How to increase REM sleep is a common question as people work to gain sleep skills. Let’s look at how to increase REM sleep naturally.

First, a bit about REM sleep. REM stands for “rapid eye movement”, as during this type of sleep the eyes move rapidly - think as though your eyes were following a tennis match!

During REM sleep, the brainwaves are most similar to waking, being relatively fast and low amplitude. This is quite different from Stage 3 sleep when the brainwaves are slow and high amplitude, hence the name “deep sleep” or “slow wave sleep.” Because the brainwaves are similar to waking we can have really complex, story-like dreams. Fortunately, our skeletal muscles are paralyzed, so we don’t act out our dreams.

REM sleep occurs more in the second half of the night than in the first half. It’s particularly prevalent around our core body temperature minimum, which often occurs about 4am. REM sleep purpose is two-fold. It helps with learning and memory, and also has a role in emotional regulation.