Have you ever woken up, looked at the clock and realized that there were only a few minutes left until the alarm went off? Or did you open your eyes just as it was about to ring, before you heard it?

This sensation can seem almost unbelievable. It’s like our body has a built-in alarm clock that knows when to wake us up. However, there is no mystery behind this phenomenon. Our body has an extremely accurate system for regulating sleep and wakefulness, and can predict when we would normally wake up.

One of the key mechanisms is the circadian rhythm, an internal biological rhythm that follows roughly a 24-hour cycle.

It affects much more than just sleep. It determines when we are sleepy, when we are most alert, how our body temperature changes and even when certain hormones are secreted in larger or smaller amounts.

The master clock of this system is located in a part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. It receives information about light from the eyes and uses it to help the body distinguish between day and night.

This is why our bodies, even when we are not looking at the clock, can prepare to wake up at a certain time. If we wake up around the same time every morning, our bodies begin to recognize a pattern.

For example, if we wake up at 6:30 on weekdays, after a while the body begins to prepare to wake up earlier. Sleep becomes easier, certain bodily functions change and the hormonal system begins to gradually put us into a state of wakefulness.

Cortisol is particularly important, a hormone that participates in the body’s response to stress, but also plays an important role in normal morning awakening. Its level begins to rise naturally before we wake up.

Therefore, waking up should not feel like an immediate transition from deep sleep to a fully awake state. The body often warms up for awakening while we are still asleep.

If the brain expects us to wake up at 7:00 and the alarm is set for exactly that time, it is possible that we are in a lighter stage of sleep several minutes earlier. Then a small internal or external stimulation is enough to open our eyes.

Source: prizrenpost