Your sleep cycle includes light, slow-wave, deep, and REM sleep, which repeat throughout the night. To get restful sleep, you need to spend the right amount of time in each stage of the sleep cycle.

Medically reviewed by Sanja Jelic, MD Key Takeaways The sleep cycle has three NREM stages and one REM stage.Deep sleep occurs in stage 3 and is crucial for feeling refreshed.REM sleep helps in ...

Ever wonder why some mornings you wake up ready to go, and others you feel like a zombie? The difference often comes down to when you wake up during your sleep cycle, and that’s exactly what a sleep ...

Sleeping for 7 to 9 hours at night isn't the only way to catch some z's. Here are four alternative sleep cycles -- and they're pretty obscure. Annie Miller Medical Reviewer Annie Miller is a licensed ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Dr. Judy Stone focuses her writing on infectious diseases. While women are said to sleep a bit longer than men, their sleep ...

The internet claims waking at the end of a sleep cycle will leave you refreshed, but experts aren’t convinced. By Clarissa Brincat Published Sep 9, 2025 9:00 AM EDT Image: DepositPhotos Get the ...

We’ve all been there — dragging ourselves out of bed feeling like we’ve been hit by a truck despite getting a full night’s sleep. The alarm blares, and you wonder how eight hours of rest could ...

Your brain cycles through several stages during sleep, and REM sleep might be the most critical. This mysterious phase, where dreams unfold and memories solidify, accounts for roughly a quarter of ...