袁瑞

At Night

晚上

Snug3） in your bed， you are about to drift off to sleep4）， when suddenly you feel like you are falling. Maybe you even dream you are plunging5） off a cliff. Your bodyjerks6）， perhaps you wake up. Whats happening？ Well， you are falling ... asleep， that is. Your body relaxes， but your brain is still alert， and when your muscles become less tense， your brain senses that you are in danger of falling. To save you， your brain sends a signal： "Hey， muscles， straighten up！" As your muscles obey， your body snaps to attention7）. Youve just experienced a hypnic8）， or sleep， jerk， a perfectly normal way to "fall" asleep.

It usually takes about 15 or 20 minutes to fall asleep， but first you have to find the most comfortable position. Some people sleep on their backs and some on their stomachs. Most people curl up in the "fetal9）" position. Other people assume more bizarre positions， such as on elbows and knees or completely wrapped in the sheets （"The Mummy"）. You may move as many as 35 times a night， but normally you will fall asleep in the same position and probably return to it or a version of it quite often.

Soon a loud growling sound shatters10） the peaceful night. Your uvula11） shakes and your adenoids12） quake13） and your tonsils14） quiver. What？ You are snoring. Some kids snore when nasal passages and glands15）， such as adenoids and tonsils， get swollen or stuffed up. When this happens， you must breathe through your mouth， and as you suck in air， it makes the soft tissue at the back of your throat vibrate， causing that raspy16） snoring sound. The bad news is you may snore more as you get older， especially if you are a boy. The good news is that snoring is not usually a serious problem， unless of course you wake up your younger brother.

Some sleepers get really busy during the first few hours of the night， before they even start dreaming. Sleepwalking， sleep talking and even bedwetting17） can be caused by a kind of disagreement between your brain and your body. For instance， the brain of a sleepwalker wants to stay awake， while his or her body is in a deep sleep. Sleepwalkers keep their eyes open and appear to be able to see where they are going， but they are sound asleep. Although they sometimes leave the house or wake up in strange places， most sleepwalkers just wander around for a few minutes and then return to bed without ever waking up.

Im Falling ... Asleep我要坠入……梦乡啦

Get Comfortable调整到舒服的睡姿

你舒服地躺在床上，整个人迷迷糊糊的，就快要睡着了，忽然间你感觉自己正在坠落。也许你甚至梦见自己从悬崖上掉了下来。你的身体猛地一抽，你可能就此醒来。什么情况？哦，你正在坠入……睡梦中，就是这样。你的身体虽然放松了，可你的大脑还很警觉，于是当你的肌肉变得没那么紧绷时，你的大脑就会察觉到你有跌落的危险。为了救你，大脑会发出指令：“嘿，肌肉们，给我绷直了！”随着你的肌肉服从命令，你的身体就会立刻变得警觉。你刚刚所经历的是在半梦半醒之际或者熟睡之时发生的抽动——一种十分正常的“坠入”睡梦的方式。

通常情况下，入睡需要约15或20分钟，但首先你得找到最舒服的睡姿。有的人仰着睡，有的人趴着睡。大多数人会像“胎儿”似的蜷着睡，其他人则采用更奇怪的睡姿，比如用胳膊肘和膝盖撑着身体，或是用被单把自己全部裹起来（像个“木乃伊”）。每晚你可能会翻动35次之多，但通常都会以相同的姿势睡着，而且很可能会频繁地翻回到这个睡姿或者与其相似的睡姿。

很快，响亮的呼呼声就打破了宁静的夜晚。你的小舌在颤，腺样体在震，扁桃体在抖。怎么回事？你在打呼噜。有的孩子会在鼻道以及像腺样体和扁桃体这样的腺体肿胀或堵塞时打呼噜。遇到这种情况，你就必须用嘴来呼吸，当你吸入空气时，会让位于喉咙后部的软组织振动，致使你发出那恼人的鼾声。不妙的是，随着年龄渐长，你可能会打得更多，如果你是男孩的话，就更会如此了。