Most individuals think that getting a good night sleep means dozing off for 8 hours a day without taking sleep quality into consideration. A healthy sleep actually means getting a good night's rest by being able to doze off and get the feeling of being well rested. Getting healthy sleep means being able to feel good upon waking up, without even taking the sleep hours into consideration. As per Huffington Post, getting a good night sleep does not involve chronic nightmares and bad dreams. The website then added that there's actually a huge difference between a smile filled rest and a tiring fearful one.
As per the Journal of Sleep Research which was done by a group of French researchers, all individuals dream upon going to sleep, even if some individuals think they don't. One question that is often asked however is the correlation between a good sleep and a good dream. Does dreaming and sleep influence each other?
As per the website, an uninterrupted sleep for 7 to 9 hours is considered a good night's sleep. This does not include activities such as going to the bathroom, turning over, and getting a glass of water.
As per the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, one's slumber undergo four stages which include REM or the rapid eye movement. As per the academy, the sleep stages repeat chronologically every 90 to 110 minutes. Both stages 1 and 2 are "characterized by a progression from light sleep through a gradual slowing of brain waves." While stage 3 on the other hand is a period of sleep when one goes into a deep slumber. The fourth stage known as the REM is manifested when one's breathing rate would increase and the eyes would rapidly move under the eyelids. It is a stage where most individuals would dream.
In regards to dreaming, a study revealed that dreams are actually good for the health. As per Rubin Naiman, sleep and dream expert on the clinical faculty of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine stated that good dreams contributes to a healthy psychological well being.
"Good dreaming contributes to our psychological well-being by supporting healthy memory, warding off depression, and expanding our ordinary limited consciousness into broader, spiritual realms."
