Deep sleep is the third stage of sleep, where delta waves (brainwaves) are synchronized and slow. On average, adults need 1.4 to 1.8 hours of deep sleep a night. You can improve your deep sleep with better sleep practices and a maintainable sleep schedule.
Deep sleep is vital for our daily health, but what is it? And how do we get it? Achieving a state of restful, deep sleep can really wear you down if you don’t know where to start. That’s not to mention that deep sleep becomes increasingly important as we get older because we typically end up getting less.
Slow-wave sleep (deep sleep) happens in your third stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM sleep), usually about an hour after you fall and stay asleep without interruption. When you’re in a deep sleep state, your brain's electrical activity slows down to a 0.5 to 2-hertz frequency known as delta waves.
Unfortunately, simply falling asleep at night does not guarantee that you’ll get a sufficient amount of deep sleep which contributes to our cognitive functions, immune system, and overall wellness. Luckily, there are several ways you can achieve more deep sleep, and this post will guide you through some strategies.
Key Takeaways:
Your body has an internal clock—a circadian rhythm—that controls your sleep-wake cycle. It’s important to keep it consistent, but many factors can disrupt your circadian rhythm and prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.
Good news: you can establish a sleep schedule that trains your mind and body to stay in rhythm. To establish a healthy bedtime routine, implement habits that are achievable for you in the long term. Below are some routines worth considering:
No matter what bedtime routine you choose, consistency is key. If you're not sure how much sleep you need or when you should go to bed, you can use a sleep calculator to get options for your ideal bedtime and wake-up time.
Avoid caffeine in the evenings and 4–6 hours before bedtime. Caffeine can reduce sleep quality, especially when taken in the evening around bedtime.
Adenosine is a substance in the brain that makes us tired and urges us to sleep, and caffeine is an adenosine blocker. That means it prevents adenosine from signaling to your brain that it’s bedtime. And, depending on your tolerance, caffeine can stay in the system for hours.
Limit or avoid the following altogether before bedtime:
Sometimes, it’s not the caffeine we crave but the sensations associated with caffeinated substances, like warmth and relaxation. If this is the case, opt for herbal teas and decaffeinated coffee instead to enjoy both sleep and comfort.
One of the best things to do when you can't sleep is avoid your TV, laptop, computer, tablet, and phone starting one hour before bedtime.
Our eyes are sensitive to various light wavelengths, with sensitivity to blue light being especially high. The brain produces a sleep hormone called melatonin when light decreases.
However, electronics emit artificial blue light that has short wavelengths. During the day, blue light creates more alertness and energy, but it can be overstimulating at night and send wrong signals to the brain to stay awake.
Get off the screens and try a nighttime routine that stimulates sleep, like reading a book, writing, or meditating.
Research shows that people who exercise regularly get more deep sleep during the night. To improve your sleep quality, aim to do moderate exercise three times a week.
Cardiovascular exercise and strength training impact sleep-regulating hormones. Cortisol is a stress hormone that interferes with sleep at heightened levels, but exercise can significantly reduce it.
Exercise also releases endorphins, which reduce stress and elevate our mood. This helps prevent disruptions in our sleep cycle, encouraging more restful deep sleep.
Some achievable exercises that can facilitate deep sleep include:
While exercise can lead to more deep sleep, a heightened heart rate, body temperature, and adrenaline level before bedtime may impede your overall sleep. Experiment with an exercise schedule to see what works best for you.
Although comfort levels vary, most adults sleep well if the temperature is between 60 and 67 degrees. Set yourself up for success by making your bedroom the ideal sleeping temperature.
Just like light influences our circadian rhythm, temperature does too. Our bodies fluctuate in temperature throughout the day, and they’re at their lowest when we’re asleep. External influences that heat our bodies may disrupt our deep sleep, so it’s important to keep our body temperatures cool to prevent overheating throughout the night.
While adjusting your air conditioner + fans or opening your windows can be an obvious and effective approach, you could also try the following options:
If you can’t get comfortable in bed, it’s time to find a new mattress, one that alleviates pressure points—encouraging relaxation and deep sleep.
Here are other considerations for your ideal deeper-sleep mattress:
Do note that while good quality mattresses can last you a while, you should consider replacing your mattress every seven to ten years—or whenever you see signs of wear and tear.
Pillows also promote better deep sleep, provided they’re the right ones. While the ideal pillow boils down to individual preference, there are multiple considerations to take into account when searching for the right pillow. Let’s see some of them below:
The right pillow for you depends on your preferences, and even if you’ve found the perfect one, be sure to replace it every two years (or earlier, if needed). Otherwise, you won’t be feeling the benefits.
In addition to mattresses and pillows, some products provide Deep Touch Pressure (DTP), which promotes physical + mental relaxation, as well as pain, ache + muscle tension relief. Weighted blankets are a DTP must-have for those who’d like to experience those benefits.
The Bearaby Weighted Blanket, for example, gets its weight from organic cotton, and the gentle pressure spreads evenly over the body, mimicking the sensation of a warm hug.
