Easy and pleasant morning awakening is a sign of true health.It has long been known that the morning sets the tone for the whole day, people have noticed this in sayings: "as from morning until evening." How you wind your internal clock and set your mood determines your entire day. Alas, many every morning experience negative emotions, stress and struggle with themselves. Surprisingly, if you direct at least part of this energy not to violence against yourself, but to self-organization, then morning will become your favorite time of the day. And it's easier than you think. Moreover, you will learn that the usual alarm clock is more dangerous than it seems.

Negative action of the alarm clock.

1. Violation of circadian rhythms.

2. Increased stress and deterioration of mood.

Chronic stress associated with a sharp regular awakening also affects healthy people, provoking the development of various chronic diseases and reducing a person’s performance. Of course, such a forced awakening always spoils the mood.

3. Increases the risk of death.

Any stress increases the level of norepinephrine in the body - the hormone of fear and aggression, which makes the heart beat noticeably faster than in a state of peace of mind. With relatively light stress, the hormone of fear in the body grows 2.5-4 times, and with sudden noise - 15-20 times. The results of such an overload are palpitations, a sharp increase in blood pressure, shortness of breath, headache (a throw of blood into the brain causes rupture of thin head vessels). There is a threat of cardiac arrest, breathing, cerebral hemorrhage.

4. Shouldn't you use the snooze function!

A special button on the alarm clock that repeats the signal after a set time can do more harm than good. As a rule, your body begins to prepare for awakening in an hour. Body temperature rises, sleep becomes less deep; hormones like dopamine and cortisol begin to release to give you the energy you need.

The alarm signal often interrupts the sleep cycle and interrupts the course of all the above processes. If you don't have a regular sleep schedule, this kind of sudden waking up is especially undesirable. Your body is not quite ready to wake up yet.

The heavy morning inertia of sleep provokes you to press the snooze button. Your body can restart its sleep cycle and take you to deeper stages. Thus, the body will again begin to prepare for awakening - from scratch. Because of this, a second alarm can make you feel even more tired.

5. Get up on the wrong foot.

It is during these cycles that the most intensive recovery of resources expended throughout the day takes place. The fifth, final phase is the so-called. rapid eye movement is a unique period when the body has already regained strength and the body returns to the phase of light sleep.

Between cycles 1, 2 and 5, there is a higher chance that a person will wake up. Sleeping at this time is not only easier to wake up, but after waking up he will feel relatively alert and rested. If a person is awakened during phases 3 and 4, the state of health will be worse.

Scientists conducted an interesting study, according to the results of which, if any sound, action, or a simple alarm clock causes an untimely awakening during a deep sleep cycle, a person not only feels sleepy, but also reacts to stress with an active release of adrenaline.

For the same reason, during the day a person is more prone to stress, becomes very irritable, it is difficult for him to concentrate, his memory deteriorates, cognitive skills and vision suffer.

Over time, this can lead to neurological disorders, a significant decrease in the level of brain activity, and a decrease in the level of intelligence. A person feels overwhelmed, exhausted, depressed, which can lead to the development of depression.

Waking up is easy.

For many, the morning begins with an alarm clock, but this is far from the healthiest way to get up. Alarm clocks have been found to cause significant stress and can disrupt our internal clocks. The fact is that our sleep consists of separate cycles lasting an hour and a half, and each cycle consists of phases of deep and superficial sleep.

If you wake up in a deep sleep phase, you will be overwhelmed and exhausted, as the people say, "get up on the wrong foot." To get up easily, it is important to wake up in light sleep. Therefore, plan the duration of sleep, a multiple of one and a half hours, or use special devices (fitness bracelets, etc.) that wake you up in the right phase. If you wish, you can use the “internal alarm clock” - the subconscious, for this, before falling asleep, clearly imagine the time of awakening. And wake up a few minutes before the appointed time! And use the alarm clock only as insurance, wake up in a natural way, which will help you with the following simple rules.




The first two rules are the duration and mode of sleep. The main secret of easy awakening is sufficient time of quality sleep (7-8 hours). If you don't get enough sleep, you won't be able to wake up easily. And the secret to a good sleep schedule is consistent wake-up times, including weekends. It's simple: you go to bed when you want to sleep, and get up exactly at the same time. If you stay up late on the weekends, it throws off your internal clock.

The next two rules for easy awakening are light and temperature. And even if there is no sun outside the window, it is easy to make the sunrise at home yourself. You can use special light alarms that smoothly increase the illumination by the time you wake up. And as soon as you wake up, turn on as many lights as possible - this will allow you to get up even easier and recharge your batteries for the whole day. The correct temperature in the bedroom is also very important, because for sound sleep it is good if you sleep in a cool place. And it's easiest to wake up in the morning when the bedroom is cool enough. This can be arranged by opening a window in the kitchen, setting the windows to micro-ventilation mode, or reducing the intensity of heating in the apartment at night.

