The True Meaning Of Being A “Light Sleeper” + How To Fall Asleep At Night
When it comes to sleep, many people fall into two categories: light sleeper or heavy sleeper. If you sleep too little, you may feel frustrated about the number of times you wake up on any given night. We contacted experts to learn about the causes of light sleepers and how light sleepers stay asleep throughout the night.
What Is Light Sleeper?
According to Stacie Stephenson (DC, CNS), a chiropractor and functional medicine doctor, if someone wakes up easily during sleep, they may be “light sleepers”, especially for the environment. React to the noise in. “In contrast, a person who sleeps a lot at night is less likely to wake up or wake up due to noise,” she added.
For example, you may have some changes to this conversation before: one person (light sleeper) said, “Wow, the storm last night was too noisy-you woke me up!” Another person (sleeper) Says: “I slept deep.”
Now, as health and sleep psychologist Joshua Tal explained to mbg before, waking up in the middle of the night is not necessarily a bad thing. “You usually wake up between sleep stages, so you don’t really interrupt anything.” It is normal to wake up in the lighter sleep stages (stage 1 or 2), not in the deeper sleep stages.
What makes you sleep so lightly?
The jury still hasn’t determined the exact reason why some people tend to wake up more easily than others, but there are two theories.
“One of them is that, for whatever reason, some people spend more time in the deep sleep phase than in the light sleep phase,” Stevenson said, and these people may sleep deeper.
She suggested that another theory has to do with sleep spindles. “Sleep spindles are brain waves. In the second stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep, brain activity erupts, […] they seem to protect sleepers from waking up due to noise.”
In fact, studies have shown that people with more sleep spindles tend to sleep deeper, Stephenson pointed out, “and people with fewer sleep spindles are more likely to wake up.”
Light sleepers and hard sleepers.
Although we are not sure why some people sleep lightly and others sleep heavier, we do know that waking up is more difficult during deep sleep. In light sleep, people usually enter and exit naps easily.
The following is an update on these four sleep stages and what happens in each stage:
The first stage (light sleep): In this stage, you begin to wake up gradually, your heart rate slows down, and your body begins to relax.
Stage 2: Still considered to be light sleep, this stage is when your body begins to relax more and your brain’s sleep spindle starts to start.
The third stage (slow-wave sleep): from this stage to deep sleep. Your entire body (including your brain) enters rest mode, which makes waking up more difficult.
Stage 4 (REM sleep): This is the only stage of REM sleep, which is when you are dreaming. During REM sleep, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure also beat.
If a person spends less time in deep sleep and more time in lighter sleep stages, they may wake up more.
As Stevenson pointed out, the cause may be mainly genetic. “Some people sleep very lightly throughout their lives, while others are always sleepy,” she said, adding, “Many studies have looked at genetic mutations that make people more likely to fall into a deep sleep or rapid eye movement sleep.”
Is light sleep dangerous?
Stevenson pointed out that lack of sleep is not necessarily a bad thing; you just want to pay more attention to your sleep hygiene to ensure that you get enough rest when you wake up occasionally.
“In order to be healthy, everyone needs seven to nine hours of good sleep most nights,” she said. “This is easy for some people and more challenging for others”. Unless you have a health problem or sleep disorder (we’ll talk about it later), you should be able to do this no matter how shallow or deep your sleep is.
How to sleep lightly at night:
1. Beautify your bedroom.
According to Stevenson, if you are born to sleep lightly, then you want to make sure your bedroom is completely quiet and dark, and keep it at a cool temperature around 65 degrees Fahrenheit (this is considered the most suitable temperature for sleeping) .
2. Try magnesium supplements. *
Taking sleep support + mbg and other relaxation supplements can not only help you fall asleep faster but also allow you to sleep longer, waking up like a good night’s sleep. * Take before going to bed, the leading magnesium mixture can improve the quality of sleep. *The supplement PharmaGABA® has been shown to improve sleep efficacy (the percentage of time a person actually spends in bed), making it particularly relevant to sleep. *
3. Give yourself more sleep time.
Stephenson said that if you wake up often, you may want to give yourself more time to lie in bed to make up for your waking time. “Sleep for a few more hours, because you can get less high-quality sleep time, get more sleep, so you have more time to wake up at night,” he suggested.
4. Regular bedtime.
Make sure that our body and mind are calm before going to bed, which is very helpful for a good night’s sleep, so it is very important to have a bedtime that can really help you relax.
Try relaxing rituals before going to bed to relieve stress: “Take a hot bath, read something relaxing, listen to soothing music, or try meditation before bed,” Stephenson suggested.
5. Do not eat or drink before going to bed.
Finally, if you tend to wake up frequently, avoid overeating within three hours before going to bed, Stephenson pointed out, and absolutely stop consuming caffeine and alcohol late at night.
Eating and drinking too late will cause your body to digest at night. Alcohol is known to disrupt deeper sleep. Even beverages such as water or tea should be drunk in small amounts before going to bed to avoid getting up and going to the bathroom.
Common Problem:
When should I see a doctor because of light sleep?
According to Tal, who specializes in insomnia, if you wake up excessively (for example, about 5 or more times a night), this may be a sign of an underlying disease. The time to fall asleep again should not exceed 15 to 30 minutes. If any of these things happen to you, you will need to talk to a professional.
Stephenson agreed, that these could be signs of underlying medical problems. Such as sleep apnea, restless legs, or poor blood sugar control.
Does melatonin help?
Studies have shown that melatonin can improve sleep quality by increasing rapid eye movement sleep and sleep spindles, Stevenson pointed out, adding that “it may help light sleepers sleep healthier, or at least sleep better. Long.” However, this effect may vary from person to person.
As functional medicine doctor Frank Lippman explained to mbg before, melatonin helps regulate the rhythm of sleep, but if sleep is more problematic than sleep, magnesium may be a better choice. *
“Magnesium can also help relieve stress before going to bed, so it can naturally help people who sleep lightly are less likely to wake up from stress,” Stephenson added.
How do I know that I had a good night’s sleep?
You can usually measure the quality of your sleep based on how you feel in the morning. If you feel dizzy, tired, and drowsy when the alarm goes off, it does not mean you are sleeping well. However, if you wake up and are ready to go, that is a better sign.
Remember that depending on your age, the amount of sleep you need will vary.
How to share a bed with a lighter bed?
If you share a bed with someone who wakes up often, there are a few things you can do.
A more obvious option is to invest in a larger bed to make the twists and turns less obvious. In addition, try to respect your partner’s needs in a dark, quiet room. If it does, consider “sleep divorce”, even if there are only a few nights a week.
Bottom line.
There is no doubt that sleep is an important part of our overall health and plays an important role in everything from immunity to memory. If you are worried that light sleep will affect your health, please consult a professional, but know that in most cases, it will not have a very negative effect on your sleep, and some measures can be taken to help you, sleep longer.