How to Look Taller

How to Flatter Any figure

- Go with patterns. They flatter every figure, but make sure they’re proportional to your body type. Petites should wear smaller ones to avoid feeling engulfed by the print.

- Everyone can benefit from a fitted blazer. They hide the tummy and bisect your bottom.

- Consider mono-chromatic colors. Long, lean lines from head to toe always look great.

- Nude heels are a must. They elongate your legs, and neutral tones are really hot this season.

- Use accessories for visual distraction. They not only draw attention to your assets but also create visual distractions to draw the eye away from your problem areas. For example, stacking bangles help make arms look more toned.

- Maxi-dresses are shockingly flattering for all body types, even petites. Just make sure it’s hemmed properly for the right length.

- If you’re really busty, keep things simple and clean on top. Show a little skin to avoid looking like a mono-loop. If you’re less endowed, add embellishments on top. This will help balance your frame.

How to Boost Your Bust

- For a special day or evening out, you may want to add a little cleavage to your ensemble. The key element, of course, is the bra.  A bra with chest-boosting memory foam will instantly increase your chest by two cup sizes. Also, even if you have ample cleavage, the key to looking your best is wearing a bra that fits correctly. Remember to swap out your bras every six months.

- Wear a top or blouse that creates visual volume by using ruffles or an asymmetrical detailing and a vibrant color.

Get the Look: Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Pushup Bra, $52; victoriassecret.com, H&M plunging v-neck dress, $34.95; hm.com

How to Look Taller

- Avoid the super trendy ¾-length skirt. Sure, it’s been a huge trend this spring and summer, but the look won’t help anyone appear longer.  On a shorter person, it tends to cut your legs off and make you look stumpy. Instead, try a monochromatic colored dress. It’s visually slimming and lengthening, and you can add a pair of heels for an added lift.

Get  the Look: Blue asymmetrical dress, $49.99; tjmaxx.com, silver peep-toe platforms, $39.99; tjmaxx.com

How to Look Slimmer

- Avoid jeans with lots of details. Techniques like whiskering, stonewashing and fading are used to make jeans look worn, but if they fall in the wrong places, they can make your thighs and hips look wider and your stomach bigger.

- Look for jeans that have built-in slimming properties and  stretch. Also make sure the right rise is the right length to cover the tummy. Add a fun top and accessories because when you look slim below, you can add volume  above.

How to Care Your a Dress

With proper care, custom dress shirts can last many years, so please follow the care instructions provided below. We recommend a wash and press before your first wear.
Option #1: Professional Laundry

Your local dry cleaner is a great option. It will result in minimal shrinkage and keep the ironing board in the closet. However, this is not “dry cleaning” as the cleaner will use water and detergent unless you specifically request dry cleaning for the shirt. We don’t recommend actual dry cleaning unless your shirt has an oil-based stain.
Option #2: Wash at Home

We recommend a cold water wash for darker fabrics, but warm or hot water is okay for white shirts or lighter colors. To minimize shrinking, we recommend letting your shirt air dry on a sturdy hanger. If you do use a dryer, we recommend low heat and you should remove the shirt while it is still damp. Regardless of which option you choose, it’s best to iron the shirt while it is still damp. It makes ironing easier and keeps shrinkage to a minimum.
Other Important Tips

    Remove collar stays before washing or ironing
    Pre-treat or alert your cleaner to stains
    Hang your shirt on a wooden hanger when it’s not being worn

How to Choose a Belt for Every Look

Both functional and stylish, belts do so much for your wardrobe. You can wear a belt simply to help your pants fit or you can wear fashion belts as accessories to your outfit. Most people will have both types of belts to fit the different styles of clothing in their closets. Pairing the right belt with an ensemble can be difficult sometimes, but the following tips can help you choose a belt for every look.
Accessorizing with Belts:

    Dressy and professional: When you need to look sharp, a refined leather belt is always best. Men and women alike should always choose a traditional leather belt for the office or other business and for dressy occasions. Black leather belts as well as brown leather belts are always classic. This doesn't mean you can't have some variety, however. Look for men's belts and women's belts with matte, shiny and croc-embossed finishes to complement your business wardrobe.