To make the morning calm, create a certain sequence of actions, your personal awakening ritual. Wake up in stages without jumping out of bed. Sit down, turn on the light, good music, stretch, enjoy the morning bliss. Think about a wonderful today, because the first minutes of the day are very important, make them as comfortable as possible for yourself. Think about the good things that are waiting for you today: maybe it's an important project, or maybe it's a trip to the bathhouse or a meeting with friends. Take an example from the cartoon characters Winnie the Pooh: “What do you think about in the morning, Piglet? - I think, I imagine, but what interesting things await me today?


And finally, I advise you every morning to think about what you wake up for. Ikigai means something that makes you wake up every morning with joy. Think about yourself, about your loved ones, about the most important thing in your life and be grateful for it. And may your every morning be truly good! Be healthy!

Napoleon Bonaparte slept very little. He went to bed between 10 and 12 pm and got up at 2 am to work. Around 5 am, the emperor went to take a nap for another couple of hours. Napoleon believed that only the seriously ill or fools could spend a lot of time in bed.

Maybe you should follow his example? I do not advise.

Proper sleep pattern

If you want to do great things, rest for about 8 hours a day. Otherwise, it is very likely that you will nod off at every turn. Professor A. Borbeli in the famous popular science book "Secrets of Sleep" says:

Most often there are people sleeping 8-9 hours, the second largest group is sleeping 7-8 hours. Only a negligible percentage of the population are those who sleep less than 4 or more than 10 hours.

It is necessary not only to fit into the norm, but also to take into account individual biorhythms. "Larks" fall asleep early and get up early, "owls" wake up late, but remain "in service" until late at night, "pigeons" do not show predominant activity in the morning or at night.

You can determine your own chronotype either by eye (you know your habits), or with the help of special psychological tests. The Horn-Ostberg test is considered a classic. It is easy to find on psychology portals.

The best time to wake up in the morning

It is perfectly natural for early risers to get up at 6-7 in the morning. They wake up easily and almost immediately find themselves able to work productively.

The optimal moment of rise for the "pigeons" is 8-9 hours. "Doves" often go to the university or to the service with sticky eyelids. "Owls" is even harder.

What time does the body of a late bird wake up? At 10-11. This is terribly inconvenient: try to find a job that is supposed to start at noon! In order to quickly recover from the alarm clock, the "owls" are forced to resort to various tricks. Someone is saved by a contrast shower, someone - by strong tea or black coffee.

The numbers I have mentioned are, of course, relative. Getting out from under the covers in late autumn or winter is always harder than in summer.

Doctor of Biological Sciences M.F. Borisenkov writes in the article “Time zones from the point of view of chronobiology” (“Chemistry and Life”, No. 1, 2013) that “ sunrise time still serves as the main timing signal for the human circadian system.”

The same idea is expressed by V.M. Kovalzon and V.B. A.N. Severtsov and the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology (“Wake-sleep cycle and human biorhythms under various regimes of alternating light and dark periods of the day” (materials of the conference “Health and education in the XXI century”, 2013):

Waking up after sunrise is a necessary physiological element of a person's well-being during the day and the normal functioning of all body systems.

Even people with an early chronotype ideally need to wake up after dawn - by the crow of roosters. The fact that the work schedule of most organizations remains the same throughout the calendar year does not interest nature.

When to go to bed?

The answer to the question "How much should the bainki fit?" Again, it depends a lot on the chronotype. It is convenient for "larks" to fall asleep at 21-22 hours, for "pigeons" - at 11, "owls" - at the second hour of the night.

In "owls" the last peak of activity falls on the period from 23:00 to 1:00. At night they manage to do a lot. When they don't have to set an alarm for 6 am, they can safely afford to stay up late at night. If an early rise is inevitable, they willy-nilly have to go to bed at least at twelve.

To facilitate the process of falling asleep in this case, the following measures help:

• turning off the computer 40 minutes before bedtime;
• warm bath with soothing essential oils;
• thorough ventilation of the room.

It’s good if the “owl” manages to deny itself an extra meal. You should not eat less than 2 hours before bedtime.

A well-thought-out diet is the most important component of the correct daily routine, which I am talking about.

What threatens lack of sleep?

Stories about people who get little sleep and stay healthy are rarely true.

For example, in the practice of the Scottish sleep specialist Ian Oswald, there was such a case. The scientist learned about a man who allegedly lost the need for sleep after a car accident and did not close his eyes for 10 years.

The man was invited to the laboratory. On the first day he slept only 20 minutes. For a couple more days, the living phenomenon was awake, but on the fourth day he snored loudly and rested sweetly until he was awakened. This man feigned severe insomnia to get compensation from an insurance company.

Sometimes people talk about being awake for weeks because they really have sleep disorders. They are unable to sleep deeply. However, even inadequate sleep gives the body a chance to recuperate in the slightest degree.

One-time severe lack of sleep leads to a very pronounced deterioration in well-being. In 1896, University of Iowa scientists Patrick and Gilbert published a report on the effects of 90 hours of sleep deprivation in three healthy young volunteers. Already on the second night, one of the subjects began to have perceptual disturbances up to hallucinations. It seemed to him that the floor was covered with a sticky, mobile substance, and colored specks were flying in the air. The participants of the experiment were disturbed by burning in the eyes, tremors, and impaired coordination of movements. Fortunately, all these horrors disappeared without a trace after a night of normal sleep.

