While
you are dreaming, your body has some noticeable changes. Your
adrenaline rises, your blood pressure increases, and you heart beats
faster. Given this notion, it makes sense why people with a weak heart may
die in their sleep. Their heart may not have been able to withstand
the strain of the erratic changes in your breathing and heart rates that
occurs during the dream state. Dreaming takes place during REM, which
stands for Rapid Eye Movement. It is thus called,
because your eyes
move rapidly
back and forth
under the
eyelids. REM sleep takes place in the fourth stage of sleep and
accounts for 15-20% of our sleep time. From the point you fall asleep, it
takes 30-90 minutes before you start dreaming. We cycle through the 4
stages of sleep and may enter the REM stage 4-7 times in one night.
During REM, our blood pressure and heart rate fluctuate and increase. It
sounds like our body is going through a lot. In fact, it is quite the
contrary. During REM our bodies are completely immobile and our muscles
remain completely relaxed. We may shift in our bed throughout the night,
but this does not happen when we are in REM. This is commonly known as
"REM Paralysis".
