Practice meditation, mindfulness, journaling or simply reflection whenever you can. Put your devices away from time to time and you'd be surprised how much time you free up - and how much deeper you sleep.
For those of us who are waking up at odd times in the morning, more often than not, it's at the same time every day - sometime around 4am or 5am. This could be because of the simultaneous rise in cortisol levels and the brain's processing of emotional material early in the morning.
Increase your daylight exposure, preferably early in the morning. Light helps set your circadian rhythm and encourage better sleep at night. If you exercise, do it in the morning, when you're getting that morning light exposure — this will help your body recognize that it's time to be awake.
There are many reasons why you might be waking up too early. They include external factors, such as environmental disturbances like temperature, light, and noise. They also include internal factors, like your circadian rhythm, sleep disorders like sleep apnea, and/or medical issues, like heartburn.
Some individuals wake up at 4 or 5 with horrific anxiety attacks. This may be due to increased cortisol in the early morning, which causes greater stress in sensitive individuals. The anxiety may ease off as the person begins his/her daily routine.
Reasons this might happen include drinking caffeine or alcohol late in the day, a poor sleep environment, a sleep disorder, or another health condition. When you can't get back to sleep quickly, you won't get enough quality sleep to keep you refreshed and healthy.
If you consistently wake at 4 AM - it could be due to an imbalance in your Lungs, which is related to grief and sadness, fatigue, or reduced immune function.
If you can't fall asleep until 4 a.m., poor sleep hygiene habits like late-night caffeine and bright light could also be keeping you awake. You may have delayed sleep phase disorder, when your circadian rhythm runs later than usual.
If you wake in the middle of the night, instead of focusing on your worries… think about good things. By focusing on the things that make you happy you send all sorts of feel-good chemicals cascading through your body, reducing stress and tension and making it much more likely that you'll get back to sleep.
Tips for Reducing Morning Anxiety
For instance, you can engage in exercise, which increases endorphins, improves mental focus, and elevates mood. You can also practice meditation or mindfulness, which can improve ability to calm the mind and stop the cycle of anxious thoughts.
Therefore, Melatonin can effectively be used to reset your sleep cycle to a rhythm that functions well with your ideal lifestyle.
Melatonin is the only known hormone synthesized by the pineal gland and is released in response to darkness hence the name, “hormone of darkness” [10]. Melatonin provides a circadian and seasonal signal to the organisms in vertebrates.
There could be a variety of reasons why you are still tired after sleeping for 8 hours. It could be due to poor sleep quality, lifestyle factors such as stress, poor diet, and lack of exercise or an underlying health condition.
According to sleep specialists, most people actually wake up about 6 times per night, and one of those is usually around 2 or 3 am, depending on when they hit the hay. They also say that waking up at that time is just a sign that we have shifted from deep sleep to a lighter sleep where our brains are more active.
The main cause here is stress and high cortisol levels. See, our circadian rhythm directs our cortisol, an awakening hormone, to rise around 3am, in preparation for the next morning. However, if you cortisol levels are already high, which is a consequence of stress, then it's likely you will wake up.
Your sleep patterns
One likely explanation for waking up at the same time each night is that you go to sleep at the same time and then, at the same time each night, you reach a light stage of sleep and wake up. We're also more likely to remember waking up if it's closer to the time we normally get up for the day.
This technique asks you to find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. Using this with someone who feels anxious will help to calm them down and reduce their feelings of anxiety.
First, you may want to start with a simple deep breathing exercise called the 5-5-5 method. To do this, you breathe in for 5 seconds, hold your breath for 5 seconds, and then breathe out for 5 seconds. You can continue this process until your thoughts slow down or you notice some relief.