(Sorry in advance if this gets long)
A typical person goes through a full REM sleep cycle in 90 minutes (this can average +/- ~5-10 minutes a person). With this in mind, it is critical to make sure you plan your sleep schedule to allow yourself to wake up as close to the end of a cycle as possible.

Therefore for most people the best amount of sleep to receive is 4.5 hour, 6 hours, 7.5, or 9.

The next step is to learn how long it takes you to fall a sleep on average. This can average anywhere from 5 minutes to 2-3 hours for some people, so this is really something you'll have to figure out on your own. And this just comes with time, most people have a ballpark idea of how long it takes.

So say it takes you about 30 minutes to fall asleep, and you know you need to get up at 8am. The best times to head to bed would be 10:30pm, Midnight, 1:30am, or 3:00am.

The key to all of this is that it's actually more beneficial to get 7 and a half hours of sleep vs. 8. If you don't hit a sleep cycle well, say you get 8.5 hours of sleep, you will wake up in the middle of a REM cycle and actually be MORE tired vs. getting 6 hours of sleep and hitting the cycle right.

I actually suggest to people if you know you need to get up at 8am, and you look at the clock and it's 12:30am, it's actually MORE beneficial to stay up until 1:30am so you can plan 30 minutes to fall asleep, and then get your 6 hours of sleep.

The great thing about these sleep cycles is it can start working for some people within the first night or two of starting this. Some people don't see improved energy throughout the day for a week or two on the cycle, but the important thing to keep in mind is this is NOT dualistic. And by that i mean, it isn't important to always to doing this, and if you don't plan a sleep cycle for a day or two ( or a week/month) it doesn't set you back at all. If it's sunday afternoon and you want to sleep for 10-11 hours, go for it! Don't worry about always sleeping in 90 minute intervals.

Hopefully I've explained this well, if you are curious about learning more you can always google 90 minute REM cycles, or feel free to send me an e-mail: throwthefuzzy@hotmail.com
I love discussing sleep cycles, lucid dreaming, and human health, so feel free to hit me up anytime. Hope this works well, and you start feeling better.

How much sleep do you get? If you don't sleep enough, why? If you sleep more then 8 hours will you please share your secrets on how you do that?

I generally get about 8 hours of sleep, going to bed at 9:30-10:00 and waking up at 5:45 for school. I usually take about half an hour to fall asleep and I stay in a deep sleep the entire time.

1. Listen to music.
It is really good to listen to calm, relaxing, slow and quiet music while you are sleeping. It helps relax the mind.

2. Meditation.
I dont do this regularly, but there are certain types of meditiation and yoga you can do while sleeping (mostly vocal and concentration exercises that are repetitive and relax your body).

3. Temperature.
I can not sleep in a hot room, especially when after you've taken off all the covers you are still too hot. I sleep with my window open when it is 5 degrees outside. Although that is pretty cold, you can always get more blankets, and it feels much more cozy (plus your not sweating). It is reccomended by sleep doctors that you do this.

Try these, you'll probably get a better sleep.

Thanks, a lot.

Sleep deprivation and/or exhaustion. Physical and emotional exhaustion can induce hallucinations by blurring the line between sleep and wakefulness.

A person who loses one night’s sleep will generally be irritable and clumsy during the next day and will either become tired easily or speed up because of adrenalin. After missing two night’s sleep, a person will have problems concentrating and will begin to make mistakes on normal tasks. Three missed nights and a person will start to hallucinate and lose grasp of reality. Someone who gets just a few hours of sleep each night occurs a large “sleep debt” and can begin to experience many of the same problems over time. A 1997 study found that people whose sleep was restricted to four to five hours per night for one week needed two full nights of sleep to recover performance, alertness and normal mood.

Other short-term consequences include:

* Decreased daytime alertness. Loss of just one and half hours sleep can result in a 32% reduction in daytime alertness.
* Impaired memory and cognitive ability, the ability to think and process information.
* More than double the risk of sustaining an occupational injury.
* Impaired immune system.

Long-term consequences can include the following:

* High blood pressure
* Heart attack
* Heart failure
* Stroke
* Psychiatric problems such as depression and other mood disorders
* Mental impairment
* Increased mortality risk
* Relationship problems with a bed partner
* Obesity - (The link between obesity and sleep is an interesting one as lack of sleep can cause weight gain by increasing hunger and affecting metabolism, and extra weight can cause sleep disorders such as apnea which cause sleep deprivation.)

EDIT: To Ryden's Mama- If you check out the infant section of most stores, they have something called "sleep mits". Some have fasteners and some are just elastic. They keep their little hand toasty, and you can usually find them to fit up to 1yo.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep apnea, and is caused by an obstruction within the airways as a person sleeps.

There may be many reasons why a person suffers from Obstructive Sleep Apnea, and here are some of them:
– Narrow Airways: A person may have narrow airways by nature, which although doesn't affect them by day, as the body relaxes during the night, they tend to close up too much causing a person to wake up fighting for breath.
– Inflammation of the airways: A persons airways may become inflamed for many a reason. Smoking, for one, can cause the upper airways to become inflamed, thus narrower. Infections and scar tissue can also narrow the airways.
– Obesity: An obese person isn't simply obese on the outside, but also the inside, and excessive fat in the throat tissues can cause a person breathing problems, particularly during the relaxed sleep period.

