All About Sleep

Sleep is not a wasteland of inactivity. While we sleep, our bodies are busy working in five important areas:

• Growth – especially critical for baby and children.
• Restoration – repairs tissues, recovers.
• Immunity boosting – fights infection, increases energy level.
• Memorizing – sorts information, aids memory storage.
• Learning – stores, reorganizes and prioritizes information.

A typical night you are lying awake in bed with eyes open, awake but relaxed. Your beta brain waves indicate wakefulness. Growing sleepier, you shut your eyes. Your brain activity slows down to alpha waves. You’re more relaxed, yet still wakeful.

Your nightly cycle
After one’s first REM period, one will fall again into Stages Two, Three and Four, then move back again through Stages Three and Two and into more REM sleep.

This cycle repeats itself every 90 to 110 minutes until you wake up. Depending on the length of time you sleep, you will travel through four or five of these cycles before morning. Remember, dreaming is not the only function of REM sleep. REM sleep is absolutely essential for preparing the mind for peak daytime performance.

Whenever you have a short night of sleep you are eliminating the long REM periods that come towards morning. This can impair your daytime learning, thinking, memory and performance. REM sleep prepares your mind and body for success.

For sleep to be rejuvenating, you must get your required amount of sleep in one continuous block. Six hours of uninterrupted sleep is more restorative than eight hours of poor, fragmented sleep. The two most common causes of sleep interruption are:

• Movement on the bed: The average person tosses and turns 40-60 times a night. When you sleep with a partner, the number of movements increases, and so does the potential to wake up and disturb your sleep cycle.
• Physical stress: When we sleep, our weight exerts pressure on our body. If your mattress cannot provide optimal support to different parts of your body, you will respond by tossing and turning unnaturally to relieve the pain and stress.

There are three things a bedroom should be in order to promote good sleep – quiet, dark and cool. (Source: Power Sleep by Dr. James B. Maas)

• Quiet: Fans or other white noise generators near the bed can help mute sleep distractions. A cheaper alternative is to set the tuner of your FM radio between any two stations. The pseudo white noise you will hear will do wonders to mask unwanted sounds
• Light Level: Use room darkening shades or dark fabrics to reduce the amount light leaking into the room. Eyeshades may also do the trick.
• Temperature: 65° F (18.3° C) is the ideal temperature for sleeping. A warm room or too many blankets can interrupt your sleep.

Your sleep surface is an integral part of your sleep experience. A Simmons mattress offers many solutions to help ensure better sleep.

• Simmons® Beautyrest® mattresses use Pocketed Coil® technology to suppress motion from your partner’s tossing in turning, allowing you to sleep blissfully undisturbed.
• Better support leads to better sleep. Simmons® BackCare® 5 zones mattress or Negative-ions Fibres mattress offers patented lumber support or 20% more support respectively, giving you all the comfort and alignment your body needs.

Simple modifications to your daily routine are an effective way to help your body’s sleep cycle regulate itself. (Source: Power Sleep by Dr. James B. Maas)

• Reduce stress.
• Exercise, but not within two hours of bedtime.
• Keep mentally stimulated during the day.
• Eat a proper diet.
• Stop smoking.
• Reduce caffeine intake.
• Avoid alcohol near bedtime.
• Take a warm bath before bed.
• Maintain a relaxing atmosphere in the bedroom.
• Establish a bedtime ritual.

Do your homework. Obtain brochures; visit mattress brands websites to find out more about mattresses. Get fully involved in the purchase decision. Keep in mind that the mattress you are about to buy will last you at least ten years and that you will spend more time on it than any other piece of furniture in your home.

According to Dr. James B. Maas, Author of Power Sleep Book, Sleep Educator, Simmons Consultant, an average person tosses and turns 40 to 60 times a night. Clinical studies show that the ripple effect caused by a bed partner’s tossing and turning can result in up to 20% loss of critical deep sleep as 70% of the time a partner moves, the other follows. Therefore, it is important to try the mattress with your partner.

Given no space constraint, consumers, particularly those who sleep with a partner, should choose a bigger size mattress. A king size mattress also delivers greater motion separation effect. Simmons mattresses come in a variety of sizes.

Now you have identified your needs, before you hit the stores, be sure you visit only Simmons Gallery, Sogo, Metro, Home Solution and others authorized dealers to purchase your Simmons mattress. All Simmons’ authorized dealers carry a certificate of proof, which customers can request to see. A warranty is only given to a product when it is purchased from Simmons Gallery or a reputable retailer or an authorized dealer.

Now that you have picked a suitable mattress, it is important that you buy a matching foundation. Foundations are built to work with specific mattress constructions to maximize the benefits of that particular mattress. Buy a mattress set with a high-quality and well-constructed foundation. A good foundation will have multiple torsion bars and strong support beams.

If you are opting for a bedframe, choose one with center support for queen/king size beds to prevent bowing in the middle of the bed and to prevent the warranty from being invalidated. Alternatively, choose a bedframe with a solid flat base board.

Approach our sales consultants for queries on different models of mattresses. Ask to see a Simmons® Beautyrest® or Simmons® BackCare® and find out which sleep set is best suited to your needs.

Buying a decent mattress is like buying a decent sound system. A higher quality mattress is usually bought at a higher price. However, price is not everything. Look for the best you can afford. Remember, this is an investment that will last for years. Buy the best you can afford and one that suit your needs best. For example, assuming a Simmons mattress costs you S$2,000, has warranty of ten years, the cost of owning a Simmons mattress per day is: $2000/10 years = $200/365 days = $0.55 per day.