Everyone struggles with sleep from time to time. Whether you’re having a hard time falling asleep or you’re waking up tired in the morning, some symptoms are fairly common.
You’re not alone. There’s so much more to good rest than just the time you spent sleeping.
Here at Bellabeat, we want to empower our users by giving them visual access to their data, which also includes important information on how you sleep. With our Ivy wellness trackers, you can learn about your sleep patterns and see why you might be waking up tired in the morning!
Besides tracking your cardiac coherence, fitness readiness, stress, and mindfulness, Ivy wellness tracker also tracks your sleep, and not just the time you spent sleeping.
A good night’s sleep has become something of an indulgence in today’s fast-paced world. The need to get enough sleep dropped down on our list of goals behind jobs, chores, social time, and entertainment.
A relatively recent research area is the body’s need for sleep. We know it is important to sleep in order to:
For healthy adult individuals with normal sleep, the appropriate sleep duration is 7 to 9 hours.
There are several sleep stages you go through every night, the most important ones being Light and Deep sleep.
Stage 1 marks the start of the light sleep phase when you drift from being awake to being asleep. This is a light, NREM sleep, which doesn’t last a long time. As you transition into stage 2, you can begin to relax and dream, but may also twitch. Your heartbeat and breathing slow down, and your muscles relax. The temperature of your body decreases and your brain waves are less present.
Stage 3 is the period of deep sleep that you need to feel refreshed in the morning.
– National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Deep sleep starts in stage 3. Your breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, and brain waves hit their lowest levels during deep sleep. Your muscles are extremely relaxed, and it is the hardest phase to wake up from. Stage 4 is known as the healing stage, where essential hormones are released to do their job when tissue growth and repair takes place.
A variety of processes take place in the mind and body during deep sleep:
These processes do not take place without deep sleep, so if you’re not getting enough deep sleep the signs of sleep deprivation kick in.
Sleep meditations are the most common remedy for sleep problems. They help your body transition to sleep easier and raise your chances of entering the deep sleep stage.
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