Improve your sleep. Improve your wake up.

Why you should not use a standard alarm clock or sleep tracker for waking up

Many people have problems waking up in the morning. They hit the snooze button over and over but they just can’t get out of bed. And if they finally stand up they do not really feel awake. They go to bed early enough, sleep through the night but still in the morning they feel like ripped from their sleep. This happens when the alarm clock went off while you were in a deep sleep phase. The ringing of the alarm clock signals a potential threat to your brain which requires you to wake up immediately. You whole body goes into alarm mode ready to avert any danger. So your body had no time to prepare for wake-up and is stressed additionally by the alarm tone.

On the weekend when you do not use an alarm clock your brain can control the wake-up process. Humans are still oriented strongly on the sunrise. We can sense daylight even with closed eyes. If we have slept enough hours at this time than our body will prepare for wake-up by going into a light sleep phase. Opening the eyes from this light sleep phase is a totally different wake-up experience. So the key for a refreshed wake-up is daylight and a light sleep phase.

Sleep tracker apps try to improve your wake-up by analyzing your sleep pattern, identifying the light sleep phase and waking you up in the right moment. You usually need to put your phone or tablet into your bed so that it recognizes any movements and sounds during the night. But what if you need to wake up on 6:30 but you are on a light sleep phase on 6:10? Then a sleep tracker app will wake you up at 6:10 because otherwise on 6:30 you could be in a deep sleep phase. But that is 20 minutes earlier than you need to stand up! Also, if you have a sleep disorder than it is not wise to deal with statistics about your sleep and have your phone in the bed.

Why is a Gentle Wakeup better than an alarm clock or sleep tracker?

The app Gentle Wakeup satisfied both requirements for a pleasant wake-up experience: Daylight and a light sleep phase. If you need to wake up at 6:30 than the app will start a sunrise 20 minutes before with slowly increasing light. If you are in a deep sleep phase than you will change to the light phase until 6:30. And if you are already in a light sleep phase than you will stay in it until 6:30. Either way you can wake up exactly on the point and still feel refreshed when opening your eyes. The increasing light effect is supported by slowly increasing gentle sounds and vibrations which is useful for the summer time when it is already bright in your room in the morning. Natural sounds have a similar effect in getting you gently out of deep sleep phases.

In case you do not have the app yet you can download it from here:

Continue reading: How to wake up more refreshed in the morning with the app “Gentle Wakeup”

See a preview of all Articles here: Articles

Has Gentle Wakeup helped you in falling asleep faster? Then please share this article to help others.