Insight Into Sleeping Patterns
Whilst of course there are variations, for the most part we all have sleeping patterns that work in harmony with our lifestyles.
In fact, learning to recognise that there will be these occasional variations in sleeping pattern will go a long way in alleviating any possible anxiety over occasional sleep loss.
Generally, most adults will sleep between seven hours to nine hours each day.
Having said that, it is recognised that some people are able to handle as little as three to four hours sleep each day.
It is a recognised fact that most of us need more sleep when we are younger, example being a new born baby who will require around sixteen hours sleep each day, whilst a child of school age will require something in the region of ten hours and then at the other end of the age group a seventy year old will require around six hours or maybe less.
Cycles occur during sleeping; for the most part people will wake up during a cycle, however they probably will not remember the break in sleep.
Each of these sleep cycles lasts for around one and a half hours to two hours and incredibly these sleeping cycles vary little throughout our lives.
Having an insight into our own sleeping cycle can be invaluable, especially when it comes to catching up with some lost sleep from time to time.
What determines our sleeping pattern? There are two recognised actions that take place to adjust our sleeping pattern.
One is called the homeostatic sleep and this controls our desire or appetite for sleep and the other is called the circadian timer or rhythm which is the changes the body goes through over the course of the day.
The example being in the morning, our bodies change the amount of hormones which heighten our awareness of being awake and energised.
Then during the evening, the body makes another adjustment, making us feel sleepy and tired.
Overall the longer we are awake, the sleepier we will feel.
It is a natural design for a sleep pattern.
Sleeping is meant to reduce the drive for sleep and being awake is meant to increase the drive for sleep.
Many bodily functions perform in a similar way such as the need to drink liquid when we are thirsty we then take on liquid thereby reducing the drive for liquid and quenching our thirst.
I call it "Need Drive Satisfaction".
In fact, learning to recognise that there will be these occasional variations in sleeping pattern will go a long way in alleviating any possible anxiety over occasional sleep loss.
Generally, most adults will sleep between seven hours to nine hours each day.
Having said that, it is recognised that some people are able to handle as little as three to four hours sleep each day.
It is a recognised fact that most of us need more sleep when we are younger, example being a new born baby who will require around sixteen hours sleep each day, whilst a child of school age will require something in the region of ten hours and then at the other end of the age group a seventy year old will require around six hours or maybe less.
Cycles occur during sleeping; for the most part people will wake up during a cycle, however they probably will not remember the break in sleep.
Each of these sleep cycles lasts for around one and a half hours to two hours and incredibly these sleeping cycles vary little throughout our lives.
Having an insight into our own sleeping cycle can be invaluable, especially when it comes to catching up with some lost sleep from time to time.
What determines our sleeping pattern? There are two recognised actions that take place to adjust our sleeping pattern.
One is called the homeostatic sleep and this controls our desire or appetite for sleep and the other is called the circadian timer or rhythm which is the changes the body goes through over the course of the day.
The example being in the morning, our bodies change the amount of hormones which heighten our awareness of being awake and energised.
Then during the evening, the body makes another adjustment, making us feel sleepy and tired.
Overall the longer we are awake, the sleepier we will feel.
It is a natural design for a sleep pattern.
Sleeping is meant to reduce the drive for sleep and being awake is meant to increase the drive for sleep.
Many bodily functions perform in a similar way such as the need to drink liquid when we are thirsty we then take on liquid thereby reducing the drive for liquid and quenching our thirst.
I call it "Need Drive Satisfaction".