Waking up before your alarm and Presentiment

[ApotheosisMMC.]

It happens to me quite a bit. I wake up for about 20-30 minutes when I'm most tired and about 30-60 minutes when I'm not. I guess I don't like how loud my alarm clock rings.
As others have said, it's more surprising to wake up earlier when you have a commitment that you're determined you can't miss no matter how tired you are. I remember forgetting to set my alarm about three times, even though I went to bed late, and I've woken up half an hour earlier. Only once did my boss have to wake me up with a phone call.
I also remember an episode where it was more "scary" and I woke up more than once before it was the right time.

 

[whitecoast]

Wim Hof mastered the art to some degree.

That study was an immense milestone in showing how breathing techniques and cold exposure influence human physiology, including the immune system, but we're talking about something qualitatively different here. In the study the participants achieved their immune system dampening effect through Wim Hoff's breathing techniques. That's very different from just using conscious intent, the way you can intend to get up at a certain time.

The control group also did no previous training related to meditation, cold exposure, or breathing techniques. Based on the study itself it wasn't at all clear whether the participants were being asked to consciously lower their inflammatory response, etc. So it's a bit apples-to-oranges, and doesn't quite let us rule-in the power of conscious intent.

 

[daddycat]

Q: (L) I would like to know if there is anything T G could do to enhance his recovery from cancer?

A: PMA. Positive Mental Attitude.

Q: (L) The illusion is that there is no link between consciousness and matter.

A: Yes.

...

Q: (L) So, you are saying that it is not that there is a link, the illusion is that there is separation. There is no difference, they are the same?

A: Yes.

 

[Fluffy]

That study was an immense milestone in showing how breathing techniques and cold exposure influence human physiology, including the immune system, but we're talking about something qualitatively different here. In the study the participants achieved their immune system dampening effect through Wim Hoff's breathing techniques. That's very different from just using conscious intent, the way you can intend to get up at a certain time.

The control group also did no previous training related to meditation, cold exposure, or breathing techniques. Based on the study itself it wasn't at all clear whether the participants were being asked to consciously lower their inflammatory response, etc. So it's a bit apples-to-oranges, and doesn't quite let us rule-in the power of conscious intent.

What I was getting at is if those things applied (breathing, cold, meditation) with conscious intent could increase or amplify the body/mind capacity to achieve the intended outcome.

 

[SOTTREADER]

I woke up 5 minutes before my alarm this morning . In typical fashion, I then had a super quick 5-min nap and then jumped out of bed when the alarm finally went off.

 

[loreta]

I never use an alarm because I hate the sound of it. This bib bib is unbearable. So before falling asleep I imagine a big clock and the time I want to wake up and it works. The body after all is a magnificent machine, an excellent computer.

 

[Cosmos]

Happens a lot to me. But I always put it down to my "internal clock" rather than precognition. Basically, when I set the alarm, I'm doing more than just setting the alarm, I'm also consciously setting an intention to wake up at that time the next morning, and maybe thinking about it being important to do so.

So it doesn't seem strange to me that some part of the my brain or consciousness sets that as as reminder and is somehow keeping track of time and wakes me up around that time. It's a bit weird (or maybe impressive) that it would always do it before the alarm goes off though, which has always been the case.

I tend to think so as well: Much of what determines when and why we wake up is influenced by our inner clock that we can and do influence through our (pretty much down to earth) habits. If you have conditioned your inner clock to wake up at a certain time in the morning through a clock, chances are, if you do it long enough, that your inner clock is conditioned to wake up around the same time without a clock.

I have a little story to tell that showed me just how we can mess with and/or influence our inner clock:

I worked night shifts for quite some years. Switching from around 4 weeks nightshift to 4 weeks early and then late shifts. At the beginning of the night shifts I used to make my break at 02:00 am at night AND ATE a regular daytime meal. It took me a while to figure it out, but for some reason I woke up everyday during daytime shifts (early and late shifts) pretty much at 02:00 every night feeling hungry and having a hard time falling back to sleep. After a while I made the connection that that always happened after 4 weeks of night shift in which I ATE normally at 02:00 at night. So then, I figured: “Let’s see what happenes if I don’t eat at night at all“. So I stopped eating at night, and low and behold, quickly I didn’t wake up at 02:00 at night during daytime shifts anymore! After that realization I never ate at night shifts again and the problem never came back!

So I figured that I had conditioned my inner clock to wake me up and feel hungry at 02:00 at night and I stopped that by simply not eating anything at night, which by itself is probably not what our bodies are made for at all.

