When healthy sleep happens, a cascade of events is occurring. Each stage of sleep seems to have a number of things happening that are vital for your long term health. This episode details what is happening in each stage, and what happens when you are deprived of sleep in the short or long term. The DNA in your brain cells gets signals that turn on and turn off various genes, and those impact so many things: your immunity, your ability to process memories, and your insulin resistance.  This, in turn, will impact the extra fat stores you carry or don't carry. Understanding the way sleep works can help motivate you to prioritize improving the habits that cultivate healthy sleep.