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
New Sleep Staging Algorithm
How to Use the Nighttime Movement Graph
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. Find more information on our blog: Light Sleep: What Is It and What Are the Benefits?
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.
New Sleep Staging Algorithm
In May 2023, Oura began rolling out a new sleep staging algorithm for the Oura Ring Gen3. This new algorithm was developed to take advantage of the Gen3 ring's extra sensors and increased memory capacity in order to provide even more refined sleep stage detection.
Some Oura members with Gen3 rings may see changes to their data. With the added sensitivity of the new algorithm, it’s perfectly normal to see a different ratio of your sleep stages, especially an increase in light sleep. For most healthy individuals, light sleep accounts for >50% of a typical night of sleep and can account for up to 60% in older individuals.
While a lot of factors determine the magnitude of changes you’ll see in your data, HRV has a large impact depending on whether you have higher, average, or lower HRV.
- Members with higher HRV may see a large decrease in Deep, large increase in Light, small increase in REM, and little or no change in awake
- Members with average HRV may see a large decrease in Deep, large increase in Light, small decrease in REM, and little or no change in awake
- Members with lower HRV may see a large decrease in REM, large increase in Light, small decrease in Deep, and small increase in awake
Learn more about the heart rate variability (HRV) measurements taken by the Oura Ring here.
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.
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 your doctor or another 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.
More Information
REM Sleep: What Is It and How to Get More
Deep Sleep: What Is It and How to Get More
Light Sleep: What Is It and What Are the Benefits?
