Understanding and Controlling Sleep Cycles

The brain cycles through several stages of sleep numerous times throughout the night. If any of these stages are disrupted, you will feel  sleep.-deprived. But you can manage your sleep.  Did you know that meditation can help normalize the sleep patterns?
In the 1950s, the EEG (electroencephalograph) gave scientists new insights into sleep and brain activity during each stage. Two stages of sleep were identified: NREM or Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep, also known as “quiet sleep” and REM or Rapid Eye Movement Sleep, also known as “active sleep.” All stages except for Stage 5 are classified as NREM sleep.

Sleep Stages

As you’re dozing off, you are still relatively alert and easy to awaken. This is Stage 1 sleep, the transition between waking and sleeping. Your brain starts off in the beta state of activity – small, fast brainwaves that signal alert brain activity. As your brain relaxes, it enters the alpha brainwave state. You are almost but not quite  asleep, you are easy to awaken and you will drift in and out of sleep very easily. You may ‘see’ weird things, feel like you’re falling, experience spontaneous “myoclonic jerks” (where you suddenly wake up with a start); you might have very vivid visualizations or simply become very relaxed. Being awakened with a “sleep start” is caused by spontaneous stimulation of the brain’s motor areas. You then enter the theta brainwave state, characterized by very slow waves. This whole period only lasts 5-10 minutes and if you are awakened during this period, you may argue that you never actually fell asleep.

Stage 1 sleep is also the sleep of cat naps. If you’ve ever dozed off at your desk, you may notice that in approximately 10 minutes, you can wake up and feel completely refreshed.
Stage 2 lasts approximately 20 minutes. The body has entered deep relaxation. Body temperature has decreased, eye movement stops and the heart rate slows dramatically. It’s interesting that during this time, the brain produces “sleep spindles” or quick bursts of rhythmic brain activity. Since the brain cycles through Sage 2 more than some other stages, you end up spending about half of your sleep time in this stage.

In Stage 3, you begin enter deep sleep, characterized by slow delta brainwaves. Your brain will cycle through theta and delta in Stage 3. During this stage, you are extremely difficult to awaken. Your body and brain are deeply relaxed and being awakened during Stage 3 usually results in grogginess, disorientation and impaired motor control (anyone who has ever had to let a dog out or console a crying child  in the middle of the night will understand).

Stage 4 marks the period of very deep sleep. The brain is mostly in Delta now, and here too, the person is extremely difficult to awaken. This stage lasts about 30 minutes. Stages 3 and 4 are absolutely essential to a “good night’s sleep” and if they are cut short, you will feel very sleep deprived.

Stage 5 is the dreaming phase of (REM) sleep, occurring anywhere from 70 to 90 minutes after you fall asleep. REM sleep is mentally active yet you will experience “sleep paralysis” where the voluntary muscles do not move at all. Involuntary functions such as eye movement, heart rate, respiration and brain activity are heightened during REM sleep. REM sleep is usually quite short, although each cycle is longer than the previous one and REM sleep totals about 20% of your sleep time. The last REM cycle can last up to an hour. If you have ever had particularly vivid dreams just before you wake up, you have just cycled through a long REM stage!
Each complete sleep cycle lasts from 90 to about 110 minutes.
Scientists have found that if your REM sleep is interrupted, you will not have another normal sleep cycle afterward; you will cycle almost directly into REM. Only when the necessary REM time is made up will the brain cycle back into its normal pattern.


Researchers still don’t know why we need to sleep as much as we do, but the fact is, without getting several full sleep cycles during the course of a night, you will feel the physical, mental and emotional after-effects for at least the next day and chronic sleep deprivation can be extremely dangerous.
Meditation is one way to ensure you get a good night’s sleep, going through the normal sleep stages in the right order and for the correct amount of time. How? Meditation releases stress, which is the number one cause for disrupted sleep. Worries or fears that keep your mind busy will disrupt your sleep patterns.
A daily practice makes you feel physically, emotionally and mentally better! It helps put your life in perspective, makes problems seem less monumental, teaches you self-awareness and self-mastery, and gives your body extra time in the deep stages of relaxation that may be missing from your nighttime slumber. Any time you activate the parasympathetic nervous system (and virtually shut down the sympathetic nervous system) you are promoting healing, cell regeneration, dissipation of stress hormones and normal body functions. Use the Silva Method for tips on relaxation, meditation and using the power of the mind to relieve stress.
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15-30 minutes of meditation at bedtime will relax you and get both your brain and body ready for sleep; try this if you have been having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. A daytime meditation when you’re more alert lets you do the self-work necessary to overcome the negative thinking that keeps you up at night.
You can also use the Silva Method’s Sleep Control exercise to program healthy sleep patterns. It helps you get to sleep and stay asleep all night. You can also use the many relaxation and visioning exercises in the program to consciously relax your brain and body before bed, and to employ the imagination to imprint the mental images you desire instead of allowing negativity to run rampant. As an added bonus, you can learn to remember your dreams using the Silva Method (useful for receiving intuitive messages) and even lucid dream, where you are an active dream participant.


Source: http://www.silvalifesystem.com/articles/mindcontrol/stages-of-sleep/