    Classic casual: If you're going for an easy, classic look for your casual wardrobe, stick with classic belt styles. Black and brown leather always work well, and you can mix things up with a red belt or worn leather looks. Women's belts with rhinestone or stud detailing add a little dazzle to your casual ensemble, and men's belts with unique belt buckles can also draw attention to your accessory.

    Contemporary urban: Hype up your urban outfit with a look both men and women can pull off. Add a splash of color with a brightly colored or metallic leather belt. Graphic-printed belts and bright studded belts will amp up your contemporary look as well. Choose a belt that accentuates your ensemble rather than one that overwhelms it. If you choose a bright belt, downplay the rest of your clothing.

    Feminine accents: Women's belts can be as fashionable as they are functional, acting as accents or accessories to a certain outfit. Try a skinny braided belt worn high around your waist over a cardigan and T-shirt or a wide beaded belt slung low around your hips. A wide belt cinched around your waist can give a favorite dress a new look as well. You can even find fun fabric belts and sashes to highlight your wardrobe.

    Western: Belts are an important part of the western look. From belt buckles to highly detailed leather embossing, western belts are often the most decorative part of a western outfit. To get your own western look, choose a leather belt with western-style detailing and a large, decorative buckle.

Simple Way to Care Your Body

When we’re stressed, we take time out to breathe and think happy thoughts but what do we do for our bodies? Maybe we sometimes forget about that part–I know I do. So what can we do for our bodies alone when things are getting tough?

1. Take time for exercise.

I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of this one because physical activity actually compounds the problems I experience with my body. But occasionally, when my joints aren’t screaming, I make sure that I keep my limbs limber by going for a gentle walk.

I’m slowly working my way towards practicing some basic yoga, too, but I’m having to take my time with that ambition.

This is the point of exercising your body–only do what your body can manage if you’re struggling as there’s no point in making things harder. Even a little activity can have a huge impact.

2. Make sleep a priority.

If you’re tired, even if you feel that you need to get more done, give yourself permission to sleep. I ignored this simple notion for nearly a year when I first started feeling unwell. Now that I embrace it, my body thanks me for it. (You can read 9 tips to get better sleep here).

Admittedly my condition keeps rest and sleep from being as refreshing as they might be for other people, but it still makes a difference. It stops me from doing further damage.

3. Eat well and savor it.

We’re encouraged to be increasingly mindful of what we eat nowadays and for good reason considering the state of the food we consume. I’d like to encourage you however, to turn your attention inwards for a moment and think about eating as more than a bland necessity or ethical conundrum. Food is fuel, and we need it to function optimally

Eating well means feeding your body what it needs in the most natural way you can manage and afford. Changing how you eat doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing thing. Maybe you could add just an extra bit of fruit a day or swap a cup of coffee for a glass of water instead.

Relish the food you eat too, and take your time. Paying attention to flavors, textures, and smells, even the mechanical act of eating, can soothe our bodies and reawaken us to the sensations of being alive. How long has it been since you’ve recognized your body like this?

4. Listen to pain.

When something hurts, something somewhere has gone wrong, and your body is trying to tell you that. We often pay no attention to pain unless it becomes unbearable: that tooth ache isn’t so bad, it can wait for a while; the sharp tugging in my shoulder is a result of repetitive strain but it usually goes by the time I’m home, so no need to worry.

These things, no matter how small, shouldn’t be brushed aside because they represent damage to our bodies. Ignore them and they could come back to haunt you later.

5. Slow down.

Because I’m still clinging on to the self that existed before I was feeling so rubbish, I tend to think I’m untouchable. I end up taking on way too much and then running around like a maniac. I can probably manage about two days of this sort of activity before I collapse and end up in bed.

If you’re likely to do the same as me then I won’t be surprised if you scoff at the suggestion that you slow down. We all have so much to do and so little time to do it in and you want me to slow down? Who has time for that?

