Have you ever wondered ‘exactly’ why we tend to sleep longer when we’re sick? As you might already know, we sleep in “sleep cycles”. We can categorize these cycles into “light sleep”, and “deep sleep.” But just HOW important deep sleep is to our immune system?…
As you read, it’s during the first 3-4 hours of our sleep that we experience the longest period of Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep.
Stage 3 and Stage 4 Sleep is also commonly termed “deep sleep.”
It’s during deep sleep that we experience very low brain waves called Theta and Delta brain waves.
Our blood vessels dilate and all the blood that is usually stored in our organs throughout the day moves into our muscles to nourish and repair them.
Our immune system also activates during deep sleep to fight disease. This is why people tend to sleep longer when they’re sick.
When you don’t take proper care of your inner sleeping system, you’re usually at risk of “poor sleep.” Poor sleep happens for a variety of reasons which I outline in the Powerful Sleep book, but the main “symptom” is the inability or the difficulty of obtaining proper amounts of “deep sleep.”
It’s very common for people who travel across many time zones to get sick very quickly, we usually blame this on “Jet-Lag.” However, jet lag happens because of the body’s natural body temperature rhythm being out of alignment. Jet-Lag commonly creates a disruption of deep sleep, added with the stress of travel, this is a perfect mixture for lowering one’s immune system.
Most people live without being aware of all the actions they’re taking in their lives that are completely detrimental to their sleeping system, which are depriving them of energy, and making them SLEEP LONGER than they really need to. Fortunately, there are simple methods to take proper care of your inner sleep system, and strengthen it for maximum performance.
