Is there an exact moment we fall asleep?
In: Biology
Not really. Sleep involves several stages.
Stage “0” is when you are fully awake but beginning to calm down and prepare for sleep. Your brain begins to switch from fast beta brain waves to slower alpha waves. Your breathing and heart rate slow down. This is when you may experience *myoclonic jerk* which is that sudden feeling that you’re falling and jerk awake.
Stage 1: your brain begins producing theta waves which are longer and slower than alpha. This is when you can be said to begin transitioning into sleep. If you wake up during this stage, though, you may not feel as if you were ever asleep. This takes about 5 to 10 minutes.
Stage 2: Your breathing and heart rate slow more and become rhythmic. Your body temperature drops. You become unaware of yourself and your surroundings. This lasts for about 20 minutes and can be up to 50% of your total sleep time.
Stage 3: This is the deepest part of your sleep. Your brain is very slow and inactive. You are generally totally unaware of your surroundings and even stimuli that would wake you up in other stages won’t wake you.
REM sleep: This is when you dream. Your brain is very active.
Transitioning between the stages is like walking into the ocean: the water slowly overtakes you while waves occasionally wash over you. There’s no one moment when you are in the water, only moving more into it. Likewise, sleep slowly overtakes you with increasing waves. There aren’t distinct transitions even between stages, just blurred moments when you are sort of in one and sort of in the other and then more in one and then totally in one.
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