Do you catch heavy Zzz’z or stay up all night when it comes to sleep? Do you lose, or do you snooze? If you’ve ever had to share a bedroom with someone, you’re probably aware of the fact that some individuals can sleep so deeply that you could essentially blast the radio at full blast, and they probably wouldn’t even stir, whereas others require the perfect cocktail of silence, darkness, and temperature to keep them asleep.
Disturb the balance and BAM -- it’s wakey-wakey time and a full night of turning, tossing, and shuffling. You may even swap between both modes in a single lifetime or even in a single week. But what exactly makes someone a heavy sleeper or a light sleeper?
Turns out, the answer is a bit complicated (ugh, thanks, science). Sleep -- like most other facets of human life -- involves a lot of different factors. Assuming everyone has a relatively healthy lifestyle, there is individual variation. So even after ruling out differences in lifestyle -- activity, substance abuse, diet, even how late we like to stay up binging all of Friends every other week -- as well as disorders like sleep apnea and insomnia, our sleep habits can still vary immensely.
So, how does one become a heavier sleeper, you ask? We’ll tell you.
But First, What Is “Deep Sleep” Anyway?
We all go through cycles of lighter and deeper sleep every single night, so the difference between a light sleeper and a heavy one may affect the amount of time a person spends in certain phases of their sleep cycle. No one is 100 percent a light sleeper or 100 percent a deep sleeper.
As you may recall from high-school biology, there are four stages of sleep that we cycle through each night, from the lightest (falling asleep) to the deepest, wherein the body repairs and strengthens the brain, immune system, and muscles. After each cycle, we enter REM (a.k.a. Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is where dreams happen. We know, we know, you’ve probably been told that Disneyland is, in fact, where dreams happen, but we’ve got news for you -- REM is cheaper. And you get to hit it up every night, multiple times.
The NREM (a.k.a. Non-Rapid Eye Movement) stages leading up to REM take about ninety minutes, and each REM period lasts just a bit longer than the previous one -- usually up to sixty minutes by the final REM stage of the night. REM is technically the lightest kind of sleep -- closest to waking. So if an individual spends a whole lot of time stuck here, they are going to be easily roused from their slumber.
Like Many Things, Sleep Is Easier When You’re a Kid
The deepest stages of sleep are collectively known as Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS) and are common when you’re very young. The large amounts of SWS in early life likely account for the deep sleep state that young individuals experience.
This may explain (in part) why when you were a tiny tot, your loved ones may have been able to carry you from the car to your bed without you ever knowing. But as an adult, even the slightest jostle, snore, or night-time fart from your S.O. might pull you right out of that dream you were enjoying.
Needless to say, we aren’t in SWS-town anymore, Dorothy!
Other Factors -- Including Lifestyle -- Play a Part
Let’s just be real here: You’re going to have much more of a difficult time drifting off to dreamland at the end of a caffeine bender than after twenty solid minutes of meditation and a good read. But it’s not only your lifestyle choices that affect your ability to tally up the sheep.
Metabolism, genetics, and sex also likely determine how deeply a person sleeps. Multiple studies have found that females tend to preserve their SWS better than men. However, there is an overall decline in SWS as we get older, but more so in males.
Hormones and other vital brain functions are also part of the sleep/waking cycle, including systems that specifically keep you from waking up. And when you’re up, sleep-promoting substances accumulate in your noggin -- essentially getting you more and more ready to go to snoozeville the longer you stay awake. Long days feel exhausting for a reason -- your body knows you need a break.
Your environment factors into your sleep quality too. For instance, if you are in a blistering hot room, it can greatly affect your sleep. While sleep experts recommend a dark, quiet, and cool environment for sleeping, many of us already know how we sleep best -- even when that means having music or a nightlight on.
You see, if someone is already habituated to something, they go to sleep when they are sleepy and wake up when they are ready to start the day, and if it doesn’t really interfere with their functioning, it’s truly not going to be much of a problem. So if you are used to sleeping with sound or noise in your sleep environment, and it doesn’t seem to be negatively impacting your sleep quality -- there is probably no harm in it.
This is most likely part-habituation and part-idiosyncratic -- no one really understands exactly why one light/noise environment works better for some people than others, except that you generally sleep best with whatever you are used to.
Tips to Sleep More Deeply
Now that you understand why some people are light sleepers while others are heavy sleepers, let’s explore some of the best tips to snooze more deeply.
Establish A Sleep Schedule
Waking up and hitting the hay at the same time every day will maintain your body’s internal clock -- a.k.a., circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is a 24-hour biological process that controls your sleep-wake cycle.
If you rise and rest around the same time each and every day, your circadian rhythm will quickly adapt to promote wakefulness and sleepiness at the appropriate time. When establishing our sleep schedule, be sure to allocate at least thirty minutes to fall asleep.
Maintain a Comfy-Cozy Room Temp
Believe it or not, decreases in body temperature lead to sleepiness while increases in temperature promote alertness. This process is called thermoregulation and is part of our circadian rhythm or internal body clock. Before drifting off to dreamland, your body temp needs to drop. However, if your bedroom is too hot, your body may struggle to cool off, ultimately preventing you from getting any rest. Sleep experts suggest keeping your room temp at 60-67 degrees to promote thermoregulation.
If you’re an especially hot or sweaty-sleeper, consider getting a quality mattress like the ones from Big Fig made with cooling technology to keep your body super-cool as you snooze. The THERMOGEL COOLING ® treated fabric helps lower body temperature for an actively cool sleeping experience.
Block Out External Stimuli
Eye masks or blackout curtains can shut out disrupting light while noise mufflers will suppress any loud noises -- yes, even your partner’s monstrous snores.
Evaluate The Quality Of Your Mattress
If you find yourself constantly waking from discomfort, it may be time to invest in a top-notch, good-quality mattress. A poor or unsupportive mattress unfit to meet the needs of your unique (and beautiful!) body type as well as sleeping position can cause frequent tossing and turning from body pain, resulting in poor quality sleep.
Check out the mattresses from Big Fig -- designed to support your full-figured frame and curves while providing undeniable comfort. Made to last for at least twenty years of sleep, these amazing mattresses will cradle and support your body without that sinking feeling found in other mattresses.
Plus, you know how sometimes you wake up every single time your partner shifts in their sleep, or (heaven forbid) gets up to go to the bathroom? Well, Big Fig features motion isolation so you won’t feel your partner moving even if they’re jumping up and down on the mattress like a lunatic (okay, maybe you’d notice that, but still).
Keep Electronics Out Of Your Bedroom
Blue light radiates from computers, T.V.s, and phone screens. Blue wavelengths are useful during the day because they enhance mood, alertness, and reaction time. However, they are harmful at night. According to research, blue light can suppress melatonin production -- a powerful hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle.
Bottom Line
If you’re a light sleeper and looking to snooze a little more soundly, start with our tips and tricks listed above. Whether you decide to establish an effective sleep schedule or get yourself a quality Big Fig Mattress, you’ll be on your way to heavier sleep in no time!
Sources:
Stages of Sleep: REM and Non-REM Sleep Cycles | WebMD
