Adapted from "How Much Deep, Light and REM Sleep Do You Need?" from Texas Health here

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Different Stages of Sleep

Non REM Stage 1

• The beginning of the sleep cycle, when you're starting to drift off. It's a relaxed state, but your body has not fully relaxed yet.
• There is no minimum time to spend here, but if you are spending a lot of time in this stage, you may not be getting restful sleep

Non REM Stage 2

• You are now drifting into a steadier sleep. Your breathing, heartbeat, and brain activity are starting to slow down.

• On average, people typically spend about 50% of the night in this stage

Non REM Stage 3 & 4

• ‍Deep sleep begins in this stage. Your breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, and brain waves are all at their lowest levels. The deepest sleep stage, characterized by extremely relaxed muscles and difficulty in waking someone up.
• This is the stage where the most restorative sleep occurs, tissue growth and repair takes place, memories are consolidated, immune system and cellular function is restored.
• These stages typically happen during the first half of the evening and become more infrequent over the course of the night
• You should aim for 13-23% of your sleep time to be in this stage

REM Sleep

• The last stage before the cycle starts over. Your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure resemble the same levels you typically experience while awake. This stage is when you are most likely to dream.
• REM sleep dominates in the latter half of your total sleep night, getting longer as you sleep more. The first REM stage may only last a few minutes, while the last one could last for around 1 hour
• In total you should spend about 20-25% of your sleep in this stage

Each stage is responsible for providing unique benefits. The most restorative sleep happens during stages 3 & 4, while REM sleep is believed to be essential to cognitive functions such as memory, learning, and creativity.

What affects various sleep stages

Age, recent sleep patterns, alcohol, and sleep disorders can all affect the various sleep stages. Newborns tend to get the most REM sleep, while older adults typically need less REM sleep than adults, children, and babies. Recent sleep patterns, alcohol, and some drugs can alter how we enter into the different sleep stages. Sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome (RLS), and other conditions that cause multiple awakenings may interrupt a healthy sleep cycle and make it harder to get restful sleep.

Getting a good night’s sleep

To promote a good night's sleep, it is important to avoid eating right before bed, eat healthy meals, avoid screen time for at least 30 minutes before bedtime, exercise regularly, avoid alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco, read medication labels, and strive for a healthy lifestyle.