Have you ever asked yourself, “What happens to my body when I dream?”
Well, you’re not alone.
Now, it’s time to get some answers.
According to theInternational Association for the Study of Dreams, everyone dreams even if they don’t remember it.
Dreaming is a natural part of sleeping.
So maybe instead of asking, “What happens to my body when I dream?”
you should be asking, “What happens to my body when I sleep?”
Dreams and sleep go hand in hand.
And it turns out, our bodies do a lot while we’re doing both.
You twitch
There are phases to falling asleep.
During the first phase, you’re somewhere between awake and asleep, according theThe National Sleep Foundation.
Your eyes start to move back and forth, as your body prepares for a good night’s rest.
Even though your muscles are relaxing, you might experience a twitch otherwise called ahypnic jerk.
You might be saying, “No, I’ve never experienced that!”
Don’t be so sure.
Have you ever felt like you were falling while you slept?
Well, that’s a hypnic jerk.
It can result in eye twitching, jerks or even that scary falling feeling.
Your body temperature drops, and you lose a sense of your surroundings.
Have you ever felt disorientated, or confused right before falling asleep?
Most likely, you were in this phase.
This is the start of your deep sleep.
So basically, your body is healing itself while you start to wander off to dreamland.
During REM, your brain is active and your eyes are moving.
Yes, you read that right your eyes are actually moving underneath your eyelids.
How crazy is that?
So, go ahead and thank REM cycle for those pesky little nightmares you have sometimes.
Well it turns out, that paralyzing feeling is because of REM.
So, for the most part, when you dream your body remains very very still.
Your brain thinks
Your brain doesn’t actually sleep when you do.
On the contrary, your brain is wide awake.
It’s making decisions and processing information, all while you’re fast asleep.
A recent study, published in the journalCurrent Biology, helped prove this idea.
Participants were given verbal words to categorize.
They were asked to press a left or right button for each word.
Left, words that referred to animals.
Right, words that referred to objects.
At first, participants were awake.
It wasn’t until they fell asleep that researchers saw their brains still categorizing the words they heard.
Of course, the participants weren’t actually pressing a button they were asleep.
However, their brains weren’t.
So, in case you ever wondered if your brain shut down when you do it doesn’t.
In other words, you’re relaxed.
Well, even though your body feels rested, your heart is still going…quite fast, actually.
According toSleep and Health Journal, your heart rate can actually speed up while you sleep.
When you’re awake, if your breathing increases, your heart rate increases.
But when you’re asleep, it’s the opposite.
If you breathing decreases, your heart rate might increase and vice versa.
You’re getting therapy
When you dream, your body is relaxed.
But like we learned, your mind is still active.
What’s your mind active doing while you dream?
Helping you fix your emotional problems, of course.
Memories are used in dreams.
Sometimes, the images you see in your dreams are familiar in a way.
For example, maybe you have a problem with flying.
Your might dream about being in the air.
Basically, your dreams are a way of working out any negative thought or emotional distress you might have.
You’re basically getting therapy, but for free.
Who would’ve known our bodies do so much for us while we’re sleeping?
Go ahead and thank your body right now, it truly does have your back!
