Sleep Graphs – Oura Help

Use Sleep Graphs in the Sleep tab to interpret your sleep cycles, sleep efficiency, and overall restfulness. The Oura App includes the following:

Sleep stage hypnogram: a breakdown of the stages of sleep you entered (awake, REM, light, and deep)
Nighttime movement graph: how much, and when, you moved during your sleep

You can also use an iOS widget to put the hypnogram on your Apple device's home screen.

How to Use the Hypnogram
How to Use the Nighttime Movement Graph
Sleep Staging FAQs
How to Use the Hypnogram Widget
Things to Keep in Mind
More Information

How to Use the Hypnogram

A hypnogram is a graph of sleep cycles throughout the night. In the Oura App, your hypnogram can be found in the Sleep tab beneath the sleep contributors.

Sleep cycles typically consist of ~90 minute groupings, each containing some amount of light, deep, and REM sleep. But keep in mind that sleep varies from person to person, so a sleep cycle may not always have all three stages, and may not always last 90 minutes.

The average amount of time spent in each sleep stage is:

Awake: 2-5%
Light: 45-55%
Deep: 13-23%
REM: 20-25%

Try to optimize for less awake time and more restorative (deep/REM) sleep. Also keep in mind that light sleep is not "wasted sleep." Half your sleep is usually light sleep, and it is a natural and healthy part of the sleep cycle.

The number above the hypnogram is your "Time asleep." This is not the same as your total time in bed, which may include periods of time awake. For adults, it is recommended to get 7-9 hours of time asleep per night.

Things to look out for:

More REM sleep than normal: This may be a sign you’re recovering from prolonged sleep deprivation. Check out our blog for tips on getting more REM sleep.
More deep sleep than normal: This may be the result of a recent hard workout, or behavioral changes you’ve implemented to improve your sleep quality. See this blog article for more ways to increase deep sleep.

How to Use the Nighttime Movement Graph

The nighttime movement graph is located directly beneath your hypnogram in the Oura App's Sleep tab. Tap the icon to expand or collapse your nighttime movement graph.

Vertical lines on the graph each represent five minute increments and correlate with movement in your sleep—the more movement, the taller the line. Short lines can indicate tossing and turning or general restlessness. Tall lines may correlate to times when you were awake. Compare your nighttime movement graph to the hypnogram to see which sleep stage was associated with the amount of motion.

Very low movement typically correlates to long periods of deep or REM sleep, a good sign of high-quality rest. More information about the nighttime movement graph can be found on our blog.

Sleep Staging FAQs

How Do I Join the New Sleep Staging Beta?

The Beta is now live for all Oura Gen3 members. The new sleep staging Beta is not available to Gen2 users because the new sleep staging algorithm was developed for the Gen3 ring, which has upgraded memory and additional sensors that enable it to power this more sensitive sleep staging algorithm. If you’re in the Beta, feel free to let us know your feedback here.

How Do I View My Sleep Staging Data?

Tap on the Sleep tab in the Oura App. During the Beta, the toggle above your sleep staging graph gives you the option to see your hypnogram using either the current algorithm (displayed with a black background) or the new sleep staging algorithm (displayed with a blue background).

Select the icon next to the toggle for more information on specific changes to each stage of your sleep, and to view side-by-side comparisons of your data from the night before.

Why Are My Sleep Score and Sleep Contributors Not Updated?

We are working directly with members to fine-tune how we translate the new sleep staging results into guidance like your Sleep Score, contributors, and insights messages within the app. During the Beta, the new sleep staging algorithm does not impact your Scores, contributors, and related insights messages. You can see both sleep staging algorithms in your Sleep tab by using the "New Sleep Staging Beta" toggle switch located above your sleep stage hypnogram.

Why Has My Deep/REM/Light Sleep Changed?

With the added sensitivity of the new sleep staging algorithm, you can expect to see changes to the amount of time spent in each sleep stage. While these changes may take time to adjust to, our hope is that delivering this added accuracy is the most valuable update we can make for our members.

Here are the changes you can expect below or read more about the patterns the ring looks for in each sleep phase. While a lot of factors determine the magnitude of changes you’ll see in your data, HRV has a large impact and can make it easier to predict what you’ll see in your own data based on whether you have higher, average, or lower HRV.

Members with higher HRV: Large decrease in Deep, large increase in Light, small increase in REM, and little or no change in awake
Members with average HRV: Large decrease in Deep, large increase in Light, small decrease in REM, and little or no change in awake
Members with lower HRV: Large decrease in REM, large increase in Light, small decrease in Deep, and small increase in awake

How Accurate Is the New Algorithm?

During the Beta, you’ll be able to see both the current algorithm (displayed with a black background) and the new sleep staging algorithm (displayed with a blue background).

Oura's current algorithm was validated against the gold-standard sleep laboratory test, polysomnography (PSG), and matches performance with other commercial wearables. As science and technology advances, however, we’re capable of delivering more accurate hardware and algorithms. Oura's newest, upgraded sleep staging algorithm represents a leap forward in wearable sleep staging accuracy, achieving 79% agreement with PSG. Both algorithms uphold high accuracy standards that Oura has set for itself.

You can read more about our peer-reviewed validation on the blog as well as details about how the algorithm was developed on one of the largest global datasets to date, including a diverse range of sleeping patterns, physiology, and more.

How to Use the Hypnogram Widget

There are three available iOS widgets (small, medium, and large) available to display the most recent night of data on your device's home screen. These are available to Oura members using iOS devices and any generation Oura Ring.

The widgets display:

Small: sleep stages
Medium: sleep stages and sleep/wake time
Large: sleep stages, sleep/wake time, and ring battery status

To install a sleep graph widget:

Touch and hold your device's home screen
Tap the Add (+) button
Select a widget and widget size
Tap Done

Things to Keep in Mind

The Oura Ring is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, monitor, or prevent medical conditions or illnesses. Please do not make any changes to your medication, daily routines, nutrition, sleep schedule, or workouts without first consulting a medical professional
Every body is different. Instead of trying to hit specific numbers, keep an eye on changes in your data compared to your baselines and overall trends
Make use of tags and trends to see what factors may be impacting your sleep