Constant lack of sleepmuch more dangerous. Its consequences, such as lethargy and bad mood (see) are real flowers.

V. M. Kovalzon and V. B. Dorokhov - I have already mentioned their article about the wakefulness-sleep cycle - warn:

Chronically poor-quality and/or insufficient sleep increases daytime sleepiness and gradually leads to a wide range of changes in all nervous and neuroendocrine functions, including increased levels of stress hormones, cognitive and metabolic disorders, reduced immunity, increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

A.V. Shurlygina in the book "Fundamentals of Chronobiology and Chronomedicine in Tables and Diagrams" (2001) lists the typical consequences of desynchronosis in people working in shifts. The list includes gastrointestinal disorders, menstrual disorders, a high probability of injury.

From myself, as a woman and an author, I will add that due to lack of sleep, you can get fat. It was very difficult for me (link - an article about the problems of overweight people) when I lived in a hostel and slept without any regimen. Lack of sleep leads to very peculiar hormonal changes: a significant decrease in leptin levels, which reduces hunger, and an increase in blood levels of ghrelin, which exacerbates appetite.

Is it bad to sleep too much?

The American Society of Oncology in 1958-1960 conducted a large-scale study called Cancer Prevention Study II. More than a million people over the age of 30 participated in it. They completed a questionnaire about the duration and quality of sleep. Years later, it turned out that the best survival rates were demonstrated by people who slept 7 hours a day. Those participants who slept less than 6 hours died much more often. This is easy to understand: they were probably overtired.

Are you familiar with the constant translations of the alarm clock when your sleepy body is not at all ready for a vigorous rise? It turns out that the harsh morning wars between duty and the desire to get some more sleep are bad for your well-being, making you more sleepy and lethargic, but there are several ways to end this struggle.

In addition to being constantly late, there are at least two reasons why you should wean yourself from constantly setting your alarm clock off.

1. You are depriving yourself of normal, deep sleep.. Five to ten minutes after waking up, your body will not have time to fall into a deep sleep, so by setting the alarm clock early, you simply deprive yourself of ten minutes of restful sleep when the body recovers and relaxes.

2. You are wasting your willpower on unnecessary activities.. In his book Willpower: Rediscovering Man's Greatest Strength, psychologist Roy Baumeister suggested that everyone has a certain amount of willpower.

If you accept his hypothesis, it turns out that wasting willpower on getting out of bed, you will be more weak-willed during the day, and after all, proving your point of view, quitting bad habits, or making some other volitional effort can be much more important than fighting with yourself in bed, balancing on the verge of sleep.

It turns out that morning intermittent painful sleep brings you only harm - and you don’t get enough sleep, and deprive yourself of willpower. If you decide to give up alarm clock translations, here are a few tips to help you do it.

Wake up on time

Human sleep can be divided into two phases - fast, during which we see dreams, and slow, when the body completely relaxes and rests. If you wake up in the REM phase, you get up easily, feeling alert and fresh, while waking up in the slow phase is fraught with fatigue and alarm clock resets.

To understand in which phase of sleep to wake up, you can use the free application for iPad - Smart Alarm Clock HD Free: sleep phases. This application has an algorithm for calculating sleep phase and biorhythms, so you can wake up when your brain is working (REM sleep) and feel refreshed and rested.

Start new morning habits

Your new morning habits can be tied to a specific signal - this will help develop a conditioned reflex that will save you from alarm clock translations. For example, you decide to do exercises in the morning and you need to choose a signal that in the future will mean the beginning of morning exercises for you. Let's say you set your favorite happy tune to your alarm clock.

At first, you will have to try to get up on your own, because the habit has not yet developed, but you can help yourself in every possible way, for example, move the alarm clock two meters away so that you have to get out of bed to turn it off. Next to it, you can put things in which you will do exercises, which will remind you of your plans.

After a month of constant awakenings to one melody, you will develop a habit, and you will be assured of an upsurge without doubt or hesitation. As soon as your joyful morning music plays, you get up and put on your sports uniform before you realize how much you don't want to get up.

You better sleep well

If you went to bed late and didn't get much sleep, it's better to set your alarm for half an hour or an hour, instead of doing it every 10 minutes. Short falling asleep and waking up will not give you anything, and there is nothing good in pretending to wake up, it is better to sleep longer in peace.

Set yourself a reward

You can define something pleasant for yourself, some kind of incentive to get up in the morning.

For example, you can buy an interesting book and read it only in the morning, or allow yourself to visit social networks only in the morning. Then you will have a real incentive to get up without alarm clock translations, because every useless 10 minutes of sleep is 10 minutes of wasted morning pleasure.

Make it harder

If you just can't quit this habit voluntarily, just buy yourself an alarm clock that allows you to set yourself only one wake up time and never change it.

There are also alarm clock applications in which you need to solve a mathematical example to change the time or turn off, and the more repetitions, the more difficult the task.

Of course, if you go to bed well after midnight and then try to get up at six in the morning, and this is your regular regimen, none of the methods will be effective enough, but it's still worth a try.