For whatever reason, my body has suddenly decided that four a.m. is the optimal time to wake up. I think it started with noise from my neighbor one morning, and here I am, a week or so in, and it is still happening. I HATE it. It drives me insane that I wake up at this time every night. It's not like I can't get back to sleep it's just, I like to sleep through the night, and that is normally something that I do.

Any tips/tricks to resolve this? I'm just not sure what to do to stop this pattern. I thought it would quit on its own but it hasn't.

Has anything else about your sleep habitats changed? Have you been going to bed earlier or later maybe? Getting to bed earlier might be making your body easily wake up earlier.

The only thing I can think of is to try to mentally prepare yourself before bed, by NOT thinking about the 4am wake up or getting nervous about it. Focus on just going to sleep, and thinking how you will wake up at say, 8:00am.

Since you can get back to sleep fine, it doesn't seem like some kind of crazy problem. You just might be overthinking it and your brain is responding by changing its circadian rhythm.

Nothing has changed which is why I can't quite pinpoint a reason.

I wake up by alarm at 9:30 am every morning so I suppose I never think of when I will wake up. I'll have to focus on that.

I'll have to try and make sure my mind isn't on it and focus more on when I want to wake up rather than this. As a kid I used to be able to lock in times I wanted to wake but that seems to have passed. I'll have to try again.

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If just natural things aren't helping you, such as breathing and meditating, listening to relaxing music, etc., then you can try some natural things, such as melatonin and valerian root extract (both of which you can get from places like The Vitamin Shoppe), or even chamomile tea can help.

I'd definitely suggest just breathing, meditating, listening to relaxing music, or something like that though first c:

Not to be a total creeper, but did you end up waking up at 4am again or did you manage to sleep through night? D:

Segmented sleep is actually extremely normal and is in fact the way we evolved to sleep naturally. If it's not causing you to be extremely tired, and you don't have any trouble falling back asleep I wouldn't worry too much about it :)

Sorry I can't be of more help!

I actually do have chamomile buds kicking around. Leftover from my last good natural health shop. :) Thanks for the ideas! I tried just reading last night. Normally I read, listen to some music, or watching cooking shows or asian food unwrapping (sounds nutty) videos on youtube. I need to work on meditation. Every time I get into it I end up 'pathworking' and it ends up being more energy building than relaxing!

I had no idea about that! This whole thing is rather new and strange so it seems abnormal since I never wake up.

Ha ha, that's okay! I woke up again, only at 3:30 this time. It was a rough night actually because I was in quite a bit of unusual pain. Was a busy day though so that's why. I never knew about

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I've had LOTS of sleep issues, so I understand what you're dealing with haha.

Yeah I understand that meditating can be hard!! It's taken me a while to be able to do it, and I still have issues a lot xD It's really easy to get distracted, agh. If you just focus on your breathing, that can be good. Like, 4 counts in, hold for 8, 8 out, or whatever numbers work for you, but if you focus on that, that can be helpful. You can also tense and relax all the muscles in your body & focus on starting at your toes and working up, that can be useful too. Something else that helps me have better sleep is just doing some simple yoga poses before I go to sleep. You can look here or here for some good ones ^___^

I love reading so I totally understand how that helps too c: Reading anything good?

Also, I hope I'm helping at least a little XD

I do the tensing thing sometimes or I'll also vibrate. Start at the toes and start vibrating everything up to the top of my head, which I have to remember to do more. Thank you for those two pages! All the poses are described really well which makes it easier to understand. I'll have to try them. I've been meaning to get into yoga because of joint and spinal problems but I keep ending up not doing anything.

Erotic fiction and Japan travelogues! And cooking journeys. Untangling My Chopsticks was really enjoyable! Right now I'm on a nonfiction kick.

You are, thank you! You're giving me good ideas and reminding me of some things I know but don't think of enough.

Aw, I'm sorry your sleeping still isn't better. ;_; I hope the pain goes away for you tonight.

Hey...just a thought: you aren't waking up because you are hungry, are you?

Thanks! ^^

Hm, don't think so! I don't remember being hungry.

I had the same problem as you back three months ago! It kept happening for at least two weeks. 4am was my waking time also, so I totally get how horrible it feels!

My boyfriend suggested for me to try lavender oil every night for a week or something to get myself relaxed before sleeping. That way my mind would relax so I could have a good night sleep! :) Turns out his suggestion worked! After a week I began to not wake up at 4am anymore!

So I would definitely suggest lavender oil because it has worked for me. Basically all you do is sprinkle some on your pillow and blankets. I usually apply a bit on my temples and back of my neck. Lavender oil also works really well when I get headaches! c:

I used to have crappy sleep rhythms - not just waking up periodically, but also difficulty in fall asleep (for up to 7 hours)! Best way I found to guarantee myself a good night's sleep was to fall asleep doing something! my top 3 ways are: put a movie on quietly, read a book or just have sex! Make yourself EXHAUSTED so you just roll over, shut your eyes and wake up when the alarm rings out! ^-^

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Haha I totally understand. ___ It can be so easy just not to do it (that's how I am, oops). I've been a little better about it recently because it does help relax me so hopefully that helps you too!! I'm sorry you have pains, ick. I understand how it is to feel crappy all the time, so I'm sorry you have that too! Dx

Huh, I read fantasy & fiction mostly, but I'll have to check those out ;O I love cooking & baking, but if I read stuff or look at magazines, I always end up getting hungry LOL. ;____;

Thank you for the info and suggestions! Last night I woke up again. You know, the lavender suggestion is a great one and when I was like fourteen I had a collection of essential oils I'd smell before bed and I remember it was a great part of my nightly ritual. I'll have to try it again when I get the money. Honestly, I need something to combat my neighbour's weed smell.

Untangling My Chopsticks was actually really great in that it included some recipes, but it was more the story of her life in Japan for a year. She studied tea ceremony cooking. Give it a whirl if you can find it! I keep renting it from the library to re-read because I find it like an inspirational thing. It's what I've wanted to do for a long time. I wasn't expecting it to have its contents when I got it from the cooking area!

Definitely get some lavender as soon as you can! I think lavender will work for you if it did back then! c:

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That actually sounds really interesting! So it's like a cultural sort of thing? I think I'll definitely check it out! You want to travel and immerse yourself in a culture somewhere? Is it Japan, or somewhere else? :o

Yes! It's a sort of biographical about her life leaving New York and going there to the land her grandparents vacationed in and always spoke so highly of. She went there to learn about a certain cooking form and it talks about her life there, the culture shock, the food, the relationships she built, her work. It's a great in depth look without being too pretentious or obnoxious. It covers Japan. I'd love to go to Japan and live and work. I think it would be the greatest way to get involved in the culture!

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That sounds really interesting ___ I like learning about different cultures haha. I want to travel around the world when I'm older c: I really want to go to Europe and I think I'd like to maybe join the Peace Corps at some point, but I don't know ;O That's so cool though! Japan seems so different than really anywhere so I think that would be a really interesting place!! What would you teach, do you think?