The Science of Sleep

The Facts about Sleep and the Importance of Dreaming.

What is Sleep

Sleep is a period of rest for the body and mind of a person. No one is exempt. If you are a living human being – you need sleep. Without sleep our health begins to decline and our minds tend to ere on the side of stress and anxiety. This article is not intended to be a comprehensive study on the science of sleep, but rather a basic overview of the sleep process and the effects of sleep on our dreams.

Why Do We Need Sleep?

Contrary to some belief, sleep is not a time that our bodies shut down! It is an active process that rejuvenates our bodies, grows muscle, repairs tissue and releases healing hormones. Sleep also allows the brain to process through life events and choose what to remember and what to toss out. The dream state of sleep allows a persons mind and emotions to reconcile things that have happened throughout the day. Upon waking, the body and mind are replenished for optimal health and well being. Healthy sleep is critical to the overall well being of an individual and sleep deprivation can be a serious condition leading to a multitude of physical, mental and emotional illnesses.

Here is an interesting video describing the effects of sleep deprivation:

What is a Sleep Cycle?

Studies show that there are four stages of a sleep cycle lasting 90 minutes. During a normal nights sleep, an individual will experience these 4 stages of sleep within a 90 minute period of time. However, as sleep continues though the night, the time spent in each stage changes.

Sleep Stages¹

1. Alpha – A persons brain waves become slower and the body is relaxed as a person drifts into sleep
2. Theta – A very light sleep
3. Delta – The deepest part of sleep
4. REM – REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. REM sleep is associated with the time of a persons sleep where dreaming takes place.

If a person is awakened during stages 1 and 2 they will often report that they felt like they didn’t sleep at all. When one is awakened they must start the process of sleep stages from the beginning.

When Do We Dream?

The sleep process is much like the shortest and longest days of the year. The first half of your sleep enters you into the longest periods of Delta (deep) sleep. On the close of your 90 minute cycle you enter into 5 minutes of REM (dream) sleep and each subsequent sleep cycle adds another 5 minutes to REM sleep. By the middle of the night, your Delta sleep gets shorter and your REM sleep gets longer. By morning, the average persons last hour of sleep will mostly consist of REM (dreaming).

1st 90 minute sleep period = 5 minutes of dreaming (REM)

2nd 90 minute sleep period = 10 minutes of dreaming (REM)

3rd 90 minute sleep period = 15 minutes of dreaming (REM)

Research has shown that a persons brainwaves are high during this time of REM sleep. The persons eyes dart back and forth as if they are watching pictures moving before them. This is the stage in which dreaming occurs.

How Much Sleep Do We Need²

Although there is an acceptable range of either 1-2 hours less or more, the National Sleep Foundation recommends the following.

Children (ages 6-13) ……… 9-11 Hours

Teenagers (ages 14-17) ….. 8-10 Hours

Adults (ages 18-64) ………..7-9 Hours

Adults (ages 65+) …………..7-8 Hours

Adults aging between 18-64 should plan to get at least 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Those in high stress/heavy labor jobs, college, or ones whose lives require you to retain or process a lot of information might ere on the side of 9 hours of sleep. Remember, sleeping helps rejuvenate the body through repairing muscle and storing and processing information or concerns throughout the day.  Children require more sleep than adults because their bodies and brains are developing at a much faster rate.

Healthy sleep is necessary for everyone. Homeostasis (the process that regulates our bodies alert system time to wake or sleep) and Circadian Rhythm (biological clock) work together to promote healthy sleep habits. The Homeostasis sleep/wake alert system helps our bodies know when we are tired based on how long we have been awake and when we last slept. The circadian biological clock is controlled by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (a group of cells that respond to light and dark). The optic nerve within the eye signals the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus that it is night or day (dark or light) and triggers the brain to release hormones and regulate body temperatures that aide in making one sleep or wake.  Some of the best ways to promote a healthy sleep life is to sleep and wake at the same time every day, and to respond to natures system of sleeping when it’s dark and awaking when it’s light outside.

