You may have thought that when you sleep at night, your brain takes a break and sleeps too. That is not the case. While we sleep we go through different stages. One of these stages that is not mentioned like the other five is the waking dream stage. This is when you are fully relaxed, but still awake, and your body is preparing to sleep.

Once we fall asleep, our muscles begin to lose the tension they normally have and our eyes begin to slow down.

Unfortunately, it is common for people to have problems in the waking stage. This may only be once in a while when you are stressed or have an illness. Other times this is an ongoing pattern that occurs every night. One such reason why someone cannot relax and fall asleep at night is insomnia.

People all over the world have it, and more than 50 percent of Americans deal with the disease every night. Insomnia causes a person to have trouble falling asleep, wake up easily or too early to get enough rest, and not feel refreshed in the morning.

Another culprit for disturbing the waking sleep stage is circadian rhythm disturbances. This is a person’s internal clock falling apart. Instead of being able to fall asleep at the normal time, they can’t sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. This makes them unable to wake up until later in the day.

For people who have a different form of the disorder, they will want to sleep earlier in the night, say 7 or 8 pm, and they will wake up at 3 or 4 am and cannot go back to sleep.

Fortunately, there are ways to get your waking sleep stage back on track. For people with a disorder, there are medications that can be prescribed and different types of therapy. For the luckiest, simple lifestyle changes are all it takes. Having a comfortable sleeping environment is the first step.

If you’re stressed out from the day, adding relaxation items can help. These include aromatherapy supplies and items. Avoiding caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime will also help you fall asleep faster. Exercising throughout the day helps your body more than you might think. It is also known to help you fall asleep.

The awake sleep cycle is a crucial step toward the deep sleep your body needs. Changing your lifestyle and addressing any sleep disorders you may have will help shift your sleep cycle instead of constantly staying in the waking dream zone.