Are Alarms A Healthy Way To Wake Up?

Earlier this week, I was shocked awake by my alarm again. As I sat there, my heart pounding in my chest, I thought "Are alarms even a healthy way to wake up?"

I mean surely it's not healthy to be dragged from your sleep by a blaring alarm, anxious and with a pounding heart. It can't be a great way to start your day.

So I got researching and here's what I found:

Alarms are effective. But they're not healthy.

Here's why:

Sleep is divided into 2 phases — Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM). During sleep, you cycle through both of these phases every 90 minutes. And your body repeats this 4-5 times per night until eventually you wake up, feeling rested.

But when your alarm goes off, the shock disrupts this cycle.

So instead of smoothly moving through these phases to wake up refreshed, you're jolted awake mid cycle. It's like slamming the brakes on a speeding car—you stop abruptly, but the sudden jolt leaves everything rattled and unsteady. Leaving you groggy and disoriented.

This shock causes a surge of adrenaline and cortisol. The adrenaline pumps into your blood, triggering your fight or flight response. Increasing your heart rate and blood pressure. Cortisol drives your blood sugars up and puts your nervous system on edge. Leaving you tense and irritated at the slightest agitation.

Instead of feeling refreshed, you wake up reactive, stressed and on guard.

So we've gone through why alarm clocks aren't healthy, but my research didn't stop there.

I wanted to find a better way to wake up.

The good news is there's things you can do in the morning that can counteract the effect of an alarm. Exercises that can help settle my nervous system so I can start the day refreshed.

Here's 3 things you can do in the morning to help reset your nervous system and start your day feeling refreshed:

1. Breathe

You can use your breath to control the nervous system.

When you're stressed and tense, you breathe faster. When you're relaxed, you breathe slower. By focusing on and changing your breathing you can put your body into the state you want. Doing slow mindful breathing when you wake up, puts your body back into a relaxed state.

So you can start your day calm, refreshed and with a clear mind.

A simple exercise you can do when you wake up is called box breathing.

Check out this video for a guided box breathing exercise.

2. Meditation

When you're anxious and tense, you're more prone to worry, ruminate and get stressed easily.

Meditation exercises release tension and anxiety. When you're focused in the moment, you're drawn away from your thoughts. It gives you mental space that allows your mind and body to relax.

You don't need to be a zen expert to take advantage of this. There's plenty of guided YouTube videos to help you.

Here's one that I've found useful:

3. Movement

Start your day with some form of movement, like yoga or stretching.

When you do Light exercise, like Yoga, it releases endorphins. These hormones activate receptors in the brain that create a feeling of calm. When you're calmer, you're less reactive and can think clearer.

Modern life is demanding and high paced. It's bound to stress you. Waking up the wrong way can only make it more stressful. You're already on edge before you've even got your feet on the ground.

The great thing with all these exercises is they're beneficial even if you do just a few minutes a day. Pick one. Do it first thing in the morning. Start your day strong.

Wake up better. Start your day calmer, less reactive and more resilient.

Give it a try this week and let me know how it goes.