Rephrase the question: who doesn’t have time for that? The answer: our bodies.

If we squeeze every second out of our day at record speed, our flesh, bones, muscles, organs–the whole lot–will eventually suffer.

Since accepting my physical condition, I’ve become a slow life advocate. I have to live slowly for the sake of my body and you know what? I quite like it!

I like that I only ever sit and write for two, maybe three hours tops, for a day. I like that I take whole days off to give my body time to recover.

Our bodies are precious, so why do we neglect them on such basic levels so often? A serene mind really is nothing without a healthy body to carry it. So take an hour–yes an hour!–out of your day a few times a week to care for it. Sleep, eat, rest, get a massage. Wind things down. Pay attention.

Show your body the same compassion that you endeavor to show everyone. It needs it just as much.

How to Have the Best Body and Looks

Do you want to have a great body? Do you want to have looks that will make you totally popular? Then you have come to the right place. Read all of these tips, and you will look the best in no time! Have fun reading, and enjoy your new body and looks!

Exercise daily. When you are young, just work on your core, and legs. If you are in middle school or in older grades, then you can work on your arms too. This is a workout that is great for everybody of each age. If you are in grade school or younger, then just don't do the arm workouts! When you start out, do 50 crunches, and go pretty high. Then put your legs to the side, and do 25 side crunches on each side. Then, do 50 bicycle crunches. After doing that, do a set of 30 pushups, 20, and then 10 pushups. Then stretch out, and do that one more time. To work your legs, if you have an exercise ball, use that to work your legs. Otherwise, just jump up and down as high as possible. Do at least 100 of those. Next, for arms, do weights and on each arm, do 50 ups and downs.

Eat healthy. For breakfast, have an example of toast, with little butter or peanut butter, and to drink have a glass of water, or milk. Also, consider a fruit smoothie, but only have about one small glass of it. Next, for lunch, have some water, a sandwich with meat, or a salad, with carrots and little dressing. If you want something else, get a bag of almonds, or nuts. If you want dessert, then get a very small amount of something like cookies. For a small snack after school, have a lot of water, and a special K bar. They have few calories, and are delicious. For dinner have some meat, veggies, and fruit. Have milk, and water too!! When you go to bed, do not eat much, have a glass of warm milk, and maybe a handful of nuts. Try to avoid having a big snack before bed.

Practice good health hygiene. Try to wash your body everyday, and to get everywhere. Also, get your hair washed very well, and use a conditioner and shampoo.

Wear comfortable clothing.

Make yourself beautiful from inside. Be happy, content, positive and friendly. Your inner beauty will make your outer self glow!

How to choose wedding hair accessories

How to choose wedding hair accessories

You can picture yourself in your dream dress holding those flowers you’ve always imagined walking up the aisle... But what are you wearing in your hair?

Wedding hair accessories are often left to the last minute to purchase, but are a vital part of your entire bridal look. From a traditional veil to an avant-garde hair piece, there are so many option out there it is hard to choose your perfect accessories. Here are some tips to help you finish your look for your big day.

Working with your dress and jewellery

When choosing hair accessories for your wedding it is important to take into account how they will look with your dress and any other accessories you already have.

• If you have a lot of beading and embellishments on the top of your gown, try a simple necklace or no necklace, with a beaded hair piece to complement your gown.
• If your gown has beading and embellishments around your waist or hips, try a more elaborate necklace with either a collection of beaded hair pins or a fabric flower that matches your gown fabric.
• If you have a bit of colour in your gown, bring out that colour by wearing a coloured hair piece or beaded pins.

Veil or no veil?

The traditional wedding veil is a timeless classic, but many contemporary brides are choosing alternatives to veils, or trying newer styles of veils.

