4 Stages of Sleep: Here's why each stage is important for your health

Maintaining a good lifestyle is crucial to leading a healthy life. A nutritious diet, exercise and ample sleep are important if you want to be healthy and fit. The number of hours you sleep can impact your health in numerous ways. Not getting an adequate amount of sleep can make you vulnerable to various health diseases, which is why it’s important to sleep for at least 7-8 hours every day. Let’s break it down for you how does sleep affect your health. 

Our body goes through multiple changes when we sleep. It utilizes that time to repair muscles, manage hormones, sort memories and grow bones. All of this is possible, only if sleep for the required number of hours. In fact, quality of sleep is also an important factor here. Sleeping well has several stages. At each sleep stage, your body goes through different functions which leads to deep sleep. 

Take a look at the different stages of sleep and what happens during each one of them. 

Stages of Sleep 

The stages of sleep can be majorly divided into two types: REM and non-REM sleep. 

Non-REM sleep 

There are multiple stages of non-REM sleep, including: 

Stage 1 

This is the stage when you’ve just fallen asleep and can wake up easily. It lasts only a few minutes. During this stage, the heartbeat slows down and muscles begin to relax. 

Stage 2 

At this stage, you’re in light sleep, and your body gets ready to go into a deep sleep. This stage lasts about half an hour. The heartbeat and breathing slow down further, body temperature drops with no eye movements. 

Stage 3 

This is the deepest sleep stage, where your body starts to perform a variety of health-promoting tasks like building bones and muscles, strengthening the immune system, and more. This is a vital stage of sleep. 

REM sleep 

REM stands for rapid eye movement. This stage occurs approximately ninety minutes after you fall asleep. The first period of REM sleep lasts about 10 minutes, and it gets longer with each stage. The final stage of REM sleep lasts up to an hour. During this stage, eye movements become quick, heartbeat fastens as the brain becomes more active during this stage. This is the part where you dream.