Rapid eye movement, or REM, is a normal stage of sleep characterized by the random movement of the eyes. This is the time of the night when a person dreams and has the deepest sleep, generally thought to be the time when the most benefits of sleep (rejuvenating brain functions, strength and vigor) occur. Though first identified in the early 1950s, much still has to be learned about what REM sleep is, how it benefits a person, what starts and stops it.
People that find themselves depressed, lethargic, irritable, have a lack of appetite and certain other symptoms may find that the underlying reason is a lack of REM sleep. For most adults, about 90–120 minutes of a night must be dedicated to REM sleep or health problems could start to occur. People experience four or five periods of REM sleep, starting out as short at the beginning of the night and longer at the end. A baby spends over 80% of total sleep time in REM, adults average 20% to 25%.
While a person that is having severe sleep issues should consult a doctor, there are certain simple things that could be done that have been found to increase REM sleep if there isn’t a serious medical or physiological issue. Making sure the place you sleep is quiet and dark is the first thing. People that live in urban environments or need to sleep during the day might want to consider purchasing sleep masks for sale that block out light and sound. Many cheap sleep masks also have light scents such as vanilla or fruits that are reported to aid in promoting deep sleep. Some masks also include magnets, though as of yet there hasn’t been in-depth studies as to the benefits of magnets on health or sleep in particular.
Set a time to sleep and try not to vary it. Once a body becomes used to sleeping at a certain time, the brain has an internal stopwatch that begins to expect sleep at this time and prepare the body for it. If a person drinks coffee and does things to stay awake, changing the body’s bedtime, the body will adjust, but then expect to start sleeping at this new time. A person constantly changing their bed time is hurting their health.
Before bed, do not eat or drink anything since this causes stimulation of the body’s systems. Don’t engage in any vigorous activities. There are studies that TV and using the computer is bad for healthily sleep due to the artificial light from the screens.