These products can encourage your body to release serotonin, a hormone that elevates your mood and serves as a precursor to melatonin. Your cortisol levels can decrease as you relax under the weight of these blankets— a great recipe for quality deep sleep.
When getting a weighted blanket, consider the following to find the best one for you:
Your sheets are a key piece of your sleep environment and work with your mattress, pillows, and blankets to give you the best sleep. If your sheets aren’t comfortable, the other pieces of your sleep environment may not help you sleep as much as they could if you had better sheets.
Let’s look at some considerations when upgrading your sheets:
Note that sheet needs can change with the seasons and over time. Be sure to have multiple sets to rotate throughout the year and replace them every 6 to 12 months since you’ll use them so often.
Calming, ambient music can create a serene auditory experience that helps facilitate a conducive sleeping environment. Relaxing music stimulates the release of endorphins, reducing cortisol levels and promoting relaxation.
While relaxing music is one of the best sounds to sleep to, there are a variety of other options that can create a sleep-inducing sonic experience. Let’s take a look at two of them below.
Consider building a playlist of the above sounds to repeat throughout the night at a controlled and non-disruptive volume.
Elevated cortisol levels promote wakefulness and prevent us from getting deep sleep, and you need deep sleep to regulate stress. While it’s not uncommon to get too stressed to sleep, prolonged bouts of sleep deprivation will exacerbate your stress further.
Consider the following methods to help alleviate some of your pre-sleep stress:
While there are a variety of practices and techniques you can incorporate into your daily life to help your mental health and your deep sleep, you should also consult with a licensed professional to address mental health concerns that surface-level methods can’t resolve.
Fiber-rich foods like legumes, grains, fruits, and vegetables can contribute to an increased amount of quality deep sleep by indirectly addressing bodily sleep disruptors like hunger and digestion problems.
Let’s take a look at some of the best foods to help you sleep better below:
While these foods provide gut-healthy fiber, they also contain other benefits, like magnesium, heart-healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates.
Long story short, a nutrient-dense, fibrous diet helps your digestive tract and your heart, and these overall body benefits may improve your sleep quality..
If you’ve been experiencing prolonged deep sleep problems or specific symptoms you can’t alleviate through sleep-promoting methods, consult a doctor or other licensed healthcare professional to help diagnose your condition and provide treatment.
Consult with your doctor if you experience any of the following:
While there are a variety of methods to help get more deep sleep, there may be more serious underlying issues that prevent you from doing so. If you find that your issues are impeding your sleep health, it’s time to see a doctor.
Deep sleep is a part of our larger sleep cycle and integral to our overall health. Without sufficient deep sleep, we may suffer a decline in cognitive functions, growth hormones, memory, and more. Some of the benefits of deep sleep include:
Facts about sleep show deep sleep should account for at least 20% of daily sleep, but this may also fluctuate to 25%. Generally, children require more deep sleep for body and brain development, and deep sleep requirements gradually decrease as we age.
While the following are estimates, your deep sleep requirements are specific to you and may differ from general specifications.
Age Range | Total Sleep Recommendation | Deep Sleep Recommendation |
0–3 months | 14–17 hours | 2.8–3.4 hours |
4–11 months | 12–15 hours | 2.4–3 hours |
1–2 years | 11–14 hours | 2.2–2.8 hours |
3–5 years | 10–13 hours | 2–2.6 hours |
6–12 years | 9–11 hours | 1.8–2.2 hours |
13–17 years | 8–10 hours | 1.6–2 hours |
18–64 years | 7–9 hours | 1.4–1.8 hours |
65+ years | 7–8 hours | 1.4–1.6 hours |
Without deep sleep, your body may experience a decline in many cognitive functions and hormonal balance. Below are some of the negative effects that result from a lack of deep sleep:
There are multiple factors that contribute to deep sleep deprivation, as well as multiple benefits that come from getting sufficient deep sleep. Understanding them all can be difficult, so we added an FAQ below to reference as you learn how to get more deep sleep.
While there are a variety of factors that can cause a lack of deep sleep, some of the main culprits include:
Shallow sleep syndrome or nonrestorative sleep is a sleep disturbance where you feel tired even after a full night of sleep. Those who wake from this type of sleep feel fatigued, mentally impaired, and irritable.
Shallow sleep syndrome can result from sleep disorders like insomnia, sleep apnea, and RLS. Like sleep disorders, it requires solving the underlying issues that contribute to it.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and deep sleep both have immense benefits and are equally essential parts of the sleep cycle.
REM sleep helps with:
Deep sleep helps with:
While there’s a lot of crossover between the two types of sleep, you’ll need both for optimal sleep.
You can use melatonin supplements for sleep-related issues such as trouble falling asleep, but its effectiveness relates more to its ability to influence the timing of one’s sleep, rather than increasing the amount of deep sleep one gets.
Deep sleep is the most important part of your sleep cycle. As your brain waves slow down into delta waves, your body can repair and regenerate muscle, bone, and soft tissue. Some of your key hormones are also timed to release during deep sleep, helping you regulate your metabolism and restore your energy levels for the day.
At Purple, we know the importance of deep sleep. That’s why we design products to help our customers sleep better and live healthier lives. Check out some of our most popular products today.