Are you troubled by not being able to wake up early in the morning even after sleeping early or putting numerous alarms. There is a minor fact of huge importance that is often ignored. Biologically, we are not sructured to sleep long! We are structured to sleep whenever we feel sleepy and wake up whenever we feel that sleep is completed. Former is driven by the release of hormones which induce sleep and latter by the ones waking you up.
The 8 hour sleep cycle is the brain child of industrial and agricultural revolution which focuse on draining the maximum energy at the peak hours of your circadian rhythm – 09 am to 05 pm. This routine needs the person to sleep in the remaining hours to work the next day efficiently. Actually we were designed to sleep in smaller intervals throughout the day. Just observe your sleeping pattern on a long holiday of 2-3 days.
But one fact is real that morning rays are made to wake us up, increase the glucose levels and blood pressure. Then what is the reason that waking up has become a task in itself in the modern lives.
LACK OF ACCESS OF SUNLIGHT
Our rooms are designed so that they separate us from the outside environment. The lighting inside and tempratures conditioned virtually take us to a different world. The morning sunlight rarely enters the bedroom to ever cause the waking up effect. We should make such an arrangement in the room that the rays of sun in the morning fall on our faces. This is the first step.
EATING LATE AND OVEREATING
In the primate days, most of the activities seized at the last light as there were no bulbs to light the nights up. Any venture into the jungles after last light was full of life threatening dangers. All eating was finished before last light or some time into the twilight. Now a days we eat beyond the normal biological and evolutionary limits of our bodies, even around 1000pm to 12 in in the night. The common belief that waking up early requires going to bed early is a biological misunderstanding.
Waking up early is fundamentally driven by your metabolic state and light exposure, not just your bedtime. When you overeat or consume food late at night, your body diverts vital energy away from cellular repair and deep sleep to power your digestive tract. This metabolic disruption causes chronic morning fatigue and prevents early waking. While light regulates the brain, food availability regulates peripheral organs like the liver, stomach, and pancreas. An empty stomach signals the body that it is time to hunt or forage. The hormone ghrelin rises, acting as a powerful evolutionary wake-up signal that sharpens cognitive focus and drives physical movement.
Even if you have slept for 4 hours in the night….. An empty stomach and morning sun will push you into waking up early in the morning. In other words, eat early (by 07:30 pm) and eat light. No snacking is to be done hereafter. Keep your curtains open for sunlight to come inside. This will increase the probability of you waking up early manifolds.
Comment if you have ever waken up naturally……..
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