sleep
sleepA ROAD MAP OF SLEEP
Stage 1: Hypnagogic
This is the first stage of sleep: the hypnagogic state. It’s very light sleep, and it’s often
accompanied by alpha brain wave patterns of relaxed wakefulness. The most recognisable
aspect of stage 1 sleep is the hypnogogic imagery: the dreamy hallucinations that flash
and fade before our mind’s eye as we drift off.
Stage 2: Light, dreamless sleep
Most people experience this as light but dreamless sleep. We’ve now moved from the semi-
conscious hypnagogic into the blackout stage of sleep, but we are yet to start dreaming.
Stage 3 : Deep sleep
Our brain begins producing delta brain waves and we enter into the deepest level of
dreamless sleep. Stage 3 is restorative sleep. It’s the state we release HGH (human
growth hormone), repair our cells and recharge the batteries.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
This is where our body becomes paralysed, our brain becomes highly active and we dream.
Although some dream imagery can occasionally seep into all stages of sleep, it’s in REM in
which we dream most abundantly.
Most people have about four or five 90 -minute sleep cycles per night, with REM dreaming
being a feature of every one of these. That’s about four or five dream periods a night, which
become almost 1 ,800 dreams per year and well over 1 00,000 dreams in a lifetime. That’s
1 00,000 opportunities to get lucid!
Hypnopompic
This is the transitional state between sleep and full wakefulness. It’s the state we
experience just before our mind has woken fully from sleep and when our eyes are still
usually closed. It’s characterised by a soft clarity of mind, so you might like to hang out there
if you can, resting in what’s one of the most refined levels of consciousness. It’s also a great
place to access the lucid dream state too.
This is an extract from Lucid Dreaming:
A Beginners Guide to Becoming Conscious in
your Dreams by Charlie Morley (Hay House,
£1 0 .99). Read more at charliemorley.com where
Charlie also offers a wide range of workshops,
retreats and online courses.