Hi there, it's Matt here and welcome back to the podcast. Today we're going to do a deep dive

into REM sleep and all of the different ways that you can try to increase or enhance the amount

of REM sleep that you're getting. And of course, as many listeners know, REM sleep is

that fascinating stage where your brain will light up in terms of its activity. Your eyes under

the closed eyelids will start to dart back and forth, left and right, left and right. That's

where it gets its name, by the way, rapid eye movement

sleep. And that is the principal stage in which we have vivid, florid, and incredibly narrative

rich dreams. And today we're going to explore everything from pills to practices that can help

increase this vital stage of sleep.

And more specifically, we'll go through pharmacological methods for REM sleep enhancement,

behavioral methods for REM sleep enhancement, lifestyle factors that can alter and augment

your REM sleep, as well as some really exciting advanced new technologies

for boosting your REM sleep. Let's set the stage. For healthy adults, REM sleep typically

takes up somewhere between about 18 to 25% of your total sleep time. And that range is dependent on your age and some degree your sex,

but for the most part, your age. And as we get older, our REM sleep declines a little bit,

but not actually that much. The stage of sleep, which by the way, we'll do another podcast on, which is

how to get more deep sleep. That's coming. That's down the pike. Don't worry. But deep sleep

takes a dramatic decline as we age. But REM sleep remains somewhat stable, but for many people

that are always interested in how to enhance this

stage of sleep. A caveat as well, often when I'm out in the public and doing sort of speaking

events and such, people will come up to me and they'll say, well, how can I get more REM sleep

or how can I get more deep sleep? And I ask them a question. I say, why? And they'll say, well,

...