After a tiring and long day, all we look forward to is a good night’s sleep. It helps the body in rejuvenating and getting ready for another hectic day. Despite being the most common phenomenon, do you really know what sleep exactly means? Well, people think it is only about lying down on your bed and keeping your eyes closed. But it isn’t this simple from your body’s perspective. According to researchers, different kinds of neurotransmitters get activated when you fall asleep than when you are awake.
In short, your body works entirely in a diverse way at the time of sleeping. It is the only reason why you feel relaxed after napping and not after having a good gaming session on casinos like True Blue Australia.
Different Stages Of Sleep
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that everyone has their own sleep cycle. While someone gets refreshed within five hours of resting, the other person may remain tired after sleeping for eight hours. This happens due to the difference in their sleeping stages. In general, the sleep cycle can be divided into five broad phases:
● Stage 1: This phase occurs within the first 5-10 minutes of your sleeping. In this part of the cycle, your body isn’t entirely asleep. That is why you can get awake easily here, and you may also remember fragmented visual images from this phase.
● Stage 2: This stage usually lasts for about 20 to 30 minutes of sleep. It is called the light sleep phase because you often drift in and out of sleep here. Getting suddenly awake in this phase can cause serious trouble to both your body and mind. Your brain waves also become slower at this time.
● Stage 3 and 4: The combination of step 3 and 4 are called the deep sleep phase. Here your brain starts producing the delta waves, sending you into a complete rest mode. Plus, the eye movements and muscle activities also come to a halt. It is generally very challenging for someone to wake you from these two phases. In case your sleep gets disturbed during this time, your brain may not be able to adjust itself properly for several minutes.
● REM: It stands for Rapid Eye Movement because that is precisely what happens during this phase. Apart from that, your muscles get temporarily paralysed, and the heart rate increases. Most of the dreams take place during this time.
These stages don’t occur only once in a night. The complete cycle usually repeats a few times until you wake up. Now the quality of each phase determines how relaxed you will wake up on the following day. We will be discussing phase 3 and 4, i.e., deep sleep here. So you will understand its importance, benefits, and tips on how to achieve it.
Understanding Deep Sleep
Deep sleep is the most critical stage because the entire sleep cycle’s quality depends on it. In its absence, there won’t be many benefits of lying down on your bed and keeping your eyes closed. That is why you need balanced deep sleep every night. Only then can your body function properly the following day. However, in today’s world, not everyone is able to attain this phase.
A few primary reasons why people lack deep sleep nowadays are:
Light Exposure: Almost everyone remains surrounded by digital devices throughout the day. We suppose you are no different. While it is inevitable to avoid the screens, too much exposure to their light can cause a problem for your brain in inducing sleep chemicals. In this scenario, you will have difficulty in getting into a deep sleep, and you won’t feel adequately rested no matter how many hours you spend on your bed.
Stress: If you have suddenly started feeling tired despite sleeping like regular, you may be under stress. It can be related to either studies, job, or family. In all cases, the excessive pressure doesn’t let you attain the proper deep sleep stage. Thus, your body isn’t able to rest appropriately.
Caffeine Consumption: Most people consume caffeine first thing in the morning to give a kick start to their day and remain fresh throughout the day. However, including too much caffeine in your everyday routine can lead to a lack of deep sleep. The chances of this happening increases when you consume caffeine later in the day or right before bed.
Sleeping Disorders: In case none of the above conditions falls relevant for you, but you are still experiencing a lack of deep sleep, the reason can be a sleeping disorder. Few common examples of sleeping disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome. These issues don’t let your body enter the deep sleep phase of your sleep cycle, and you aren’t able to rest adequately.
Tips To Get Deep Sleep
If you have noticed a sudden change in your sleep cycle or you have been experiencing the problem for some time, here are some tips to help you out. You can follow these points and get a sound sleep every night.
Find The Problem
The very first step towards solving a problem is to observe it first. There won’t be any benefit of finding a solution for sleeping disorders when stress is the cause behind your trouble. That is why your first attempt should be to discover what is the exact reason for your lack of sleep. Once you know the issue, it will become more convenient to solve it because your treatment will be dedicated to it.
