What it Means to Be a Light Sleeper and What You Can Do About It
Every little thing would wake her up: her son coming home and tip-toeing into his room; a barking dog down the street; the sub-pump turning on in the basement.
We call this being a "light sleeper."
Many people refer to themselves this way, while others are "deep sleepers," where nothing seems to wake them up.
But what does it mean to be a "light sleeper"?
Is it normal? Is your body telling you something when you wake up easily?
First of all, there are specific times during sleep when we are more easily woken up.
Over the night, we go through different stages of sleep.
These are categorized as light and deep sleep.
And — you guessed it — you can be easily woken during light sleep.
However, during deep sleep, it would be hard to wake you up and, if you were, it would take a while for you to get your bearings.
People who are "light sleepers" may be experiencing lighter light sleep.
Even though we all go through light sleep during the course of a night, this light sleep is protected so that we don't wake up so easily.
Known as "sleep spindles," this protection is a certain type of brainwave that overrides the sensory part of the brain that is able to notice things while we sleep.
People who are light sleepers may not produce enough of these sleep spindles to keep them asleep during the light sleep phase of the sleep cycle.
Even so, there are things you can do to protect your sleep.
My preferred solution is to wear earplugs at night.
I discovered earplugs way back when I was living in a studio apartment during my student days. The person living above me spent all night pacing back and forth in what sounded like high-heeled shoes.
It took some experimentation for me to find the type of earplug that felt comfortable (the bell-shaped orange ones).
I also soon realized that earplugs don't block out sound altogether, but they do muffle it. So a noise in the night that might otherwise jar you awake is muted and less likely to disturb you.
Ever since I have worn earplugs at night, I am no longer disturbed by the neighbor's dog, the fridge turning on and off all night, or my husband's occasional snoring.
Earplugs have been a godsend when I have traveled.
In a hotel room with strangers walking up and down the hallway outside my room, I can sleep peacefully.
When I want to sleep on a flight, I can cocoon myself in my own little sleep world with my earplugs in.
Are you a light sleeper but resist the idea of earplugs?
Many of my clients tell me they “don’t like earplugs”.
Here are the reasons they give me, and possibly you have similar a response to the idea.
Perhaps you are afraid that you won't wake up if you need to. Don't worry, earplugs don't block out all noise.
Perhaps you find them uncomfortable; then you may want to experiment with different types to find what could work for you.
It could be that you find they don’t block out all sound. True. However it is not sound that wakes you up, but your startle response to a jarring noise. The muffling effect of earplugs can keep you asleep.
You could think of them as an aid to the insufficient sleep spindles your brain is producing to help you stay asleep.
Wearing earplugs at night may take a bit of getting used to.
However, if you are a light sleeper, it is well worth it.
These little pieces of rubber can make the difference between getting a great night's sleep, or not.
Plus you don't have to be the person everyone has to tiptoe around at night for fear of waking you up.