Sleep is a rarity to some and a regularity to others. For myself, and I am sure to many other teenagers, sleep is a glory which we usually fail to achieve. But what does sleep do to our bodies that we always crave more?
It is recommended that teens get an average of 9.5 hours of sleep (National Sleep Foundation). This is in order for our bodies to perform the essential cycles of sleep that cares for our memories, muscle healing and release of various hormones. Much to everyone’s dismay, sleep is not all about Inception-esque drama, rather, it revolves around a pattern of 90 minute cycles between rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM).
NREM contributes to ~75 per cent of your sleep and divides into four stages. The first stage is the time of light sleep, where you are half asleep, and half awake. This is the time that we all struggle with the most. But we must persevere and count those sheep to move onto stage two. The second stage allows our bodies to isolate ourselves from the environment, our senses adapt and tune out and our body temperatures lower. Stages three and four are where the magic happens. These stages are where the real revitalizations occur, with energy being restored and muscle and tissue cells being repaired. This is also the time when hormones, such as the human growth hormone (hGH) are released. That is why sleep is incredibly significant to us when we are young.
REM is the latter 25 per cent of the sleep you experience. This is where your dreams awaken and energy is provided to the brain and body. Due to the brain’s active state, your eyes will have rapid movement, as the name suggests. However, your body will be relaxed and stoic in movement.
We all want it, but never really knew why. I hope we can all realize the importance of getting the necessary amount of sleep every night. As Shakespeare once wrote in Hamlet, “To sleep, perchance to dream,” may we all have the chance to dream for the 229,961 hours we approximately sleep in our lifetime. Sleep allows us to perform and be rejuvenated for the rest of our lives and hopefully, we all have better fates than Hamlet.
