You get a full night’s sleep but still wake up feeling groggy, while a short nap leaves you feeling refreshed. Ever wondered why? It could be because your sleep schedule is disrupting your body’s natural rhythm, either by going to bed at the wrong time or waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle.
It’s not just about going to bed earlier; it’s about syncing your sleep schedule with your body’s natural sleep cycle, suggests Dr. Charles Puza, a New York City dermatologist who shares sleep tips on Instagram.
“Ever wake up from 8+ hours of sleep and still feel groggy? It’s because you’re going to bed and waking up at the wrong time. You should be timing your sleep to align with natural sleep cycles of around 90 minutes,” Dr. Puza wrote in a recent Instagram post.
While getting eight hours of sleep is important, researchers also suggest that the timing of your bedtime and waking up after completing natural sleep cycles are key to feeling truly rested.
Natural sleep cycles last around 90 minutes, and throughout a typical night’s sleep of 7.5 hours, we go through about five full cycles. Each cycle includes different stages, from light sleep to deep rest. To feel refreshed after a night’s sleep, a person needs to have complete undisturbed stages of these cycles.
However, when you go to bed late and depend on an alarm to wake up at a set time, you might be interrupting the cycles, preventing you from reaching deep sleep stages, essential for feeling truly rested. This disruption results in fragmented sleep, which has been linked to a range of negative effects, from increased stress and mood swings to poor overall health and well-being.
To avoid this, it’s crucial to understand your body’s ideal bedtime that aligns with the natural sleep cycle. Dr. Puza offers a simple formula for those looking to get a restful night’s sleep:
“You need to decide if you need five cycles or six cycles of sleep overnight. Factor in about 15 minutes to fall asleep,” he said.
For those wanting five cycles need to simply subtract 7h45m others or 9h15m from your wake-up time to find your ideal bedtime.
