MANILA, Philippines - There's something about waking up at 3 a.m. and I'm sure I’m not the only person wracking my brain why many of us experience this. This phenomenon is experienced by people all over the world and both scientific and paranormal explanations have been offered up by experts.
For the first one, it is believed that when we go to bed at night, our body undergoes different stages of sleep. Sometimes we wake up in-between these stages and it is possible that at about 3 a.m., we enter a lighter stage of sleep.
Another biological explanation according to www.rejuvinstitute.com points out stress as a factor. Stress triggers the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline. Also, 3 a.m. is approximately the time the liver regenerates and glycogen is essential in the regeneration process. But when we're stressed out, the additional adrenaline makes our cells use up more glycogen. If the liver doesn't have enough glycogen in the body to regenerate, the compensation mechanism is that more adrenaline is released causing the body to be pumped up and alert for action instead of being ready for bed.
I tend to wake up at 3 a.m. especially during summer, semestral break or moments when my mind isn't perturbed by work and my body isn't exhausted. But Dr. Arvin Sese has his own take on the phenomenon and that is instinctual self-preservation.
"It's probably a throwback to when our ancestors had to watch out for predators, so they wake up at 3 a.m. to see if everyone is still there," he says.
So what other possible explanations are there? Having my third eye opened wider than I wanted to two years ago, I've been awoken by two possibly entities at this hour; one of which was a tall monk standing by the side of my bed near my feet.
A common supernatural conclusion has been linked to the Christian faith. Rob Rubin, author of Defensive Occultism, and founder of Mysterium Philippines says that it is called “the proverbial 'Devil's hour'†or in some cases the "witching hour."
This was meant to be a mockery of the importance of 3 p.m. in Christianity when Christ gave his life for the world. Ergo, it came to be that 3 a.m. (or more specifically 3:15 am) is the hour that God is furthest away from our realm. Furthermore, 3 a.m. is also said to be the time within the day that the spirit realm is 'closest' to our own realm and thus more interaction and phenomena between us and the spirits likely occur. In my own experiences it is even during this hour that the soul is likely to “astrally project†and interacts with the unseen world.
There are people I know who've felt a presence in their bedrooms or have seen doors bang right before their eyes. There are those who've experienced odd noises in the house or have heard things fall inexplicably on its own.
Rubin reveals some of his most interesting 3 a.m. wake-up calls.
"Spirits have been known to be slightly violent during this time. When I was younger, I was sleeping peacefully until out of nowhere I started feeling as if the bed was shaking and was awoken with the feeling of something slapping me on the face. When I looked around, I was alone in the room and it was exactly 3:15 a.m. Another case was when I was a teen sleeping in the room with my father. I saw a white smoke or mist floating above me. It quickly rushed towards my father prompting him to start screaming in his sleep. When I looked at the clock, guess what time it was?"
Unlike Rob's fretful tales, Inner Dance meditation coach Arianne Olegario shares a different experience.
"I was high up in the Himalayas when I kept waking up at 3 a.m. for three consecutive days. On the first day, I checked my watch and true enough it was 3 a.m. On the third day, I did not even have to check my watch because I knew. So I went outside, looked at the mountains and expressed a short prayer of gratitude and then it stopped (happening)."
Olegario also interprets these 3 a.m. wake-up calls from another perspective.
"Inner dance, a form of dynamic meditation facilitates an individual's awakening process by letting go of the thinking mind (to) open the self up to the intuitive mind. (This) may be used to balance out individuals experiencing the 3 a.m. phenomena. The awakening process or the Kundalini rising besides the 3 a.m. phenomena also include other phenomena such as emotional distress, changes in sleeping patterns but when we experience these, it is best to examine ourselves through with greater love instead of fear. Fear will only heighten the "negative" impact of Kundalini or awakening process. From a personal experience, whenever I get regular periods of waking up at 3am, I meditate, accept the process that is happening instead of fighting it. Afterwards, I stop waking up at 3 a.m. I believe that it is our spirit trying to speak to us and that moment usually is at 3am. So just listen to it," she advises.
According to Kundalini Yoga instructor Marisa HarNadh, the 3 a.m. phenomenon has something to do with sadhana (daily spiritual practice that involves prayer, exercise and meditation or whatever you do to connect to your highest inner self).
Rephrasing Shakti Parwha Kaur's Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power, HarNadh elaborates, "During what are called the “ambrosial hours†(the two and a half hours just before sunrise at 3 to 6 a.m.), when the sun is at a sixty-degree angle to the Earth, the energy you put into your sadhana gets maximum results. Your world is quieter. It’s easier to meditate and concentrate before the hustle and bustle of the day begins. This is the reason most are up. Due to the "Shift" more and more people are 'woken-up' during these hours as a way of the Universe to remind them it's time to rise up for prayer and meditation."
These aren’t answers in any way but hopefully with these insights, it will give you time to reassess your personal health, physical or otherwise. Though it may not necessarily stop the occurrences from happening, it should at least give you peace of mind on your next 3 a.m. wake-up call.