Sleep, the period of rest to the mind and body, is divided into a number of stages. Wondering what the stages of sleep are? Then read on…

Someone has said, "Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night." That is so very true! Indeed, sleep is bliss. A night's sleep is a break from the stress of daily life. Sleep may sometimes even act as a solution to some of the problems by helping your brain think in peace and solve serious problems. Naps are definite stress busters. It is during your sleep that you dream, you dream of wonderful things that may not come into reality; but your dreams show them to you. It is during sleep, that you get an opportunity to be with yourself, far away from the real world. You get to meet your subconscious as your sleep takes you away from your conscious self.

Sleep is a natural phenomenon of the state of rest and regular sleep is essential for survival. Interestingly, its true purpose is still being researched. Researchers have not yet obtained conclusive results about the exact purposes of sleep. Moreover, it is interesting to observe, that our sleep undergoes a series of stages. Yes, we sleep in stages. Sometimes we do realize the different forms of sleep in the various stages of sleep, while at other times, the distinction is unclear.

Stages of Sleep

According to the basic classification of the various stages of sleep, sleep is grouped into two distinct stages, namely, REM and NREM. REM sleep is characterized by a rapid movement of the eyes, as also a very low muscle tone that is typically seen in mammals. Most of the dreams that you remember after awakening from sleep, are those occurring in the REM stage of sleep.

The NREM, which is known as the non-REM sleep, is composed of four different stages. A comparatively lesser amount of dreaming occurs during this stage of sleep. Movements of limbs or even sleepwalking are observed during the non-REM stage of sleep. The four stages of the NREM sleep are simply named as N1, N2, N3 and N4. Let us look at each stage of the non-REM sleep in detail.

Stage N1: This stage of sleep can be called as the phase of drowsy sleep, during which you may experience hallucinations and sudden twitches. It is during this stage that you may lose your muscle tone and your conscious awareness. This stage of sleep is characterized by the brain transitions from alpha waves to theta waves and is primarily the stage when sleep starts laying her hands on you!

Stage N2: During this stage of sleep, muscular activity further reduces and the awareness of the external environment vanishes. Sleep spindles, the bursts of brain activity during which the brain tries to stop processing, characterize the N2 stage. Briefly, this stage of sleep is when the brain succumbs to the sleep that had begun to lay her hands on you.

Stage N3: Walking in sleep or sudden feelings of terror when asleep, commonly occur during this stage of sleep. Bed-wetting may also take place during this stage. The stage N3 is mostly only the transition to the fourth stage. It is one of the phases of a very deep sleep. This is the stage wherein the sleep begins to engulf your brain.

Stage N4: It is a stage of an even deeper form of sleep as compared to the third stage. According to some researchers, the third and the forth stages of sleep can be combined and together called as delta sleep. This is when you are fast asleep, far away in the world of sleep.

For me, sleep opens doors to the world of dreams, to the world of meeting yourself, the world that is away from the bitter truths of life. A sound sleep is cloud nine!