#8 You don’t sleep enough

Now this is one of the most over looked problems we have here in the States. We are so worried about keeping up with the Jones, that we forget that our sleep is a very important time in our life. Why? Your sleep is where the body repairs itself. It cannot do it while you are awake because at that time it is working. While sleeping your brain surveys your whole body and send our friends the red blood cells there to help mend any issues. This is the only time healing truly happens.
During the 1950’s scientists got to do in depth studies on sleep and what they found out is that we have four stages of sleep and they are:
Stage 1: This is the beginning stage of the sleep cycle and lasts around 5 to 10 minutes. In this stage we are between being awake and sleeping. Ever have your eyes closed and still hear things around you like the television or radio? This is that first stage. If a person is awoke at this stage they might report that they were never sleeping to begin with.
Stage 2: This stage lasts for about 20 minutes and your brain begins to slow your system down. Your heart rate begins to slow down and you’re the temperature of your body begins to drop.
Stage 3: In this stage our brain waves begin to slow down. During this phase of sleep we become less responsive to our environment and exterior noises. This stages acts as a go between from your light sleep to your heavy sleep or fast REM sleep. There is no time limit on how long you can be in this stage.
Stage 4: This is also known as the dream state. This state is also known as fast REM (rapid eye movement). This is when you will have rapid eye movement, increased respiration and increased brain activity. This is also the time when the body repairs itself and gets ready for the next day. In this stated our muscles are none responsive (paralyzed) to voluntary motion.
Now here is the kicker, we do not progress thru each stage of sleep and end up in the REM sleep and then stay there for the rest of the night. No we actually cycle thru each stage several times during our whole period of sleep. It is not uncommon to go from stage 1 to stage 2 and 3 and then back to stage 2 before finally entering into stage 4. This cycle takes an average of 90 minutes to go thru.
Don’t take your sleep for granted, it is really the most important part of your whole day.