Stay Away From Screens
As stated earlier, too much exposure to digital screens can cause severe sleep problems. Thus, you have to try to avoid these screens as much as possible. While staring at the laptop will be crucial for your job, you can minimise the use of TV and mobile devices. On the other hand, you should also take small breaks every now and then to take your eyes off the computer screen. It will help you relax and reduce your overall screen time.
Prepare A Sleeping Schedule
Having a bedtime schedule is crucial for everyone, and you must have been taught the same ever since childhood. But with age or varying workload, we often forget about this factor. It is time that you bring it back into your life. Under the schedule, you need to sleep and wake at the same time every day. This will help you in getting enough and better sleep because your body will get prepared to sleep at the exact time. You will also get several other health benefits by following a bedtime schedule.
Reduce Caffeine Consumption
Excessive caffeine consumption is one of the significant reasons why people aren’t able to get enough sleep. Just like screens, you need to avoid caffeine as much as possible. In case you can’t reduce the quantity throughout the day, you should stay away from it right before bed. The same rule applies to alcohol and nicotine. These may seem like a good way to sleep, but they keep you from getting deep sleep. That is why you need to avoid them to the best possible extent.
Opt For Bedtime Routine
Like a sleep schedule, a bedtime routine also proves to be highly beneficial in obtaining deep sleep. Here you need to pick a habit that you can practice right before bed, which will help you unwind from the day. It can be anything you like, for example:
● Taking a bath;
● Reading a book;
● Playing your favourite casino games on True Blue Australia;
● Listening to music or stories.
The ultimate aim here is to relax your mind and keep a calm atmosphere around you. So you can pick any routine according to your preferences.
Exercise Everyday
The lower your physical activity throughout the day, the less tired your body will be at night, and the less sleep you will get. Hence, you must opt for 20-30 minutes of exercise session every day. It will consume your body’s energy, keep you healthy, and help you sleep better at night. The only catch here is to not perform this task right before bed. Otherwise, you won’t be able to rest appropriately.
Remain Away From Loud Music And Lights
Having exposure to bright light and loud music during your bedtime can keep you from obtaining adequate sleep. So you must ensure that the atmosphere is calm and soothing around you before you get into your bed. Even if you wish to hear music, you can opt for softer ones. In case you can’t get rid of the noise, you should invest in some excellent earplugs. They will keep the loud sound away from your ears. Plus, you should turn off even the night lights in your room.
Make Your Bed More Comfortable
One more reason for your lack of deep sleep can be a wrong bed setting. Your pillows or mattresses may not be correct for you or they may have turned old. In this case, you can replace them with new and more comfortable ones. The right bed will instantly solve your problems. Consequently, you will be able to get the sleep you have been looking for. You can also consult an expert to know more about mattresses and pillows according to your individual requirements.
Get Professional Help!
If none of the above-mentioned points works for you, the final solution is to seek professional help. You can contact your doctor and tell them your exact problem. Being experts, they will first analyse your trouble and then look for the underlying issue. This way, the problem will get solved in a much more reliable way. The doctor may also provide you with medication for better sleep. Those medicines will resolve the issue within no time and will ensure that you don’t suffer from any severe difficulty.
Side Effects Of Not Receiving Enough Deep Sleep
A tired body isn’t the only problem caused by a lack of deep sleep. Your body may go through several severe troubles if you don’t get enough deep sleep every night. That is why experts always recommend taking care of your sleep cycle. Otherwise, you will have to deal with both mental and physical problems. Significant side effects include:
● Problem in Understanding: When you hear something, your ears send the information to the brain, and it becomes a memory for you to understand. But when you don’t get enough sleep, your mind isn’t able to convert the received data into memory. Hence, you will have a difficult time understanding even basic things.
● Alzheimer’s Disease: Under this problem, your mind isn’t able to function correctly. You may compare it with the previous point, but Alzheimer’s Disease is a more severe problem. In short, we can say a lack of deep sleep can badly affect your mind. So you will have to face different consequences, such as mood or personality change, trouble in speaking or writing, decreased judgement, etc.
● Other Issues: You may face a number of different physical issues, such as heart disease, stroke, or diabetes if you don’t get proper deep sleep every night. These can become severe with time when you don’t seek help or solve the problem on your own.
You must have understood now what can happen to your body and mind due to a lack of deep sleep. Therefore, you should ensure a proper sleep cycle every night by following the tips as mentioned earlier. With that, you will be able to remain healthy and perform your everyday tasks with full efficiency.
