Why Do We Wake Up?
Easily Explained
The simple answer to "why do we wake up?" is of course that something wakes us up. Usually the alarm unfortunately...
It could also be our partner, some bird twitter, some construction going on, a bad dream or anything else. But what I'm gonna try to clear out here is why we wake up naturally. I mean, even if you slept in the most comfortable bed without any disturbances you wouldn't sleep forever. So let's see what we can find to answer this mystery! The question we are really asking ourselves is...
How Do We Wake Up Naturally?
After each complete sleep cycle you will pass through the light sleep stage of your sleep. At this stage you will easily be woken up. What is important to note here is that it doesn't have to be some external disturbance that annoys you enough to wake you up.
Waking up naturally means that the ignition comes from within. We often talk about our biological clock and this is exactly what is at work here. So what does that really mean? It seems no one ever knows...
Well it's actually pretty simply really. One thing that for sure will wake us up is by having the habit to always wake up at the same time in the morning. The body will know. Yeah, it's true. It's the same phenomenon at play as when you sit down in the school bench and instantly feel tired. Don't think the body is just lost in time and events. No, no.
If you've ever woken up at the exact time for many days in a row, then you will have noticed that quite soon you start to wake up 5 minutes before the alarm. Amazing, right? As your time to wake up gets closer and closer, the body raises the body temperature back to normal, enters the light sleep stage and gets ready for a gentle wake up. In short, here are a few additional things going on in your body:
- Increased blood circulation
- Increased heart rate
- Quicker and louder breathing
- Hormones flood the brain the increase awareness
- Your organs get back to normal states
That's what happens inside the body and it's as simple as it is. We just have to accept that our bodies know what we are doing and what we are planning to do. The body likes habits and is fantastic at predicting events.
If you don't have the habit of waking up at the same time every day, then you might wake up naturally simply because the body has gone through enough sleep cycles and is charged to get moving. Even if you would want to, you couldn't sleep forever. Change of light might for example indicate to your body that it's time for a new day.
I hope I managed to give you some clarity on the "why do we wake up?" question. It's actually pretty simple.
Early Riser > How To Wake Up > Why Do We Wake Up
Thanks for reading! By Matthew M. McEwan
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