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Many people are unaware of exactly what sleep is, and the many stages of sleep that occur in the healthy cycle of sleep a person endures of a night time. Let me tell now: the theory behind sleep is very interesting, and essential knowledge for someone who wants to have a lucid dream. It will allow you to develop a stronger foundation of lucid dreaming, and will allow you to have a greater comprehension of the theories behind lucid dreaming. The standard person will experience five stages of sleep each night. Presuming you’re a typical person – then I am referring to you! These stages are harmless and should help you understand exactly what happens of a night time. Firstly, you should know that it takes approximately 90 minutes to pass through all five stages of sleep. According to my mathematics, if a typical person has roughly 8 hours of sleep, then they should also experience five cycles of sleep.
That being said, not everyone will experience the same sleeping pattern. In fact, each individual will have a varied sleeping pattern to correlate many factors of their body, such as weight, health, etc. and hence it is not uncommon for people to sleep longer or have longer dreams than other people. It simply depends on the circumstances of the person. Going back to what was being said; there are five main stages a person will go through as they sleep. Let’s explain this more thoroughly, shall we? |
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The Second Stage: Heavier Sleeping!
Convenient, huh? This stage may sound obvious, but there’s more detail to come. This stage is where you begin to lose all your muscle tone, and therefore your body enters a paralysis stage in order for you to not act out your dreams. Who wants to be a victim of a serious nightmare you’re having? Not me! In addition, you will spend roughly half of your time in this sleeping stage, and you will not dream throughout. This also means your brainwaves have become far slower than before, however, sudden bursts of higher brainwave activity may occur which can wake you up unexpectedly. This stage of sleep will last approximately 20 minutes.
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You are now entering into a deeper sleeping stage. This is also known as a Slow Wave Sleep stage. If you are awoken from this stage of sleep, you can expect to become slightly confused, and feel dim-witted for several minutes. Let’s face it – we’ve all experienced this! Additionally, your brainwaves have inclined to the lowest frequency you’ll experience of the five stages of sleep. This means those in this stage of sleep will be less likely to wake up to any noise that occurs. That being said, this stage is once again a dreamless stage, but is prone to when sleepwalking will occur.
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Stage four is considered to be the deepest of Slow Wave Sleep you will experience throughout the five stages of sleep. This stage will restore your energy in both physical and mental senses. Have you experienced a lot of stress and exhausted as a result? This is where stage four of sleep comes in handy. If you aren’t in this stage for a long period of time, then as you wake up, your body will not feel refreshed and you may remain tired throughout the upcoming day. This is why it is crucial to acquire a healthy and consistent sleeping pattern of a night time. This stage of sleep can last up to 30 minutes.
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We have finally reached the dreaming stage of sleep! The most exciting part of sleep – the part we all look forward to before we go to sleep. Firstly, it should be mentioned that REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement, and is the stage where you will now experience dreaming, and is where you have emerged from the deeper stages of sleeping. The good thing about this stage of sleeping is that if you are awoken for some reason, you will return to this stage if you return to sleep. Not only does this stage of sleep result in having dreams, but it is also important as it’s healthy for the brain and creates an enhanced ability to develop a long-term memory processor. And most importantly – this stage of sleeping is where you will experience your lucid dreams!
In conclusion, the average person will experience five cycles as they sleep at night. That means you; your friends; your family, etc. will all go through these stages, whether they like it or not. We all enter into a light sleeping stage and experience the REM stage of sleep. Unfortunately, the REM stage is remarkably short initially, however will increase as you progress in terms of your number of cycles of sleep (the typical person will endure five cycles), and can last up to one hour or more! Tonight, when you find yourself off to bed, think about these sleep cycles intently. Not only are they interesting, but the whole time you are physically unable to move which is a very interesting (but safe) thought. |
Bio:
Kerry McGlone is a Lucid Dreaming enthusiast, and creator of http://www.dreamlucidly.info/ As a frequent researcher, she has attained knowledge and experience on lucid dreams, resulting in an enhanced understanding and having the passion to share knowledge with others. If you're interested in becoming a lucid dreamer, feel free to give Dream Lucidly a visit! |