• If you have always imagined wearing a veil on your wedding day, remember there are heaps of exciting options. Veils can be made in more than just white. Or try going vintage, with a box veil or face veil.
• If you wear a veil, you can also wear other hair accessories. A great combination can be beaded hair pins worn in front of your veil and through-out your hair.
• Remember, you probably won’t wear your veil all day, so think about how you want your hair to look without your veil in it. You can always have a complementary beaded hair comb in your handbag, and swap it in when you remove your veil.

What works with what?

When buying hair accessories keep in mind what colour your hair is and how you want to wear it on the day.

• Up or down? If you are choosing to wear your hair out, don’t think that this means you can’t have hair accessories; a beaded comb to hold back a fringe, or some hair pins that suspend pearls or crystals down through your hair. If you hair is up, try placing 10 or 20 small pearls or crystals throughout your hair for that subtle glamour, or wrap a gorgeous hair vine around your hair.
• Combinations: Be bold by combining two different hair accessories. A hair band, vine or tiara with scattered single beaded hair pins, or a hair comb with complementary fancy hair pins.

What’s hot?

This season wow your wedding guests with the hottest hair accessories. Hair accessory trends for 2009 are:

• Hair Vines – A great alternative to a tiara, a hair vine can be worn at the front, side or back and can be woven into or around your up-do or out-do.
• Vintage – Box veils and face veils. Think finger curls and feather combs.
• Pearls – The classic pearl is back, and don’t just think it can be worn around your neck. Try individual pearls scattered throughout your hair or a Pearl Comb or Headband for that classic glamour.

Keep Healty with Low Colestrol

In this age where fast food houses are just around the corner, trying to stick to a nutritious diet is becoming more and more of a challenge. A hectic schedule is the usual excuse for not being able to prepare a homemade meal. This is also why people usually rely on store-bought calorie-laden food. What’s ironic is that is takes just as little effort to produce a healthy snack than it does to buy junk food, maybe even less.
People who are concerned about longevity health tend to pay more attention to the food that they eat. And they’ve found out that it really pays to cut down on their cholesterol intake.

 They’ve lost weight, they feel lighter on their feet, and the usual complaints like heartburn, backaches and joint pains are a thing of the past. What’s more, eating a healthy diet clears up their complexion, making them appear more youthful.

Eating healthy food is sometimes just a matter of buying the right kind of food. Instead of stocking up on chips and dips, why not buy a basket of fresh fruit? You can just get an apple from your ref and have an instant snack. Grapes and strawberries are equally delicious, yet they require no preparation time. And they’re cholesterol-free to boot.

If you bought whole wheat bread, tuna and lettuce, you can have a healthy sandwich for your lunch at the office instead of having to order a greasy burger and some even greasier fries. Of course, you’ll have to spend a few extra minutes to maintain a healthy diet. But should you begrudge those measly few minutes in your daily lives if your longevity health is at stake?

If your concern is that you might get tired of eating the same thing over and over, then rest assured that there is a wide variety of healthy food to choose from. Let us talk about low-cholesterol snacks, for example. Aside from the number of fruits that you can have for your snacks, you can also cut up some vegetables like carrots or cucumber to have some crunchy vegetable sticks. You may eat them plain or with some non-fat dips. Cereals are very filling but are cholesterol free.

Popcorns are also low in cholesterol so long as you don’t smother it in butter. Nuts, like walnuts, cashew and almond, have the added benefit of lowering high cholesterol levels in our body. Consumption should be limited though, since nuts have high calorie content. You might also want to try yoghurts or low-fat crackers or some toasts.

With the variety of low cholesterol snacks that you can choose from, you can cater to your longevity health without feeling deprived.

Photo credit: optimallifefitness.com
article: looplane

Choose The Right Accessory to every Event

The hair is the crowning glory of every woman. So women take a lot of effort to make their hair look lovely. Aside from using hair cosmetics and hair products, they also wear fashion hair accessories to make hair even more beautiful. Fashion hair accessories are considered one of the necessary fashion accessories among all women. This kind of accessories is used by women according to their style and occasion. It is very important to select the perfect hair accessories so here are some tips on how to choose the appropriate one for a fabulous and perfect look.

