What are the 4 phases of sleeping?

Sleeping can be divided into four phases. While sleeping, brain waves and the state of eye- and muscle movements below the eyelids are different. On the basis of eye movements we separate REM (Rapid Eye Movements) and NREM (No Rapid Eye Movements) sleep.

1. Slumber
You close your eyes and experience dream-like adventures. The muscles relax; the brain's alpha waves reduce. You wake up easily from this and remember the dream-like pictures which appeared. Healthy sleepers are in this state for a very short time, for 2-10 minutes, therefore they fall asleep easily.

2. Shallow sleeping
The muscles relax even more, and bigger and bigger, slower and slower brain waves can be measured, as sleeping becomes deeper and deeper. A good sleeper is in this phase for about 10 minutes.

3. Mediate deep sleeping
The muscles switch off completely, there is no conscious thinking, and almost one third of the brain waves are slow waves. There are no dreams, or if somebody is woken up in this phase, he doesn't remember them. The main vitalizing processes of the growing hormones start working at this time.

4. Deep sleeping
Most of the brain waves are slow waves, but rapid waves appear within them sometimes. This is the deepest level of sleeping, and the body regenerates the most during this time. This time there is irregular breathing, faster heart beat, rapid eye movements, and contraction in the vagina for women and erection for men can be experienced. There are REM periods in this phase of sleeping. The sleeping person can be woken up in this phase easily, and he remembers his dreams in detail.

The natural awakening process takes place in this phase. A healthy individual doesn't need artificial awakening, because his system gets very close to the state of waking in the last REM period. If his biorhythm is in balance and he goes to bed every day more or less at the same time, he will wake up every morning at the same time in a natural way: fresh, bright and rested!