Sleep cycles: how to calculate?

A dream in a person's life plays one of the most important roles. But, unfortunately, many of them are neglected, giving preference to work or entertainment. It has long been scientifically proven that lack of sleep can not be replenished by anything else, since it has a big impact on productivity, health and much more.

How much need to sleep a person?

Probably, this question was asked by everyone. An experiment was specially conducted to answer it: 48 people were collected who did not have any expressed deviations in health and who regularly slept for 7-8 hours a day. They were divided into 4 groups: the first 12 were forbidden to sleep for 3 days, the other 12 were allowed to sleep for 4 hours, the third group for 6 hours, and the last group slept for 8 hours a day. The last three groups needed to last for 2 weeks. During this experiment, the participants and their physical condition were monitored.

As a result of the experiment, people who continued to sleep for 8 hours did not notice any deviations. While people sleeping 6-4 hours a day, their health has deteriorated, namely, reaction, memory and cognitive functions. If we consider the results in more detail, it was noticeable that the figures of people who slept for 4 hours, differed significantly for the worse, even from the group of people who had a sleep for 6 hours. People who slept for 6 hours periodically fell asleep during the day, and after a two-week experiment their health indicators became the same as those who did not sleep for 3 days.

In the course of this experiment, 2 important conclusions were drawn:

• Lack of sleep has a cumulative property, that is, the more often we sleep less than the time required, the more the need for sleep increases.
• We do not notice how our health deteriorates when we are not sleepy, so it seems to us that everything is in order, but in fact it is not.

Summarizing, we note that the average person should be given a sleep of 7 to 7 and a half hours a day. To achieve high productivity during the day, this time can be extended to 9 hours. There is no such phase of sleep when it is better to fall asleep. It is more correct to choose a certain regime for yourself and try to stick to it. But there is such a thing as cycles of sleep. You can calculate them, but it will not be of much use.

Calculation of sleep cycles

In total there are 2 phases of sleep: fast, which lasts about 20 minutes, and slow, lasting about 2 hours. During the entire time that you sleep, these phases are constantly alternating. At first the person is immersed in a phase of slow sleep, and then it changes to a phase of fast sleep. And thus the whole process proceeds. So if there is a need to calculate the phases of sleep, then it is not so difficult to do, although the result will not be so accurate, since the intervals may vary slightly.

There are many different special calculators that will help you calculate your sleep cycles. But you can do it yourself. Usually this is necessary when you want to count the time when it will be easiest to wake up. For example, if you went to bed at 23:00, it would be easiest to wake up at the next time:

• 01:20 (2 hours and 20 minutes of sleep);
• 03:40 (4 hours 40 minutes of sleep);
• 06:00 (7 hours of sleep);
• 08:20 (9 hours and 20 minutes of sleep);
• 10:40 (11 hours 40 minutes of sleep);
• 13:00 (14 hours of sleep).

How to sleep faster?

But in order for such calculations to be accurate, it is desirable to fall asleep quickly, which is not always possible. In order for the immersion process to be easier, it is necessary to follow certain rules that are relevant for both adults and children.

1. First, it is extremely important to comply with the regime, because the body gets used to the time when you usually go to bed. But for its observance it is necessary to wake up earlier. In order to make this easier, you can calculate the phases of sleep when it is better to wake up.
2. The best sleeping pills is an actively spent day. If during the day you worked hard, then by the evening you will surely be slipping into sleep.
3. Overeating is often an obstacle to fast falling asleep, so it is better to avoid large portions before bed.
4. Walking in the fresh air before going to bed is a very good option to relax, which will also help to fall asleep more quickly.

Unusual sleep regimes

• The cycle of the superman. This mode represents a rather unusual timing: sleep should take 20 minutes every 4 hours. Total it turns out that you need to sleep 6 times a day. According to the impressions of people who tried to do this, such a schedule affects the body positively, but the well-being improves, more energy and energy appears, moreover, bright dreams are dreamed. But in this mode it is extremely important to strictly monitor the time and not to miss any break for sleep. Hence the main disadvantage: such a specific regime can interfere, because it is not always possible to postpone all business and go to bed.
• Two-phase cycle. It's not much different than usual, but it's still more efficient. Its essence follows from the name: division of sleep twice a day, namely 4-4.5 hours at night and a couple of hours in the afternoon. Go to this mode will be difficult enough for those who are not used to this. But many schoolchildren and students actively use this schedule, because energy is added to the day's sleep, and the time is consumed a little less.

The phase of slow sleep

During this phase, the body completely relaxes, breathing becomes slower, the brain loses sensitivity to external stimuli, from which the awakening becomes more severe. This phase is of great importance for the whole organism, since it is during this period of time that the cells are renewed and restored through the production of a hormone responsible for tissue growth and muscle renewal. There is also the fact that it is at this time that the immune system is restored. If we generalize all knowledge, then we can conclude that the slow phase of sleep is extremely important for the physical state of the body.

Rapid sleep phase

The fast phase of sleep has a different meaning. During it, the brain activates and begins to sort out information, due to which a person dreams. At this time, unnecessary information is forgotten, as a result of which the work of memory improves. Also, the experience gained over the last 24 hours seems to unite with the existing one, which means that training and even strengthening of neural connections are facilitated. This phase of sleep usually occurs 3 to 5 times a night for a short period of time. During it, there is an increase in temperature, blood pressure and increased heart rate. Thus, a certain phase of sleep, when it is better to sleep, does not exist. Both cycles at the same level are important and necessary for the body, and we should not neglect any of them. Similarly, there is no definite phase of sleep when it is better to go to bed and wake up. The basis of healthy sleep in any case is adherence to the regime, from which the body itself will know when it's time to sleep. For this, it is not necessary to calculate your sleep cycles. You can calculate them only for your own interest.

The influence of age on sleep

Drawing on both the experience of people and scientific statements, one can be convinced that the older a person is, the more difficult it is for him to fall asleep. This phenomenon even has a name - sleep delay. In addition, there is also a reduction in time, calculated for the sleep phase.

Calculating the child's sleep cycles is not so difficult, but it should also be taken into account that with age, the proportion of fast sleep decreases. Deep sleep of a child is much stronger than that of adults. At this time, children can not react in any way to any external factors. Lasts a deep sleep for about 20 minutes. At this time, the body restores strength and makes up for the energy it has spent. Deep sleep takes most of the time in the first half of the night. In the second half, there is mainly a rapid or superficial sleep.

Awakening

The easiest way to wake up is at the end at the end of the fast sleep phase, but it is not always accurate. Therefore, to make your life easier, just find the motivation to wake up early in the morning. You do not have to get up right after you wake up. Probably, everyone likes to lie around in the morning, and you do not need to deny yourself this. At this time, you can lie down and think about something good, for example, about the people you love. You can also hold respiratory gymnastics. Just take a few deep breaths. This will help saturate the brain with oxygen. Another useful morning ritual is a glass of clean water. This actually carries a lot of benefit, because by this you activate the metabolism and make up for the lack of fluid in the body.