In today's fast-paced world, sleep often takes a backseat to our busy schedules. However, the significance of sleep, particularly deep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, cannot be overstated. Understanding the mechanisms underlying deep and REM sleep can provide valuable insights into optimizing sleep patterns for enhanced productivity and overall vitality. By establishing a consistent sleep schedule, creating a conducive sleep environment, and practicing relaxation techniques, individuals can greatly improve their REM sleep quality and duration. This, in turn, contributes to better overall sleep quality and ensures adequate periods of restorative REM sleep.

According to Medical News Today, there are four stages of sleep and those are stage 1 non-REM sleep, stage 2 non-REM sleep, stage 3 non-REM sleep and REM sleep. This classification underscores the structured progression of sleep stages, each playing a distinct role in our nightly journey.

Cleveland Clinic states that, “One cycle normally takes about 90 to 120 minutes before another begins. Most people go through four or five cycles per night (assuming they get a full eight hours of sleep).” Understanding these sleep cycles can help individuals optimize their rest and prioritize factors like sleep duration and quality to promote overall well-being.

Stage 1 Non-REM Sleep
Sleep Foundation states that in “Stage 1 (Light Sleep): As your brain slows down, low-amplitude mixed-frequency (LAMF) activity replaces the alpha brain waves that took over as you became drowsy. Your body has some muscle tone, and your breathing is regular.” According to Cleveland Clinic, this is the stage that you go into after you fall asleep, and this will usually only last a few minutes before your sleep gets deeper. Think of this as a precursor to deeper, more restorative sleep.

Stage 2 Non-REM Sleep

According to Cleveland Clinic, “Stage 2 is still light sleep, but deeper than stage 1. During this stage, your brain waves slow down and have noticeable pauses between short, powerful bursts of electrical activity. Experts think those bursts are your brain organizing memories and information from the time you spent awake.” As you progress away from stage 1, you are getting into a deeper state of sleep.

As further explained by Cleveland Clinic, “Stage 2 NREM sleep accounts for about 45% of your time asleep (the most of any stage). You’ll go through multiple rounds of stage 2 NREM sleep, and usually, each one is longer than the last. After stage 2, you move deeper into stage 3 NREM sleep or enter REM sleep.” As the predominant stage of sleep, stage 2 plays a pivotal role in maintaining overall sleep health.

Stage 3 Non-REM Sleep

According to Healthline, this is “The deepest stage of sleep, this is when the body repairs and regrows tissues, builds bone and muscle, and strengthens the immune system.” This is the stage where deep sleep occurs for the body. WebMD states that that your muscles will relax in deep sleep, the supply of the blood to them will increase, and the body will repair and grow tissue.

Deep sleep, according to Medical News Today, “...is especially important for brain health and function. This stage of sleep helps the brain rest and recover, allowing it to replenish energy. It also plays a role in the reinforcement of declarative memory, or remembering facts.” Understanding the nuances of REM and deep sleep sheds light on the fascinating mechanisms at play within our bodies during the restorative process of sleep.

Delving deeper into why deep sleep is crucial, it's essential to recognize that this stage is not just a period of rest; it's a time of profound physiological rejuvenation. Deep sleep is of high significance to our bodies due to these reasons. Healthline states that deep sleep is important for our health and wellbeing and that most adults will need around 1.5 to 2 hours of it every day. Without enough of this, Sleep Foundation states that you may feel drowsy, have a reduction in alertness and attention, difficulty forming new memories and learning, and have a craving for foods that are high in calories. These can have negative effects for the body as it tries to navigate through its daily tasks while you are awake.

REM Sleep

According to Healthline, this part of the sleeping cycle will usually happen around 90 minutes after you fall asleep and is 25% of your sleep. That means we spend about a quarter of our total sleep in this stage. Medical News Today states that during REM sleep, this is when most people will dream, but it could also happen during the non-REM stage as well.

According to the Sleep Foundation, “During REM sleep, your eyes move rapidly behind your closed eyes, your heart rate speeds up, and your breathing becomes irregular. In contrast to other stages of sleep, in which your brain waves slow down, your brain is highly active during REM sleep, and your brain waves become more variable.” As further explained by the Sleep Foundation , much of your body will function in a similar way as if you were awake, but the difference is that the eyes are closed, and a temporary loss of muscle tone occurs. This is significant, as this means physiological activity mirrors wakefulness almost completely.

Medical News Today explains that some studies link a lack of REM sleep to things such as a reduction in coping skills and migraines.

How to Get More REM and Deep Sleep

Sleep is an important part of our lives that we need to function properly and for our overall health. Medical News Today states that getting enough sleep, addressing any medical conditions you may have and avoiding alcoholic drinks before your sleep could help improve your REM sleep.

According to Healthline, dependent on the age, a person will need anywhere from 7 to 17 hours of sleep every day. Avoiding alcoholic drinks is important, because as explained by Healthline, this will actually interfere with your REM sleep. Addressing any health conditions, you may have that is hindering your sleep is an important step as well, because these could decrease the amount of sleep you need.

Sleep Foundation also says that we should get enough sleep and it can help us get our required deep sleep. Some habits they mentioned are reducing the amount of caffeine intake during the afternoon and evening, exercising regularly and creating a relaxing routine to help you wind down at night.

Our most popular product, LAMININE, has a wide range of benefits. One of the things our product promotes is deep sleep so you can have better mental clarity and focus. This could also help improve REM sleep as well.

Overall, taking supplements with magnesium glycinate may help as the Sleep Foundation states this "...is one form of magnesium easily absorbed by the body and recommended by sleep experts to promote calm, relaxation, and improved sleep." This can help with both deep and REM sleep.

Another thing to avoid for improved deep and REM sleep is blue lights, such as those from our mobile phones, because the Sleep Foundation says, "Inversely, exposure to blue light in the hours leading up to bedtime can hinder sleep. Blue light suppresses the body’s release of melatonin, a hormone that makes us feel drowsy. While this promotes wakefulness during the day, it becomes unhelpful at night when we are trying to sleep."

As we go through our daily routines, it is important to note that all stages of sleep, regardless of their duration, are important for our overall health and well-being. By understanding each stage of sleep, we can strive towards a more mindful approach and incorporate positive changes so we can get plenty of it every day. Deep and REM sleep are important parts of our sleep cycle but ensuring we get enough of both is essential.