The Secret of REM Sleep

Many people throw around the word REM sleep, but they're not really sure what it means, or how it works on the body - they just think the name sounds important.

REM sleep is actually a vital stage of sleep, and without it, we would be missing a lot of our truly important sleep. Most people agree that it is not only deepest, but most rejuvenating, stage of sleep.

What Does REM Stand For?

REM actually stands for Rapid Eye Movement, but it wouldn't make much sense to call it 'rapid eye movement sleep'. Have you ever seen anyone sleep while they were in a REM cycle?

Their eyes are constantly moving in different places, most often seen in movies as moving from left to right, and back again. During REM, the most intense, real dreams are experienced.

Have you ever woken up and felt like you were yanked from another life, that was going on during that dream? You were probably waking up from a REM sleep cycle.

How Many Stages of Sleep Are There?

Some people think that there is only one stage of sleep - and that's sleep. But there are actually five different stages of sleep, all with the body doing different things.

REM is the fifth, and last - the first four are referred to as Non Rapid Eye Movement Cycles, or NREM. The eyes don't move rapidly when you're in these stages, and dreams are much less common, and less intense.

It takes you about 90 minutes - or an hour and a half - after you first fall asleep to reach your REM cycle, and the first cycle is only about 10 minutes long.

As the night goes on, however, you reach several stages of REM sleep, the longest lasting up to an hour. Your most vivid, detailed dreams comes from that long stage.

Children get the most REM sleep, with infants spending up to 50% of the sleep in the REM stages - this is quite a lot, and many scientists figure that babies have very vivid dreams.

As we age, however, the amount of time we spend in REM drops off. Adults spend about 20% - teenagers about 30%. It really does depend on the person, however, and the sleep.

Not getting REM sleep can lead to a whole host of bad things, like depression and poor memory - which is worse than just forgetting your keys, or not being able to find your car in a parking lot.

Overall...

REM sleep is something we all experience, and something we have to deal with in our sleep stages. The deepest, fullest sleep comes from REM, and it can be a very relaxing place to be - getting a full nights sleep means plenty of REM sleep, and plenty of dreams.