Select Fashion Hair Accessories Appropriate to Occasion

Choosing the perfect hair accessories must depend on the event you will be attending. For example, if you are in corporate meeting, conference, or other formal gatherings, it doesn’t look good if your hair is pinned with glittering accessories. What suits the occasion are just those simple and plain hair accessories.

Formal Occasions

Corporate meeting, conference and forums are some of examples of formal occasions. Attending such requires you to look sophisticated and of course, formal. Don’t overload you hair with too much hair accessories, it is better if you only pin as little as possible. Choose plain and simple ones preferably dark colors which look formal. Even a simple hair clip with classy features will make you look perfect during the event.
Social Occasions

Social Occasions such as meeting with relatives or friends doesn’t require you much effort on choosing the right hair accessories. Just be casual as you can. You can wear a simple headband or hair clips that also fashionable. Just remember to match the color with your outfit.
Workplace

Aside from considering the fashion in choosing the appropriate hair accessories to wear in your workplace, also take into account those which will not bother you or anyone else in the workstation. Do not wear such that will catch others unwanted attention yet you also should not wear too simple accessories that will make you look boring. Since you are in your work place, choose hair accessories that will keep your hair out of your face to avoid distractions. Also choose one that matches your hair color for complementation.

Select Fashion Hair Accessories According to Outfit and Personality

What hair accessories you are wearing should complement your attire but this doesn’t have to mean that you choose hair accessories with same colors and features over and over again. A long hair in a stylish bun with some decorative hair accessories such as beaded or rhinestone hair clips will suit an evening gown. A ponytailed hair using scrunchies will complement casual attires. Aside from the outfit, also consider your features when choosing the right hair accessories. Sublte hairpins and barettes and not thick headbands or head wraps are suggested for a petite face.

Photo credit: fashionandhappify.info
article : looplane

Promo Augustus on Dwira Fashion

Shopping at DwiraFashion and get many benefit on there... If you are shopping with the nominal 100.000 IDR and you will get one free novel with the title Simpul Terujung. The good book for company your day.

See, find your hair style on Dwira Fashion and get the elegant and fancy style there. Even you can request the hair accessory you would love too. Like a few customer they want to have different accessory to improve their style when they hang out with friends or attend to party.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Sleep Cycles & Stages, Lack of Sleep, and How to Get the Hours You Need

When you’re scrambling to meet the countless demands of your day, cutting back on sleep might seem like the only answer. Who can afford to spend so much time sleeping, anyway? The truth is you can’t afford not to. Even minimal sleep loss takes a toll on your mood, energy, and ability to handle stress. Learn how to determine your nightly sleep needs and what you can do to bounce back from chronic sleep loss and get on a healthy sleep schedule.

The power of sleep

You can improve your sleep!

Many of us try to sleep as little as possible—or feel like we have should. There are so many things that seem more interesting or important than getting a few more hours of sleep, but just as exercise and nutrition are essential for optimal health and happiness, so is sleep. The quality of your sleep directly affects the quality of your waking life, including your mental sharpness, productivity, emotional balance, creativity, physical vitality, and even your weight. No other activity delivers so many benefits with so little effort!

Understanding sleep

Sleep isn’t exactly a time when your body and brain shut off. While you rest, your brain stays busy, overseeing a wide variety of biological maintenance that keeps your body running in top condition, preparing you for the day ahead. Without enough hours of restorative sleep, you won’t be able to work, learn, create, and communicate at a level even close to your true potential. Regularly skimp on “service” and you’re headed for a major mental and physical breakdown.

The good news is that you don't have to choose between health and productivity. As you start getting the sleep you need, your energy and efficiency will go up. In fact, you're likely to find that you actually get more done during the day than when you were skimping on shuteye.

Myths and Facts about Sleep

Myth 1: Getting just one hour less sleep per night won’t affect your daytime functioning. You may not be noticeably sleepy during the day, but losing even one hour of sleep can affect your ability to think properly and respond quickly. It also compromises your cardiovascular health, energy balance, and ability to fight infections.

