Do you have any idea what a sleep cycle is?
For those who know what a sleep cycle is, it probably enlightened them as to their sleeping patterns and as a result caused them to make some beneficial changes to their sleep habits which helped them to improve the quality of their sleep.
It was only recently that I read about what a sleep cycle is. It is not surprising that a lot of people suffering from lack of sleep do not even know what a sleep cycle is and generally do not have a basic understanding of sleep mechanics.
Not so long ago, I was not even aware of what a sleep cycle is. Having read through a few resources, I have only recently learnt the meaning of what a sleep cycle is.
If you are even remotely curious to find out what a sleep cycle is, then please read on.
According to the National Sleep Foundation (2006) in its publication called “Sleep-Wake Cycle: It’s Physiology and Impact on Health”, each person will go through around four to six sleep cycles each night with each sleep cycle lasting from around 90 to 110 minutes each.
Another characteristic of a sleep cycle is that it is usually made up of a combination of rapid eye moment (REM) and non rapid eye moment sleep (NREM) sleep.
I recently obtained a copy of the End Tiredness Program Ebook by Tina Hagen and Peter Novak and I and currently reading through the Book.
So that I apply some of what I am reading in the Ebook, I have decided to check out one of the exercises outlined in their Ebook.
The objective of the exercise is to find out what the length of your sleep cycle is by completing a sleep log.
For my sleep log, I will be recording the following information for a week Monday to Friday:
the time I go to bed;
fall asleep time ie. the time when I actually fall asleep;
my wake up time;
time that you need to fall asleep; and
my sleeping time ie. how many hours I actually slept.
Stay tuned for the next instalment from The Sleeping Beauty.
In the meantime, here are some other Sleeping Beauty articles to read before you go bed.
Other Sleeping Beauty articles
Things to avoid before you go to sleep
Are you always feeling tired?
