Many of you traveling home to visit admirer and class over the holidays will see the eventual indigence to sleep on an airplane , power train , or double-decker , or in a car … while sit up . Have you ever wondered why it ’s so much more hard to get a good sleep in the erect position as contradict to lying prostrate in bed ?
In ordination to understand it , you first need a quick primer of your sleep cycle : The human mentality cycles through five form of sleep when your head hits the pillow , the fifth of which is calledrapid optic movement(REM ) sleep . REM only makes up about 25 percent of your sopor cycle , and occurs just about 70 to 90 min after you fall at peace , but you come in rapid eye movement sleep sleep several time during the dark . During REM , the brain sends signal to the spinal cord to make a temporary paralysis of your muscle , which cause you to mislay muscle tone .
" Usually duringREM sleep , other than eye movements , our voluntary heftiness are paralyzed , " Dr. Neil Kline , an internist and sleep disorder physician and CEO of theAmerican Sleep Association , tells Mental Floss . " We likely evolve this gulf during REM sleep in decree to forbid injury to ourselves . " For individuals who suffer from REM quietus behavior disorder ( RBD ) , “ this disconnect is wrong , " Kline say . " citizenry with RBD pretend out their dreams , and often injure themselves and others . "
The fond palsy and loss of muscle tone make holding the vertical posture of a straight back and neck difficult . It may be why your seatmate tilts sleepily into your personal space , saw wood on your shoulder , and why catch some Z’s on a airplane is just heavy to do comfortably .
Despite this difficulty , some Buddhist monkspurposely sleep sit up as part of their meditation recitation for up to five hours per night . They sit in especially designed chair with hard , firm backs and proper cushioning , and do this as part of a goal to be in meditation as many minute of the solar day as possible . Your goal may be just an hour of snoozing between takeoff and landing place .
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