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Do you ever wonder why some mornings you wake up full of energy and others you wake up exhausted even when you’ve slept for the same amount of time? It could be to do with how you woke up.
Not being a morning person myself my alarm clock is my worst enemy! I really hate it. The mere sound of it stresses me out. I normally snooze it for at least an hour which drives the other half insane.
I started to do a bit of investigating into effective morning routines and I found some interesting facts that I thought I’d share with you today.
According to research waking, naturally could be the answer to waking up every morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
In order to understand why waking naturally is good for your wellbeing it’s important to first understand the different stages of sleep.
The 5 Stages of Sleep
Stage One & Two – Light sleep. This is the stage between sleep and wakefulness. Breathing becomes more regular and the heart rate slows. Your body is preparing itself for sleep. During these stages, you can be woken easily.
Stage Three & Four – Deep Sleep or Delta Sleep. During this stage there are no eye movements or muscle activity. It’s very difficult to wake someone in deep sleep.
Stage Five – REM Sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) Your breathing becomes more rapid and shallow. You eyes may jerk rapidly and your muscles are temporarily paralysed. Brain waves during this stage are similar to when a person is awake, this is why you dream during the REM stage.
A typical sleep cycle takes 90 to 110 minutes.
The human body is designed to wake during the light sleep stages. This means that if we use an alarm to wake ourselves up at a specific time we are gambling on whether it will be during a light stage, during deep sleep or REM sleep.
If you wake during deep sleep you will feel groggy and tired before you even start your day.
Sleep Science
The National Insitute of Health in Japan conducted a study on sleep. They found that the participants that were woken suddenly had higher blood pressure and a faster heart rate than the participants that were allowed to wake naturally.
How to Wake Naturally
There are lots of ways that you can train your body to wake naturally. Below I have highlighted three of them.
Use your Body’s Natural Circadian Rhythm
One way that has proven to be very effective is to learn to use your body’s natural circadian rhythm or body clock effectively. This is your body’s natural system that regulates feelings of alertness or sleepiness over a 24 hour period.
In order to ditch the alarm, you need to create a consistent rhythm for the day. For example get up at the same time every morning, eat at the same time every day and go to bed at the same time every night.
You can actually train your body to wake at the same time every day. It’s worth noting here though that this system will not work if you don’t get enough sleep in the first place.
Related Post: Hypnosis for Stress Relief & Better Sleep
Interesting fact! A sleep deprived person demonstrates similar traits to an intoxicated person! Which shows just how important a good nights sleep is.
Get a Sunrise Clock
Another way to wake naturally is to use a *Sunrise Clock or a dawn simulator alarm clock if you want to get technical. These devices brighten gradually in the morning to mimic natural sunrise.
These alarm clocks wake you gently as the light is a cue for your body to reduce the production of sleep hormones. They increase your level of cortisol which encourages you to wake naturally.
Benefits of Waking Up to a Sunrise Clock
- Reduces drowsiness
- Reset body clock
- No annoying alarm
- Doubles as bedside lamp
- Wake up gradually
- Back up alarm (just in case you don’t wake up!)
Remove Window Dressings
One extreme way to wake naturally is to remove any curtains or blinds from your bedroom windows. However, this can have its drawbacks. If it’s a full moon it can stream through your room all night causing disturbed sleep. Noise from neighbours can be louder and in the summer months, it can get light very early causing you to wake earlier than you wanted to.
So what do you think? Would you give natural waking ago?
You may also like: 10 Ways to Increase your Wellbeing + 50 Affirmations That Will Change Your Life!
I’m currently working on waking earlier and would love or it to be natural. I already have a sunrise clock but actually don’t benefit from it as I’ve learnt I sleep a lot better when I wear an eye mask so it is always dark in my sleep world.
Hi, Kate!
I also wear an eye mask to bed now and I sleep a lot better with it on. Although I find it’s never still on my head when I wake in the morning. Clearly, I’m a restless sleeper! 🙂
I like the idea of using the sunrise clock but would be nervous to wake without an actual alarm clock! Fortunately, our 7 year old allows us to lie in generally at the weekends. perhaps I should get up at the normal time!