Myth 2: Your body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules. Most people can reset their biological clock, but only by appropriately timed cues—and even then, by one–two hours per day at best. Consequently, it can take more than a week to adjust after traveling across several time zones or switching to the night shift.

Myth 3: Extra sleep at night can cure you of problems with excessive daytime fatigue. The quantity of sleep you get is important, sure, but it's the quality of your sleep that you really have to pay attention to. Some people sleep eight or nine hours a night but don’t feel well rested when they wake up because the quality of their sleep is poor.

Myth 4: You can make up for lost sleep during the week by sleeping more on the weekends. Although this sleeping pattern will help relieve part of a sleep debt, it will not completely make up for the lack of sleep. Furthermore, sleeping later on the weekends can affect your sleep-wake cycle so that it is much harder to go to sleep at the right time on Sunday nights and get up early on Monday mornings.

Adapted from: Your Guide to Healthy Sleep (PDF) The National Institutes of Health

How many hours of sleep do you need?

Average Sleep Needs by Age
Newborn to 2 months old	12 - 18 hrs
3 months to 1 year old	14 - 15 hrs
1 to 3 years old	12 - 14 hrs
3 to 5 years old	11 - 13 hrs
5 to 12 years old	10 - 11 hrs
12 to 18 years old	8.5 - 10 hrs
Adults (18+)	7.5 - 9 hrs

According to the National Institutes of Health, the average adult sleeps less than seven hours per night. In today’s fast-paced society, six or seven hours of sleep may sound pretty good. In reality, though, it’s a recipe for chronic sleep deprivation.

There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. Just because you're able to operate on seven hours of sleep doesn't mean you wouldn't feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed.

While sleep requirements vary slightly from person to person, most healthy adults need between seven and a half to nine hours of sleep per night to function at their best. Children and teens need even more (see box at right). And despite the notion that our sleep needs decrease with age, older people still need at least seven and a half to eight hours of sleep. Since older adults often have trouble sleeping this long at night, daytime naps can help fill in the gap.

The best way to figure out if you're meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you're logging enough hours, you'll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime.

Sleep needs and peak performance

There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function optimally. Just because you’re able to operate on seven hours of sleep doesn’t mean you wouldn’t feel a lot better and get more done if you spent an extra hour or two in bed. The best way to figure out if you’re meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you’re logging enough hours, you’ll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime. 

Think six hours of sleep is enough?

Think again. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco discovered that some people have a gene that enables them to do well on six hours of sleep a night. This gene, however, is very rare, appearing in less than 3% of the population. For the other 97% of us, six hours doesn’t come close to cutting it.

Signs and symptoms of sleep deprivation and lack of sleep

If you’re getting less than eight hours of sleep each night, chances are you’re sleep deprived. What’s more, you probably have no idea just how much lack of sleep is affecting you.

How is it possible to be sleep deprived without knowing it? Most of the signs of sleep deprivation are much more subtle than falling face first into your dinner plate. Furthermore, if you’ve made a habit of skimping on sleep, you may not even remember what it feels like to be wide-awake, fully alert, and firing on all cylinders. Maybe it feels normal to get sleepy when you’re in a boring meeting, struggling through the afternoon slump, or dozing off after dinner, but the truth is that it’s only “normal” if you’re sleep deprived.

You may be sleep deprived if you...

• Need an alarm clock in order to wake up on time
• Rely on the snooze button
• Have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning
• Feel sluggish in the afternoon
• Get sleepy in meetings, lectures, or warm rooms

• Get drowsy after heavy meals or when driving
• Need to nap to get through the day
• Fall asleep while watching TV or relaxing in the evening
• Feel the need to sleep in on weekends
• Fall asleep within five minutes of going to bed

The effects of sleep deprivation and chronic lack of sleep

While it may seem like losing sleep isn't such a big deal, sleep deprivation has a wide range of negative effects that go way beyond daytime drowsiness. Lack of sleep affects your judgment, coordination, and reaction times. In fact, sleep deprivation can affect you just as much as being drunk.

