A Gentle Alarm That Doesn't Jolt You Awake...

There is nothing more jarring than the sound of an old fashioned alarm clock!

Good day to you, friend.

One of the first moments that shapes your entire day happens before you are even fully conscious. The moment your alarm jolts you awake you are pulled forth from your slumber. If you are dealing with seasonal depression, that harsh beeping can feel like an assault on your nervous system. Your heart rates, your cortisol spikes, and you start the day in a state of stress before your feet even touch the floor.

What if your alarm could be different?

There is something deeply kind about waking to music instead of beeping. Imagine slowly, becoming aware of the world through gentle sounds; perhaps soft, classical music that gradually increases in volume, or a nature recording of birds singing. Your mind can transition from sleep to wakefulness more naturally, more gently. Your body doesn't have to go into fight or flight mode before you've had a chance to have your 1st cup of coffee.

Many phones and alarm clock apps offer this feature now. You can set a gradually increasing volume that starts so quietly, you might barely notice it, then slowly builds to a level that wakes you. Some apps, let you choose from hundreds of gentle sounds; rain on a window, piano notes, ocean waves, wind chimes. You get to decide what your morning invitation sounds like.

When you are struggling with seasonal depression, those first few moments matter so much. A gentle alarm honors your already tired nervous system. It says: we're going to ease into this day together. There's no emergency. Nothing bad is happening. You are just being invited to wake up, slowly and kindly.

Try changing your alarm this week. Notice how different it feels to wake to something soft instead of something harsh or sharp. Your morning deserves that gentleness, and SO DO YOU.

A few App options for a gentle alarm experience are: Sleep Cycle, Sleepzy Sleep Cycle Tracker, Alarmy and Sunrise-Soothing Alarm Clock (to name a few). These options focus on waking you up during light sleep stages or use gradual sounds and light. In addition, these apps avoid jarring, abrupt sounds but instead utilize nature sounds, increasing light or soft music. Doesn't this sound promising and so much softer and gentler on you in the morning?

For me personally, I have a tiny digital clock for time check only. It rests on the nightstand beside me. And, at the moment I do use my phone as my alarm 3 mornings per week. And, my phone rests upside down and on silent. It is set to a very gentle sound that works for me. My alarm schedule is for Monday, Wednesday and Friday only, so I can get up and ready for Yoga class. The sound is "Early Riser" and I have a snooze duration of only 5 minutes. In addition my evening bedtime is 9:40 pm with a sleep goal of 8 hours. The remainder of the week is "wake up naturally" without an alarm. On those days, my phone is in another room entirely. I find some mornings I rise early and some days I need more rest. This is such a personal experience so, it is important that you take time to structure your schedule around what obligations you have as well as what your body needs.

I hope you found this helpful and can source an App that is right for you. Thanks for reading today, Jeanine