Can you tell when you are in a REM cycle?

[beachgirl]

Hi All, Today i wanted to take a daytime nap and had a little discretion as to when. I wish i knew when my REM period was - or might be. Can we ever get the timing exact? Or is just like from 3 to 4 or some generalization? If so what are the generalizations? Many thanks, bg

[rockerboy90]

The REM cycle is different for many people..for some people it takes 5 hours after going to sleep and for others just 2 or 3 hours..it happens pretty quick during daytime naps though.

[KingYoshi]

Like Rockerboy said, REM cycles vary from person to person. To figure out your REM cycle at night all you have to do is set an alarm for "x" number of hours once you awake, if you have dreamed (with clarity), then you have hit your REM. For afternoon naps, just play around with it a bit. Try napping after a couple hours, see if you dreamed (with clarity). Then next time try napping after 3 or 4 hours, and so on and so on. Good Luck!

[Jeff777]

REM typically cycles every 90 minutes but is very minimal (with lengthy intervals) in the very first stages of our sleep cycles. As we continue sleeping, our REM cycles become lengthier with shorter intervals. To find out what's best for you, I would follow Yoshi's advice above to get a better feel of your own body's internal clock.

[beachgirl]

thanks for the replies, everyone, i have another question i know about the sleep cycle at night... deeper sleep going towards more REM sleep as night turns into more early morning then more REM in daytime so in daytime do you need to go into SP (is this N1? or the first stage of non-REM) before you can get to REM, say, when taking a daytime nap? or can you go directly to REM I am guessing you can go to REM directly? someone said you can even be sort of awake and be in REM? and even have eyes sort of open? many thanks bg~~~

[KingYoshi]

Yes alot of times you can go directly into REM. That is why WILDing during day time naps is very effective. I'm not sure of the specifics on this however. I know that I usually try to nap within a 6 hour timeframe upon waking. It seems to work best then.