The effects include:

• Fatigue, lethargy, and lack of motivation
• Moodiness and irritability
• Reduced creativity and problem-solving skills
• Inability to cope with stress
• Reduced immunity; frequent colds and infections

• Concentration and memory problems
• Weight gain
• Impaired motor skills and increased risk of accidents
• Difficulty making decisions
• Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems

Stages of sleep: REM sleep and non-REM sleep stages

All sleep is not created equal. Sleep unfolds in a series of recurring sleep stages that are very different from one another in terms of what’s happening beneath the surface. From deep sleep to dreaming sleep, they are all vital for your body and mind. Each stage of sleep plays a different part in preparing you for the day ahead.

There are two main types of sleep:

• Non-REM (NREM) sleep consists of four stages of sleep, each deeper than the last.
• REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is when you do most active dreaming. Your eyes actually move back and forth during this stage, which is why it is called Rapid Eye Movement sleep.

The Stages of Sleep
Non-REM sleep
Stage N1 (Transition to sleep) – This stage lasts about five minutes. Your eyes move slowly under the eyelids, muscle activity slows down, and you are easily awakened.
Stage N2 (Light sleep) – This is the first stage of true sleep, lasting from 10 to 25 minutes. Your eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature decreases.
Stage N3 (Deep sleep) – You’re difficult to awaken, and if you are awakened, you do not adjust immediately and often feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes. In this deepest stage of sleep, your brain waves are extremely slow. Blood flow is directed away from your brain and towards your muscles, restoring physical energy.
REM sleep
REM sleep (Dream sleep) – About 70 to 90 minutes after falling asleep, you enter REM sleep, where dreaming occurs. Your eyes move rapidly, your breathing shallows, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Also during this stage, your arm and leg muscles are paralyzed.

Understanding the Sleep Cycle

Quality sleep and your internal clock

Your internal 24–hour sleep–wake cycle, otherwise known as your biological clock or circadian rhythm, is regulated by processes in the brain that respond to how long you’ve been awake and the changes between light and dark. At night, your body responds to the loss of daylight by producing melatonin, a hormone that makes you sleepy. During the day, sunlight triggers the brain to inhibit melatonin production so you feel awake and alert.

Your internal clock can be disrupted by factors such as nightshift work, traveling across time zones, or irregular sleeping patterns—leaving you feeling groggy, disoriented, and sleepy at inconvenient times. The production of melatonin can also be thrown off when you're deprived of sunlight during the day or exposed to too much artificial light at night—especially the light from electronic devices, including TVs, computers, tables, and mobile phones.

The architecture of sleep

You may think that once you go to bed, you soon fall into a deep sleep that lasts for most of the night, progressing back into light sleep in the morning when it’s time to wake up. In reality, the sleep cycle is a lot more complicated. 

During the night, your sleep follows a predictable pattern, moving back and forth between deep restorative sleep (deep sleep) and more alert stages and dreaming (REM sleep). Together, the stages of REM and non-REM sleep form a complete sleep cycle. Each cycle typically lasts about 90 minutes and repeats four to six times over the course of a night.

The amount of time you spend in each stage of sleep changes as the night progresses. For example, most deep sleep occurs in the first half of the night. Later in the night, your REM sleep stages become longer, alternating with light Stage 2 sleep. This is why if you are sensitive to waking up in the middle of the night, it is probably in the early morning hours, not immediately after going to bed.

Having a hard time getting up when your alarm goes off?

Even if you’ve enjoyed a full night’s sleep, getting out of bed can be difficult if your alarm goes off when you’re in the middle of deep sleep (Stage N3). If you want to make mornings less painful—or if you know you only have a limited time for sleep—try setting a wake-up time that’s a multiple of 90 minutes, the length of the average sleep cycle. For example, if you go to bed at 10 p.m., set your alarm for 5:30 (a total of 7 ½ hours of sleep) instead of 6:00 or 6:30. You may feel more refreshed at 5:30 than with another 30 to 60 minutes of sleep because you’re getting up at the end of a sleep cycle when your body and brain are already close to wakefulness.

