40 minutes and is your body in its most relaxed state. You become less aware of your surroundings during this stage.
Stage 4 (REM sleep) - Most commonly occurring after about 90 minutes of the first three stages, REM sleep involves rapid eye movement and temporary muscle paralysis (so that you don't move in response to your dreams. How cool is that?). This excludes your eyes and breathing muscles. Brain activity increases, leading to vivid dreams. REM sleep lasts 10 to 90 minutes and gets longer with each cycle. Dreams can happen at any stage, but they're most vivid and frequent during REM sleep.
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Each stage is associated with a different type of brain wave.
The most common brain waves, produced in waking hours, are called beta waves. In stage 1, your brain produces alpha waves; which shift to theta waves as you relax. In stage 2 the previously explained k-complexes and sleep spindles occur. Between these short bursts, your brain is producing theta waves. In stage 3 your brain is producing delta waves. These are the slowest brain waves and are (obviously) a characteristic of deep sleep. In stage 4 (REM) your brain waves are most similar to how they are when awake, which means your brain is dominantly producing beta waves.
