SON: It's about how much and why sleep

human sleep structure includes two phases: non-REM sleep (Non-REM) and REM sleep (REM, or REM - "rapid eye movement").
REM sleep
It comes immediately after falling asleep. It consists of four stages. The total duration of phase Non-REM - about 90 minutes. Breathing is calm, smooth, pressure drops, eye first make slow movements, and later still, the brain is poorly active, the body is relaxed. You relax, restore physical strength.
REM sleep
It is the slow sleep and lasts for 10 to 20 minutes. The temperature and pressure increase, the heart beats more often. Body is immobilized, with the exception of the muscles responsible for breathing and heartbeat. Under the closed eyelids fast movements make eyeballs (hence the name - REM). The brain is active. You are dreaming.
Phases of Non-REM and REM alternate with each other. First you go into REM sleep and go through all its stages. It takes about 90 minutes. Then, REM sleep occurs. The first time it is short, not more than 5 minutes. This circle is called a cycle of sleep. The cycles are repeated. This reduces the percentage of REM sleep and increases (up to 1 hour) the duration of the rapid. Healthy people are usually at the same time goes through five sleep cycles.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that often the person does not realize or does not recognize the decline of their mental and physical abilities, "Sleep is for wimps! I'm fine!".
Long-term sleep deprivation can cause serious health problems: the risk of heart and vascular diseases, diabetes. However, there are people who consider sleep a waste of time and deliberately reduce its duration to a minimum.

Polyphasic sleep - a sleep pattern in which sleep is divided into several short periods instead of a long vacation once a day. The total duration of sleep is significantly reduced, and wakefulness is increased to 20-22 hours.

Sleep duration is reduced due to pass Non-REM phases. According to proponents of polyphasic pattern, the main energy recharging occurs during REM-sleep, and then you need to just "dive" into it, without wasting time on slow sleep.
Of course, we need training. If you are not able to fall asleep quickly and do not like to sleep during the day, it will be difficult. But gradually the body will get used to, and brain tune in.
Practiced polyphasic sleep, many outstanding personalities: Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Nikola Tesla, Bucky Fuller. Of our contemporaries - president of Yahoo Marissa Mayer, a businessman and billionaire Donald Trump, basketball player Kobe Bryant and others.
Adepts of polyphasic sleep argue that thrive not just get enough sleep, but also full of physical and creative powers.
However, in a multi-phase sleep many critics who say that sooner or later this ragged schedule backfire problems with the cardiovascular system. Opponents of polyphasic sleep believe that it is impossible to force the body, you need to listen to the biological clock.

circadian rhythms
This body's internal clock, which determine the intensity of different biological processes (thermoregulation, digestion, hormone production, and so on).
Circadian periodicity of sleep and wakefulness depends on the light. Visual receptors respond to light level and sends a signal to the brain suprahiazmalnoe core. This gives the start of the development of two important hormones that are responsible for sleep and waking: melatonin and cortisol.
Melatonin - sleep hormone. It is produced in the pineal gland when it gets dark. It lowers the temperature and pressure, calms the body and give him the command "Time for bed!". By morning, melatonin synthesis stops. The more light, the more blood is thrown cortisol. This hormone wakes us up, gives vigor and energy for a new day achievements.
This determines the 24-hour circadian rhythm of sleep and wakefulness: dark - melatonin gives us a chance to rest, the sun rises - Cortisol wakes us up. But for how long you need to sleep to be healthy and positive? After all, for example, the summer nights are shorter than in winter, and artificial light allows you to adjust the natural schedule.

It follows from the nature of sleep. Remember, under normal circumstances we pass through five sleep cycles lasting about 100 minutes each if 100 is multiplied by 5 and divided by 60, is approximately 8 hours.
Sleep duration depends on the age. The younger the person is, the more sleep he needs. The National Sleep Foundation (National Sleep Foundation), an American non-profit organization with 25 years of experience exploring this area gives the following recommendations:

The duration of sleep directly affects the physical and mental activity. Can to be the best in the business, enough sleep as much sleep outstanding scientists, writers and politicians? This question is no single answer.
Einstein and Schopenhauer sleep for 10-12 hours a day. Honore de Balzac, Tolstoy and Charles Darwin - 8 hours. Six hours of sleep adhere to Sigmund Freud and Nabokov. Slightly less rested Mozart and Thatcher (at 5 hours), Napoleon Bonaparte and Voltaire (at 4 hours). Champions of wakefulness - Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla who practiced polyphasic sleep.
Universal recipe exists. Sleep duration as the size of the shoe. Most approaches 8:00 but someone is not enough, and someone a lot. Understand how much sleep is necessary for you, you can experimentally.