When a person suffers from obstructive sleep apnea, what happens is this: Due to the obstruction within the airways, a persons body will continue trying to draw air into the lungs, but will struggle until the brain, in a desperate attempt to re-open a persons airways, breaks a person out of their deep sleep thus tensing up the airways as in the conscious state to allow a person to draw breath. As a person drifts back into deep sleep and the airways relax and obstruct once more, the same thing happens. This may happen repeatedly throughout the night, thus never allowing a person to enter deep sleep for long periods of time.

The result is a person will wake up feeling drowsy and perhaps have a headache from the lack of oxygen. Whilst a person may know the morning they wake whether they have slept well or not according to how they feel, they may be completely unaware they experienced sporadic stoppages in breathing throughout the night, as it all happens in a sleep-like state.

Not only does a person with obstructive sleep apnea have a much higher risk of being involved in daytime accidents due to the inevitable effects of tiredness, but other health issues can develop over the longer term if this disorder isn't treated. Some of the other health issues are:

-Heart failure: Because the lungs are working harder to surmount the obstruction and draw breath, the heart also has to work harder. The result is much stress is placed on the heart which after a long time may result in the heart failing.

-Increased Risk of Strokes / Heart Attacks: As already mentioned, the heart can become damaged which increases the susceptibility to strokes.

-Irregular Heart Beat

-Weakened Immune System: A person needs deep sleep to recharge their system. Without good sleep, the whole body begins to deteriorate, and this includes your immune system. A weaker immune system increases the risk of contracting viral infections and other infections.

-Type 2 Diabetes: Sleep apnea can lead to the onset of Type 2 Diabetes, where the body becomes resistant to insulin, this not allowing glucose to enter parts of the body to be used as energy.
– High Blood Pressure
– Arterial Disease (Hypertension): Due to prolonged high blood pressure, a person may develop arterial disease.
– Increased Carbon Dioxide in the Blood (Hypercapnia)
– Weight Gain
– Sexual Dysfunction
– Other Mental Problems: A person suffering from a lack of sleep is going to feel bad both physically and emotionally, and this can lead to depression, memory impairment, mood swings and more.

Nicky Pilkington
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/an-overview-of-obstructive-sleep-apnea-52013.html

Technically you are not getting the proper amount of sleep if you need an alarm to wake you up. Your body should wake up naturally on it's own when it is done resting. That is pretty well impossible in the age of appointments and everything being done on time.

Yes you can get too much sleep you will usually just feel tired and kind of "blah" some people (rare occasions) will have trembles from too much sleep.

I personally need 10 hours of sleep. My days are pretty well physically active and my body is usually VERY tired by the end of the day. Since getting more sleep I have also almost rid myself of sleepwalking, which is great because no one likes a naked chick screaming SNAKES OMG SNAKES at 3am 4 times a week.

Try to see how many hours it takes your body to wake naturally and attempt to stay within that range of hours nightly. Good luck!

Several researchers are beginning to espouse the connection between hypnosis and sleep, while others are attempting to use hypnosis to help people sleep. Similar to chemical sleeping aids, hypnosis is said to have the same relaxing effects on the mind and body, allowing people to drift off to sleep quickly and easily.

It is no secret that hypnosis and sleep are related when people are in the trance-like state of hypnosis. After all, most hypnotists tell their subjects they are going to sleep and that their eyelids are getting heavy. However, it is not unusual for a person to experience self-hypnosis and sleep at least a few times during their seemingly waking hours.

For example, driving to or from a familiar destination you may find yourself at the end of your journey with absolutely no recollection of how you reached it. Your mind may have wandered into its own subconscious and while your conscious thoughts may have been on the task at hand, your mind was experiencing hypnosis and sleep in its subconscious.

There are many self-hypnosis options available and some CDs can be played as you attempt to fall asleep. With the hypnosis and sleep CD playing in the background, many are claiming a valid benefit and deeper undisturbed sleep than with medically prescribed sleep aids.

Relax Yourself Into Sleep Mode

Being able to close off conscious thoughts and bring total relaxation to your mind is only part of the process of using hypnosis and sleep aids, as your body also has to be relaxed enough. Usually a slight drop in core body temperature will be realized before going to sleep, with the core temperature slightly lower than that of the extremities. Once a person's mind is totally relaxed, the body typically follows, with deep sleep not far behind.

Listening to a voice telling you about how sleep you are getting and how great it will be to wake up rested, is not the aim of hypnosis and sleep sounds usually available. Rather restful and relaxing sounds are included in a manner and order in which your mind slowly succumbs to the unspoken suggestion that you are going to go to sleep.

Typically, the hypnosis and sleep recording will last just until the person is on the verge of sleep and then end, allowing them to fall into a restful sleep, waking up rested and having much more energy. However as this varies greatly from person to person, the specific time can be anywhere from a couple of minutes to an hour and even more. Typically around 20 minutes is sufficient.

Dane Bergen
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/hypnosis-and-sleep-may-be-closely-related-114144.html