The importance of deep sleep and REM sleep

It's not just the number of hours in bed that's important—it's the quality of those hours of sleep. If you're giving yourself plenty of time for sleep, but you're still having trouble waking up in the morning or staying alert all day, you may not be spending enough time in the different stages of sleep.

Each stage of sleep in the sleep cycle offers benefits to the sleeper. However, deep sleep (Stages 3 and 4) and REM sleep are particularly important. A normal adult spends approximately 50% of total sleep time in Stage 2 sleep, 20% in REM sleep, and 30% in the remaining stages, including deep sleep.

Deep sleep

The most damaging effects of sleep deprivation are from inadequate deep sleep. Deep sleep is a time when the body repairs itself and builds up energy for the day ahead. It plays a major role in maintaining your health, stimulating growth and development, repairing muscles and tissues, and boosting your immune system. In order to wake up energized and refreshed, getting quality deep sleep is essential. Factors that can lead to poor or inadequate deep sleep include:

• Being woken during the night by outside noise, for example, or in order to care for a crying baby.
• Working night shifts or swing shifts. Getting quality deep sleep during the day can be difficult, due to light and excess noise.
• Smoking or drinking in the evening. Substances like alcohol and nicotine can disrupt deep sleep. It’s best to limit them before bed.

REM sleep

Just as deep sleep renews the body, REM sleep renews the mind by playing a key role in learning and memory. During REM sleep, your brain consolidates and processes the information you’ve learned during the day, forms neural connections that strengthen memory, and replenishes its supply of neurotransmitters, including feel-good chemicals like serotonin and dopamine that boost your mood during the day.

To get more mind and mood-boosting REM sleep, try sleeping an extra 30 minutes to an hour in the morning, when REM sleep stages are longer. Improving your overall sleep will also increase your REM sleep. If you aren’t getting enough deep sleep, your body will try to make that up first, at the expense of REM sleep.

Paying off your sleep debt

Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you need and the hours you actually get. Every time you sacrifice on sleep, you add to the debt. Eventually, the debt will have to be repaid; it won’t go away on its own. If you lose an hour of sleep, you must make up that extra hour somewhere down the line in order to bring your “account” back into balance.

Sleeping in on the weekends isn’t enough!

Many of us try to repay our sleep debt by sleeping in on the weekends, but as it turns out, bouncing back from chronic lack of sleep isn’t that easy. One or two solid nights of sleep aren’t enough to pay off a long-term debt. While extra sleep can give you a temporary boost (for example, you may feel great on Monday morning after a relaxing weekend), your performance and energy will drop back down as the day wears on.

Tips for getting and staying out of sleep debt

While you can’t pay off sleep debt in a night or even a weekend, with a little effort and planning, you can get back on track.

• Aim for at least seven and a half hours of sleep every night. Make sure you don’t fall farther in debt by blocking off enough time for sleep each night. Consistency is the key.
• Settle short-term sleep debt with an extra hour or two per night. If you lost 10 hours of sleep, pay the debt back in nightly one or two-hour installments.
• Keep a sleep diary. Record when you go to bed, when you get up, your total hours of sleep, and how you feel during the day. As you keep track of your sleep, you’ll discover your natural patterns and get to know your sleep needs.
• Take a sleep vacation to pay off a long-term sleep debt. Pick a two-week period when you have a flexible schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night and allow yourself to sleep until you wake up naturally. No alarm clocks! If you continue to keep the same bedtime and wake up naturally, you’ll eventually dig your way out of debt and arrive at the sleep schedule that’s ideal for you.
• Make sleep a priority. Just as you schedule time for work and other commitments, you should schedule enough time for sleep. Instead of cutting back on sleep in order to tackle the rest of your daily tasks, put sleep at the top of your to-do list.