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FIVE STAGES OF A DREAM
(NREM)
The first stage is a transition state between
wakefulness and sleep. This is the stage that
hypnagogic imagery occurs in. It usually passes
into stage 2 within a few minutes.
(NREM)
During stage 2, the body gradually shuts down,
and brain waves become larger.
(NREM)
Stage 3 usually occurs 30 to 45 minutes after
falling asleep the first time. Large, slow delta
brain waves are generated.
(NREM)
Stage 4 is often called “deep sleep” or “delta
sleep”. The heart beats the slowest and there is
the least brain activity. It is during this
stage that sleepwalking usually occurs.
After
stage 4, the NREM stages reverse and move back
to stage 2, and then into REM sleep.
(REM)
During REM sleep, some parts of the brain are
nearly as active as while awake. In this stage,
your eyes flicker rapidly (hence the acronym
Rapid Eye Movement). Your body is paralyzed,
probably to prevent you from acting out your
dreams.
After the REM state, you sometimes wake briefly.
This is usually forgotten by the time you wake
up in the morning. If you don't wake up, you go
to stage 2.
”I never dream anyway.”
You do, actually — you simply don’t remember any
of your dreams. In the next chapter, you will
find out how to improve your dream recall.
Why do we dream? What do dreams mean?
The various hypotheses for this are detailed in
the dream recall section.
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