268. The Deep Sleep Fix That Changed Everything

Okay, now before we get into all the details about deep sleep and my simple trick that fixed my own and some other ideas to help you, I do want to explain the three stages of sleep because I think most people don't even know about them, and they don't actually realize what's happening when they close their eyes at night.

And I think because I went down such a rough road a year and a half ago, I have dived deeper into concepts that I felt were basic, and I've realized they're not as basic as I thought they were.

They're more complicated, but don't worry because we're here on the podcast to make them simple.

So that's what we're gonna do today, but we're gonna do it with deep sleep.

So first, let's break down the three stages.

So number one, there's light sleep.

This is the transition stage.

So this is basically the sleep that you go into between deep sleep and between REM sleep.

It's not super restorative on its own, and it's kind of like the bridge your body needs to get into the good stuff.

And sadly, this is also the stage in which a lot of women in perimenopause spend a lot of their time in, which makes it so they don't feel great when they wake up in the morning.

So this is like the bridge.

I want you to think of it that way.

The second type of sleep is REM sleep.

This is your dreaming stage.

This is where you get most of your mental restoration in your sleep.

REM sleep is when the brain basically processes your emotions.

It consolidates your learning, your memory.

It supports your mental health and your mood.

REM dominates the second half of the night.

So if you're sleeping and going to bed at 10:00 and waking up at 6:00, REM dominates that second half of the night.

And think about it.

If you are cutting your sleep s- short, and you know that your REM dominates, and it...

They do go in cycles.

Obviously, you rotate between the three, but it's still longer periods of REM towards that second half of the night.

So if you have your sleep cut short, you'll probably notice that you're more anxious and more emotional after a bad night's sleep, and that's because of your REM sleep.