 

[NCfugee]

I've not worn a watch for nearly 30 years now and rarely use an alarm, though with ever-present mobile phones my watchlessness isn't anything to shout about. But at the beginning, I stopped wearing a watch as I considered that I never had to do anything or be anywhere to the exact minute and my body clock could generally tell the time to within 5 minutes. Even now, if you ask me the time, I'm rarely more than 10 minutes out and frequently much closer. Some years back, in my teaching days, one student asked me the time, I made a show of calculating the angle of the sun and then gave him the time, he looked at a friend's watch and I was absolutely spot on: 12:52pm.

How or why is this the case, I don't know, but I wonder if it's something connected to a steady heartbeat - our own personal timekeeper.

 

[Scottie]

I tend to think so as well: Much of what determines when and why we wake up is influenced by our inner clock that we can and do influence through our (pretty much down to earth) habits. If you have conditioned your inner clock to wake up at a certain time in the morning through a clock, chances are, if you do it long enough, that your inner clock is conditioned to wake up around the same time without a clock.

Note that in Sheldrake's article, he also mentions that people who often wake up before their alarm (me!) also do it even when they are not waking up at a standard, habitual time.

I notice that normally, I wake up about 5 minutes before my alarm. But if I have to get up extra-early, I wake up 15 minutes before. No idea why...

 

[Wandering Star]

No idea why...

My intuition tells me that it may be related to people with a better relationship with their subconscious.

Therein lies the power and the magic, I believe.

As was said in a session paraphrasing, the subconscious and the soul are one and the same.

 

[YoYa]

Our bodies are masters of chronobiology. Waking up before the alarm clock is a sign that our internal clock is skillfully retrieving us during a light sleep (theta waves) or REM phase. This allows our system to avoid tearing us out of the middle of vital deep sleep (delta waves), resulting in a gentler and more restorative start to the day.

This ability shows that our sleep-wake rhythm is well-regulated and that we are likely getting sufficient sleep. It's worth trusting this natural signal from our body.

 

[BrendaH]

Happens a lot to me. But I always put it down to my "internal clock" rather than precognition. Basically, when I set the alarm, I'm doing more than just setting the alarm, I'm also consciously setting an intention to wake up at that time the next morning, and maybe thinking about it being important to do so.

So it doesn't seem strange to me that some part of the my brain or consciousness sets that as as reminder and is somehow keeping track of time and wakes me up around that time. It's a bit weird (or maybe impressive) that it would always do it before the alarm goes off though, which has always been the case.

I agree with what you said about the internal clock. In fact, when I was younger, I used to do little experiments — like telling my brain to wake me up at a certain time. Spoiler alert: it never worked.

But I did notice that if I wake up at 6 every day — even with an alarm — I’ll end up waking up a few minutes earlier sometimes. Or on regular days, I won’t sleep much later than that, no matter how tired I am. It’s like your brain just gets used to it and ends up waking you up within that range.

There have been weekends where I went to bed later than usual, and the next day I still woke up relatively early — and even if I wanted to go back to sleep, I just couldn’t. I think it all comes down to that internal clock, and how your body adjusts to a certain rhythm or schedule.

 

[BrendaH]

I’d forgotten something. I can actually confirm that some people have woken up with a specific thought in their head, only to find out later that the exact or similar thing was happening.

One case was a girl who dreamt that she’d received a message saying her house was on fire. When she woke up, she got a message soon after saying that the place really was on fire. It was really strange. Probably this case is more in line with the article.

Then there was another girl who woke up with the thought that her grandfather was dying. When she got up, her family told her that they've received a call that he wasn't feeling well and had just been taken to the hospital.

The first case, it’s undeniably odd. In the second, she tried to reason it out — saying maybe she’d subconsciously heard something while asleep and built the whole story in her mind. But it seems unlikely, given how far her room is from where her family was. Still, she tried to find a logical explanation.

 

[Gaby]

Sheldrake writes, 'The Italian root of this word expresses the idea clearly: all’arme means “To arms!” By dictionary definition, an alarm is “a call to action,” “news of approaching hostility,” or “a sound to warn of danger.”'

I thought that was very appropriate. When I used to make 24-hour shifts in the deep Spanish countryside, normally I would be on call in the health center. In a good shift, you could sleep all night. In high season, you would be lucky if you slept a couple of hours. Regardless of the tiredness, I would usually wake up before the phone rang with an incoming emergency during the night. Like I would sense that someone was deciding to call at that moment for their emergency and as the phone rang, I was already waiting for it. It's really less traumatizing that way.