If you’re trying to form better sleeping habits, then you probably already know that seven to nine hours of rest is the minimum amount required for a good night’s rest. While the quantity of sleep you’re getting every night is important, it’s equally important to get the best quality of sleep you can to reap as many health benefits as you can. Deep sleep is integral to a healthy rest cycle, and it’s the phase of sleep that’s crucial for memory consolidation and dreaming as well.

So how do you make sure you’re getting the right amount of rest each night, and that you’re not skimping out on deep sleep? From optimizing your sleep set up to practicing healthy sleep hygiene tips every night, here are our top tips for getting better sleep every night -

What Is Deep Sleep?

Deep sleep, also known as slow wave sleep, is a phase of your rest cycle in which your breathing, heartbeat, body temperature, and brain waves all slow down to their lowest points. This phase of sleep is hard to be interrupted during, and your muscles also stay extremely relaxed.

The sleep you get every night can be divided into two broad categories - non-REM sleep, which deep sleep falls under, and REM sleep, which is when the body engages in a dream state. Your body goes through a wide range of changes during REM sleep - this is when your muscles and brain waves slow down, but you do show some short bursts of activity from time to time.

The Different Stages Of Sleep

When it comes to your sleep cycle, stages 3 and 4 are popularly considered your ‘deep sleep’ phases.

The first three sleep stages are usually categorized as ‘light sleep’. During these first three stages, you’re going to find yourself able to move through a state of wakeness to a slower, steadier sleep.

When you’re sleeping through stages 3 and 4, on the other hand, your physiological functions slow down to their lowest levels. It’s hardest to wake a person up during this stage of sleep. Stage 4 is also popularly called the ‘healing phase’ by sleep experts. This is because, during this time, your body begins to repair and grow tissue, your hormones begin to self-regulate, and your energy remains restored.

Finally, REM sleep, sometimes called ‘stage 5’, is when the body begins to dream.

How Much Deep Sleep Is Enough?

In most adults, deep sleep consists of about only 13-23% of your sleep cycle. If you sleep for the recommended amount of eight hours each night, you’ll find that only about an hour to half an hour of your total sleep belongs to your deep sleep cycle.

Deep sleep also shortens with age. Since deep sleep is such a vital aspect of a good night’s rest, it’s important to try and make sure you do get at least eight hours a night, for the sake of better quality recovery from your day.

What Are The Benefits Of Deep Sleep?

One of the most important benefits of deep sleep is it plays a crucial role in memory consolidation. This is important because when our brain is exposed to as many stimuli as it is in a day, it needs time to process and ingest what has taken place. This is also why the importance of deep sleep is most commonly emphasized in young children.

Deep sleep is also very important in the formation of learning and emotional processing. For athletes, deep sleep is when physical recovery most often occurs, making it especially important for better performance and improvement in general.

Finally, our bodies’ immune systems are usually strengthened by a good amount of deep sleep. Since the brain is able to spend the bulk of its time processing information, deep sleep is crucial to the formation of a good night’s rest.

How To Make Sure You Get Enough Deep Sleep

One of the most important ways to get a good night’s sleep with sufficient deep sleep is to look after your sleep hygiene. Here are some top tips for getting sufficient deep sleep -

• Find the most comfortable mattress for your rest - part of how you can ensure getting a good night’s sleep is by finding the best mattress you can for your sleep. The Puffy Mattress is a great example of a comfortable night’s sleep that allows you to recover and rest for the night. One of the best things about the Puffy Mattress is its adaptability to any kind of sleeper - one of the key things to keep your eyes out for something that suits both you and your partner if you sleep with one.
• Make sure other aspects of your sleep set-up are just as cozy - The Puffy weighted blanket is a great example of a tool that can help lull you into a deeper state of sleep. When it comes to getting a Puffy Blanket, try and think of any of the key pain points in your sleep routine before getting a good night’s sleep.
• Optimize your sleep hygiene for better rest - Other sleep habits that can improve your rest include a bedtime routine that works to calm you down. Your bedtime routine might include taking a warm shower before bed, reading as an alternative to scrolling through your newsfeed, and eating healthier foods before you go to sleep at night. Sleep hygiene is a process, so be sure to switch it up from time to time to see what’s most effective for you.

The right amount of deep sleep remains a crucial part of looking after yourself and maintaining a strong sense of well-being at night. Whether it’s by investing in a Puffy Mattress for better rest, or simply coming up with a bedtime routine that makes sense for you, there are a ton of ways you can improve your sleep cycle.