Why is sleep important? Your body does amazing things while you hit the sack, all which help you to feel at your best when you wake up. Here are some of them.

If anyone tells you that going to sleep is a waste of time, they are very wrong. Your body treasures it as much as a healthy diet, regular water intake, and exercise – and getting regular sleep has a direct influence on your productivity levels during the day.

Unfortunately, not many people today prioritize getting a good night’s sleep because they just think the body shuts off, but sleep proves to be the time that your body repairs itself, and goes through a complex process that leaves you refreshed come morning. Throughout the five stages of sleep, the body achieves more repairs and corrective processes. Here are some of them.

Helps the body refresh itself

When you are asleep, the brain does not shut off, just like your heart – in fact, the brain is in the business of restoring itself. Throughout the time you are awake, there are neurons in your brain that produce a chemical known as adenosine – this is mostly a by-product of cell activity.

When the chemical builds up in the body, it is the main catalyst for feeling sleepy. When you go to bed, the body and your brain is busy clearing up this chemical, and you feel refreshed in the morning when you wake up, instead of tired.

Repairing of cells and tissues, and helping them to grow

Sleep presents the best opportunity for the body to rejuvenate itself through the repair of muscles, as well as other critical functions like muscle growth.

The brain is a particular beneficiary of this. In fact, a study conducted in 2013 on mice showed that their brains were more active in removing body waste as they were asleep. The researchers concluded that the brain and body actually need some time to clear up any toxic by-products that have accumulated during the period of staying awake.

The brain also creates and reinforces memories as you sleep, leading to creativity boosts in the morning – as long as you get proper sleep. The brain is able to filter out any information that you do not require, and that may be among the reasons you dream about something – the things that are important to you become reinforced, while the brain filters out those that are not as important.

Relaxation of muscles

Not all sleep is equal even when sleeping on a comfortable mattress such as Tuft and Needle. The body goes through multiple stages your body as you sleep – the first stage is very light, and it gets deeper as you progress. However, the deeper the sleep gets, the more your major muscles get in a state of paralysis.

The first stage is REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement). During this phase, the muscles begin to relax – except the eye muscles, which move rapidly. The relaxation reduces tension, while reducing the symptoms of chronic pain you may be experiencing. It might even help you heal from the mental blocks you may be experiencing during the day – your body might just need to chill so that it can have the energy to conquer the next day.

The following stages are even deeper, where the eye muscles begin to relax – these are the non-REM sleep stages 2 and 3, and stage three is the deepest part of sleep and where the most body repair happens. However, this does not last for very long, and towards the morning hours, the body begins to enter back into REM sleep, until you wake up.

It also explains the feeling of ‘you cannot move another muscle’. The physiological processes in the body slow down massively during sleep hours, and result in you feeling more sluggish when you have to wake up in the middle of the night. This includes even other processes like your breathing rate, response rate, and heartbeat.

The body takes advantage of the slowdown to repair any ailing muscles and body tissues. There is also less amounts of adrenaline in your system, since you will not be requiring any flight or fight responses (unless there is a major emergency happening).

The brain learns and remembers the performance of physical tasks

The brain tends to store long-term memories and muscle performances through sleep spindles. These are short, intense bursts of strong frequencies, which tend to occur during the stage of REM sleep.

In the case of motor tasks, these are particularly helpful – including activities such as playing a sport, motor driving, perfecting a new dance move, playing an instrument, and so on. The brain is able to consolidate any muscle memory related to these tasks, and helps you remember how to do them even after you wake up.

The brain will transfer any short-term memories from these activities from the motor cortex region of the brain to the temporal lobe, and they become long-term memories. The truth is practicing during sleep is very important for boosting your later performance.

Improves creative connections and links

The fact that sleep is a simple but powerful creativity booster cannot be underestimated. In your mind, the unconscious resting state is actually more capable of making connections, even among seemingly unrelated things, than it would have made while it was in a waking state.

In fact, this is proven from a study conducted by the University of California at Berkeley from 2007. The research found that proper sleep encourages the brain to make ‘remote associates’, or somewhat unusual connections within it. These usually result in the famous ‘s-ha!’ moments when you wake up, or when doing something unrelated like making breakfast after waking up in the morning. About 33 percent of people are also very likely to make connections they never thought of between two unrelated ideas once they wake up.

Final thoughts

It is interesting to find out what sleep does to your body and brain. If anyone underrates it, it is important to remember that the key to improving the quality of your life aside from your diet choices and exercise, is hitting the sheets and getting good sleep quality and quantity.