Why do you want to get up early? find its motivation. The word "right" does not work. Just forcing yourself, you will inevitably disrupt the regime. Perhaps you want to lose weight and improve your health? Start jogging or join a pool. Many of them are open early so people can swim up to the job. Not enough time for self-development? Early morning is ideal for this. More everyone is sleeping, no one will disturb you to write a note to your blog, read your favorite book, draw, or, for example, to enjoy a lie in the bath.

As morning light fills the room, the body stops the output of melatonin - cortisol synthesis begins intensive. Increased temperature, blood pressure, PER protein levels in the blood. Your body is getting ready to awaken. Therefore, observing mode, you open your eyes in just a few moments before the alarm.
Button "Add to Wishlist" violates this process. You begin to doze off again, plunging into the first stage of non-REM sleep. The body is perplexed: Again needed melatonin, cortisol and what to do?! As a result in 5-10 minutes you willpower force yourself to get up, but feel sluggish and overwhelmed.
"Nonsense! I never wake up to an alarm clock, I have a gun and did not wake up! "If so, then you are just not enough sleep and have not kept mode.

There are various techniques which help to stop the dance in my head. For example, visualization. Imagine yourself dozing on the beach under the lapping of the waves. The more detailed the picture is, the more quickly you will find yourself in the kingdom of Morpheus. Another technique - auditory training: "My eyelids grow heavy, I fall asleep ...". You can still get rid of events of the day in reverse order, or dream up and tell yourself a bedtime story.
Try also concentrate on their own breathing: deep breath through the nose for 4 seconds, the breath holding for 7 seconds and slowly exhale mouth for 8 seconds. Through this exercise, you will calm down, and during the counting of seconds you will have no time to think about something else.
Say thanks to the departing day. Who or what you are grateful for today? From the perspective of positive psychology expression of gratitude strengthens interpersonal relationships and well-motivated. Falling asleep with good thoughts, you are setting yourself up for a continuation of the chain of good tomorrow.
Sometimes we can not sleep because of some trifle like awkward postures or "himoznogo" smell of bed linen. But in sleep science, there are no trifles. Note the position of the body, which usually wake up. Lie down so the next time when you can not sleep. Use special candle or lamp with essential oils to fill the bedroom soothing scent of lavender.
But the most important thing - to develop and follow the evening rituals, tuning the body for sleep.

Alcohol, coffee and sedative drugs relax the throat muscles. A smoking blocks the airway, causing irritation of the nose and throat. So sometimes, to get rid of snoring, enough to give up bad habits.
And the most simple: change the pose. During sleep, the muscles at the back of the lower palate relax, the tongue sinks, there is pressure on the airways. Therefore, sleep on your side or stomach, lift higher pillow or use special orthopedic pillow.

Winston Churchill wrote: "You have to sleep in between lunch and dinner, and no half measures, never! Take off your clothes and get into bed. Do not think that you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. This silly opinions of people who have no imagination. On the contrary, you will be able to do more, because you get two days in one - well, at least half. "

When, how and where you need to nap
The best time for a siesta - from 13:00 to 16:00. But specific hours depending on your schedule and jet lag. For example, if you wake up at 10:00, it is unlikely to want to take a nap just after 3 hours.
For daytime sleep to get used to. Practice it for a few days at one and the same time. Try to sleep the same number of minutes. Consider the time it takes to fall asleep. If you are off for 10 minutes, then for a full 20-minute afternoon nap Service need to have half an hour in advance.
Snooze can be anywhere: in the car, at a desk, on the couch. Short sleep, which means you almost do not risk to get out of pain in the back or neck. Ideally, find a quiet place with a subdued light. If the office is not, use a mask and ear plugs to sleep.