The 5 Stages of a Natural Sleep Cycle

Sleeping is something all humans require and practice each night during the dark stages of our circadian rhythm. We all know that sleep is vital to staying in good health and functioning at full capacity. Until now you probably have given little thought to what occurs in a natural sleep cycle. If you didn’t know already, you go through a sleep cycle, 5 primary stages every night while you sleep. In this article, I will inform you about them and explain what happens in each.

The 5 stages of sleep that I will explain in this article are;

1. Drowsy
2. Light Sleep
3. Moderate Sleep
4. Deep Sleep
5. Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep

Stage 1: Drowsy

The drowsy stage occurs during the first 5-10 minutes of the sleep cycle. This is the transition between being awake and asleep. Stage 1 is the part of sleep that you experience when you are dozing off. You know when you are listening to music in bed and felt tired and fall into a light sleep, that is the first part of the natural sleep cycle. An interesting thing to note is that it produces theta waves in this stage of sleep. The brains learning process, memory, intuition and in deep meditation are all related to theta waves. When our minds go into the drowsy stage and theta waves, our senses turn inward, blocking out the external world.

Stage 2: Light Sleep

The light sleep phase usually lasts for around 20 minutes. During this step, your brain produces rhythmic brain waves. Rhythmic brain waves are also referred to as sleep spindles. The physical change that happens during this sleep stage is that your body temperature decreases and your heart rate slow down.

Stage 3: Moderate Sleep

The moderate sleep stage is basically in the middle. It is not right after you fall asleep but also not the deepest part of sleep but still interesting. During this, your brain produces delta waves. Delta waves are slow, louder brain waves compared to theta waves and a source of empathy. We also find delta waves are also in the deepest form of meditation and during this stage, you are in a dreamless sleep.

Stage 4: Deep Sleep

The fourth stage is where things get interesting. This is a deep part of sleep. The 4th sleep cycle typically lasts for around 30 minutes. It’s hard to wake up from deep sleep and when you try to wake up, you will feel groggy. When you progress from light to deep sleep, the muscles in the roof of your mouth, tongue and throat relax allowing snoring to occur. This is also where sleepwalking comes into play. If you are prone to sleepwalking, then it would occur towards the end of this phase of the sleep cycle.

Stage 5: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep

The last stage may be one you have heard of before. This is the most talked about and most interesting point of the sleep cycle. During this part, your brain system is more active but your muscles are more relaxed. This is also where dreaming happens. Why does dreaming occur in this time and not the others? Dreaming occurs during REM sleep since you exhibit increased brain activity and temporary muscle paralysis.

Conclusion

The natural sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, moving between non-REM and REM stages. So which stage is the best to awaken in? The best stages to awaken in is between 1-2 sleep cycles. This is because these are light periods of sleep. Because of this, you will wake up easily. Waking up during these periods will also result in you feeling rejuvenated, fresh, and filled with energy. I hope this helped you discover what occurs in your body every night during a natural sleep cycle and helps you better understand this amazing system we have had built into our bodies designed over millions of years of evolution.