The Importance Of Dreaming

Under normal, uninterrupted sleep, a person begins in stage 1 and continues through stage 4. As the night progresses, the REM period begins to replace the Delta period until there is almost no Delta period at all. This is why a person is most likely to recall what they were dreaming when they first wake up. However, since you dream throughout the night, it is possible to wake in the middle of the night recalling a possibly more vivid or intense dream. It is important not to avoid dreaming as it is imperative for our emotional and mental well being. Without dreams, we ignore life issues that are meant to be processed and moved on from. If you find it hard to dream, or do not believe that you do dream, try getting a dream journal.  Set the journal by your nightstand and get some appropriate lighting for use in the middle of the night. Tell yourself that you will honor yourself by listening to your dreams. If you wake in the middle of the night or even in the morning after having dreamed, write it down in detail!

Not only is sleep critical to the overall health of the human body, dreaming is also vital for mental health and emotional well being. Some researchers believe that dreaming is preparation for the person’s mind to be awakened. Other research displays that people who enter the dream state regularly have less signs of depression. If you consistently wake yourself up before you are ready, you are interrupting the REM stage. Regular interruption and constant lack of entering the lengthened dream state can cause mental stress and emotional unrest.

Mental health professionals have seen that dreams are a way that a persons soul or spirit communicates with their intellect to process emotions, thoughts, or feelings. Especially if those have been ignored or unresolved.

Most dreams fall under the category of what I call, Life Dreams. Meaning, that the dreamers heart is trying to communicate, process, and validate feelings or perspectives of current life events. If the dreamer awakens from a “confusing dream,” they should look to see what is currently happening in their life that has the same feeling or actions. I highly recommend using our Online Dream Analysis or scheduling a coaching session with myself to help you discover the meaning or your dreams, and eventually teach yourself how to interpret your own dreams on a regular basis. Since dreams are our hearts way of counseling us through the night, our emotional and mental well being will only improve as a result of knowing their interpretations.

Dreams & Differing Forms of Thought

Interpretations have grown hard for people because they seem to be confusing, especially in modern western society where we have been trained to rely solely on scientific thought. Your heart communicates through symbols and feelings, causing it to sometimes be hard for a person to interpret when their way of thinking is primarily scientific. It’s been said that images and metaphors are the language of the heart.

Western Vs. Eastern Thought

When you look at the difference between eastern/ancient forms of thought versus western and more modern forms of thought, there is a clear difference in the people described and related to life. Ancient eastern forms of thought were founded in metaphors using pictures and symbols from everyday life  which people can relate to in order to connect and explain things. For example, if you look at the names given to many rivers or mountains from indigenous people groups they are often names derived from animals or things in nature i.e. snake river, bear mountain, etc. These are names given by metaphor. Compared to more modern and western forms of thought if someone from the 21st century named a river they would probably not use a metaphorical name, however, they would possibly use something abstract.  Even though we live in the 21st century, the human mind was created long ago. Our internal being still operates on a system which began at the beginning of the world. No matter how we try to modernize our lives, our beings still use metaphors and symbols to communicate. Trying to make our hearts be understood by our western thinking minds can be difficult for some. People often tend to think of their dreams as crazy, weird, funny, or disturbing and the true meaning of their dreams lacks their understanding.

Helping and teaching people the keys to interpreting the symbolism of their dreams is what I do. If you are having difficulty understanding your dreams, I would love to help you! If a dream seems crazy, far out, disturbing, or leaves you confused; I truly believe that in most cases it is your heart trying to process how you are feeling about certain things.

Please go to my services page and reach out so we can start the process of bringing your heart and mind into understanding each other.

Sources Cited:

1 – https://web.mst.edu/~psyworld/sleep_stages.htm#3

2 – https://sleepfoundation.org/excessivesleepiness/content/why-do-we-need-sleep

https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/sleep-drive-and-your-body-clock/page/0/1