Is stress really that ingrained that it can wake you up at the same time every morning?

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I am in a pretty stressful college teaching job and since things got heavy, I wake at 04:12 every morning. I’m on medication for it during the day, but it’s not helping my sleep patterns. Is stress really that precise?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

In my experience, yes. I think what’s also relevant is sleep cycles, diet and any medicines that you are taking.

A few considerations:

* The body has an internal clock. In good health, it’s not uncommon for people to wake up a moment before the alarm rings.
* Our bodies cycle through stages of sleep. Some people are more prone to waking up in-between cycles.
* Drugs like Ambien help reduce the thoughts running around in our head so it can rest. Stress sometimes pushes overflow into the mix. Xanax can calm things, but they benzos in general do not help the body accomplish restorative sleep. Same with alcohol.
* Stress is no good for sleep because it increases cortisol. High and low cortisol levels can impact sleep and cause you to wake. Cortisol levels are usually their lowest by 4 a.m. and high again by 9.
* Has a healthy diet and exercise become less regular? Has restlessness set in, or perhaps insomnia? You’ll know it when it happens, but staying ahead of the game involves calming the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) so your body can ‘rest and digest’. You’ll also want to tone your parasympathetic nervous system by doing things like deep breathing or intentional breathing, yoga, chanting and other exercises that encourage healthy mental focus, breathing and circulation. Once you learn to influence your body and mind with these simple things then you’ll have more stamina than if you (For example) were complete stressed out and having panic attacks and muscle spasms.

Beyond precise, stress is also very complex. If you have a lot of stress, make an attempt to be actively mindful of your self-talk — especially any ruminating thoughts. Instead of thinking of or validating stress by claiming “I am stressed,” I reframe my thoughts to think “How can I manage my time more effectively? I can only do one thing at a time and I need to focus on the task, not on my worries. I’ll apply myself and do my best and it’s not worth worrying about an outcome if it’s the best I am able to arrive at.” This helps me reduce the amount of stress I carry throughout my day.

TL/DR? Yes, stress can easily cause habits like waking up at 4 a.m. but it’s easy to turn around by focusing on states of rest and managing thought patterns.

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