Rest vs Sleep: Is Rest as Good as Sleep?16:51

Doctors, researchers, and the general medical community have always emphasized the importance of sleep in one’s health. Sleep is an essential part of daily life, and we need it to rest and recharge for the coming day ahead.

The average adult needs at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep per day, so they say. But why is it, when you do get this much sleep, you still wake up feeling sluggish, tired, and sleepy throughout the day? Do you need more sleep? Or is there something else that you need to take a look into?

In this article, we will discover why you may feel sleepy or sluggish even though you slept the whole night and the difference between rest and sleep.

Resting Definition

In the dictionary, rest is defined as the condition wherein you are not engaging in conscious physical activity. It is also known as quiet wakefulness, where you are completely conscious and alert, but your mind is calm, your muscles and organs are relaxed, and you are not doing any deliberate physical activity.

Rest can take the form of lying in bed and closing your eyes but you’re not sleeping, or it could be reading a book while you’re sitting down, or you’re swaying in a rocking chair.

Resting is known to improve mood, improve the clarity of thoughts, and once you’re rested, you feel more motivated, alert, and you become more productive.

Sleeping Definition

Sleeping, on the other hand, is a naturally occurring state wherein the mind and body enter an anabolic state, which means you are not consciously active. It is characterized by muscle activity inhibition, an altered state of consciousness, and considered a vital process in overall health.

Is Rest as Good as Sleep?

Rest is not as good as sleep but it is the closest thing in terms of its benefits to the body.

When you experience a restful sleep, you can restore your health, enhance your productivity and performance, and achieve a sense of well-being. Sleep is restorative, and this means it is the state wherein your body repairs itself from damages, heal and regenerate at the cellular level, and puts your body in a state of recovery.

Sleep deprivation can cause many negative repercussions on your health. When you don’t get enough restful sleep, you will suffer from a lack of concentration, you will be irritable, you will lack focus, your body won’t have the ability to restore itself, you will suffer from a reduced immune response, increase your risk for heart disease due to elevated blood pressure, and it can also accelerate the aging process.

These reasons are why it is extremely important to people to have restful sleep every night. When it comes to rest, you may experience certain similar benefits, but not to the same extent as restful sleep. It is important to note the word “restful” because not all kinds of sleep provide you rest.

You can sleep for 8 to 10 hours but never actually experience the restorative benefits of sleeping because you are not having a restful sleep. While rest can provide you with immediate benefits, sleeping doesn’t always provide you with the health benefits that it should.

Why Don’t I Feel Rested After Sleeping All Night?

Let’s talk about how sleep should work.

In today’s modern times, it’s hard to find a person who’s not exhausted. We work all day, come home to have dinner, tinker at our phones for hours, or watch TV, then go to sleep. We wake up in the morning after 8 to 10 hours of sleep, expecting to feel rested and refreshed, but then we wake up and we feel even more tired, even more sluggish, and we want nothing else but to go back to bed.

What happened here? After 8 hours of complete sleep, why then do you feel even more tired? Why do you not have the energy to go to work and be productive? After all, all the experts say you must get at least 8 hours of sleep. You did, so why are you feeling terrible?

The answer lies in the way you sleep. You may have closed your eyes and you may have fallen asleep, but did that give you the kind of rest your body needed?

Let’s discuss what happens when you close your eyes to sleep.

The Four Stages of Sleep and Why They’re Important

You go through 4 stages of sleep when you close your eyes. You can monitor your own stages with the use of sleep trackers.

Let’s discuss each stage:

Stage 1: This is the act of dozing off and transitioning your body to sleep.

Stage 2: This is the stage where your mind and body slow down as you settle yourself to sleep. Stages 1 and 2 are the stages wherein you easily awaken. This means your body is not completely in the anabolic stage just yet.

Stage 3: This is the deep sleep stage. This is the stage of sleep that puts your body in recovery mode, This is where your mind and body slow down, blood pressure is reduced, heart rate goes down, and you are completely calm and relaxed. Overall brain activity slows down in this stage.

Stage 4: This is the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage, wherein your body is in an anabolic state but your mind is active. Your muscles are paralyzed but your mind is racing, processing the memories, thoughts, and activities for the day. Your heart rate increases, and so does your breathing.

In a typical 8-hour sleep duration, you go through 4 to 5 cycles of these 4 stages. Fitbit Charge 4 sleep tracker is the best way to get an understanding of your sleep cycles.

As you can see, Stage 3, or the stage of deep sleep is the most important stage. You need to reach Stage 3 so you can reap the benefits of sleep. Unfortunately, not everyone experiences Stage 3 or Deep Sleep.

Experts say you need at least 90 minutes of deep sleep each night to feel refreshed and energized once you wake up. The concept of the quantity of sleep in terms of hours doesn’t really apply here. The most important part of sleep is that you get enough deep sleep – at least 90 minutes of this state.

Dr. Richard Aplin, an American sleep expert, states that you must go through the different stages of sleep to be able to experience restful sleep. From a high frequency of being awake, you need to slowly lower your frequency to reach deep sleep, and enjoy the benefits. When you jump from a high frequency and instantly sleep without going through the slowing down process, you are not getting restful sleep, and that is why, even though you slept for 10 hours, you will feel sluggish and exhausted once you wake up.

Dr. Aplin says it takes 10 to 15 minutes to lower your frequency or to fall asleep properly. If you instantly fall asleep the minute you hit the pillow, then your body has skipped the slowing down process.

Deep sleep is key to a restful night’s sleep.

The Best Advice to Get Restful Sleep

Dr. Aplin iterated that to get restful sleep, you must create a sleep routine. And no, watching TV to lull yourself to sleep, or tinkering with your phone for 2 hours before closing your eyes is not the answer. These gadgets and technologies excite your bodies. They are stimulating our nervous systems, and that means you are not slowing down your brain.

Reading doesn’t work as well because you are using your imagination and cognition to comprehend and visualize what you’re reading. You are still stimulating your brain.

Dr. Aplin advises to put down your phone, put down that book, and create a healthy sleep routine that slows down brain activity. It could be a warm bath after dinner, followed by meditation, or watching the stars in your backyard, rocking in a chair, swaying in a swing, and simply letting go of the day’s worries, stresses, and activities.

Let go of all the things you have to do, have done, and need to do and just be still. Stop thinking and just feel the calmness of the night, and let go.

Restful sleep can improve your immune system, lower your risk for heart disease, improve your creativity, boosts your energy levels, and gives you overall health and well-being. With no need for medicine, drugs, or any medical help, you can enjoy restful sleep each night by simply slowing down and letting go.