Most people usually have to wake up at the same time every morning to go to work or take care of their responsibilities. It’s much more pleasant to wake up on your own and avoid the distress of the alarm clock forcefully pulling you from sleep in the early morning.
Waking up in the middle of the night, however, can disturb your rest and cause a lot of problems during the day. Things get even more complicated if it starts to happen regularly and when it keeps happening at the exact same time.
This can be caused by various things, from health issues to spiritual matters. Both of these are significant, so you can use this article as a checklist to see which of these reasons apply to you.
Here’s how to figure out the waking up at 4 am meaning, why it happens at that particular time, and what to do about it.
Waking Up At 4 AM: Meaning And Reasons
The deep of night before dawn is the quietest and most mystical time of day. The atmosphere is hazy and confusing, and everything seems bigger and scarier than it does during the day.
This is one of the reasons the waking up at 4 am meaning seems to carry important messages.
If you often wake up at 4 am, spend a few moments awake, then feel tired the next morning, you must be worried about why it’s happening. This exhausting phenomenon happens to more people than you’d think.
Waking up at 4 am is common for many people, and it happens for many reasons. Just knowing that it’s not only you doesn’t offer an explanation, though, so let’s look at some of the possible causes.
Common reasons for waking up at 4 am
While waking up for a short while doesn’t seem to be a problem at first glance, the fact that it keeps happening means that something wants your attention.
Before you consider the spiritual reasons for waking up at 4 am, you should rule out any possible health reasons, as well as your habits and sleeping environment.
The reason why you’re waking up at 4 am could be one or more of the following:
1. Anxiety
If you’re usually a tense person or suffer from anxiety, it might be affecting your sleep. One of the signs that this is behind you waking up in the middle of the night is if you wake up feeling on edge and distressed.
This means waking up feeling a sense of dread or having a bad dream that you may or may not remember. You also might experience physical symptoms, such as tension, cold sweats, or shaking. You might have trouble falling back to sleep if the dream was particularly bad.
This is an issue you need to deal with while you’re awake by working on your anxiety. Meditation and breathing exercises can be tremendously helpful, especially if you include some before you go to bed.
2. Insomnia
Waking up during the night is considered a form of insomnia.
We sleep in cycles, each lasting between 90 and 120 minutes, and should complete around five sleep cycles every night. Each cycle consists of light sleep followed by deep sleep and the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phase.
If something disturbs you during the light sleep phase and you’re unable to go back to sleep for some time, it can lead to being tired once you wake up in the morning. This can cause more stress and make the problem worse.
One of the best ways to handle insomnia is to regulate your bedtime. Go to bed every night at the same time and don’t take naps. Wake up at the same time in the morning. This way, your body becomes used to a regular sleep schedule.
3. Stress
Stress gets blamed for all our problems, and with good reason. We rarely take it seriously, but it causes a range of health problems. Lack of sleep and stress interact in a way that makes each other worse, leading to a vicious cycle. Conversely, good sleep helps with stress management.
Think about your current situation and examine if you’ve been feeling stressed. If this is the reason for your waking up, dealing with stress might be helpful.
4. Health issues
Many health problems can cause interrupted sleep. For example, hormonal issues related to issues such as menopause or pregnancy. Many types of medication can also disrupt your sleep patterns. Chronic pain can also wake you up.
Sleep apnea, a sleep-related breathing disorder in which breathing stops and starts while you sleep, could be another reason. One of the symptoms is snoring, and this, along with your inability to take a breath, could be what wakes you up. See a doctor if you believe this might be the case.
5. Lifestyle
Some lifestyle choices can affect your sleep and cause you to wake up in the middle of the night. For example, not getting enough exercise, consuming too much caffeine or alcohol, smoking, sleeping during the day, or looking at your phone before bed.
A healthier lifestyle and a sleep routine can help with this. Make sure you use your bed only to sleep in and leave your devices elsewhere. Moderate your intake of stimulants and avoid taking naps. Get enough exercise to make you feel tired.
6. Environment
Your environment can play a big role in whether or not you sleep until the morning hours. As you sleep, your body temperature rises, and if your room or your clothes are too hot, you can overheat, which leads to sweating and waking up.
Environmental factors are a common cause of waking up throughout the night. If your partner snores, or there are noises coming from somewhere, it can wake you up without you even being aware of it.
The spiritual meaning of waking up At 4 am
Some people believe that in the deep of night, there exists a time called the witching hour or the devil’s hour – when the veil between life and death is the thinnest.
4 o’clock after midnight is often the darkest time of night before dawn. If this is the witching hour, then this is when the spirits are able to travel between the spiritual realm and the physical realm.
If the reason you’ve been waking up at this time is spiritual, there’s a chance that you’ve been seeing other signs that are pointing at the message that’s looking for you, such as an angel number.
Pay attention to your environment closely, and look for signs if you’re still not sure what your spirit guides are trying to tell you. These are some possibilities:
1. You have a message from your spirit guides.
There’s a chance that you’re waking up at 4 am because your guardian angel, your spiritual guide, or a family member who has passed on is trying to send you a message. The reason you’re being awoken is that, at this hour, the veil is lifted, and they’re able to contact you because you’re by yourself in a quiet place.
The message can be related to anything: your present or your future. It can be a warning or an announcement, or it’s a way to guide you on your spiritual journey. Look for other signs from the universe that you might encounter to help you figure out what the message is.
Besides looking at the signs, the thing to do is to think about your feelings, your current situation, the things that have been happening to you, your relationships, wishes, and desires. The answer will become obvious to you soon.
2. Your spiritual awakening is drawing near.
If you’ve been neglecting your spiritual life, it might be time to start paying attention to this aspect of your life. It’s important to feel a connection to something outside of ourselves for a sense of belonging and the comfort it brings.
On the other hand, if you’re already a spiritual person, one reason for waking up at 4 am might be a spiritual breakthrough.
Perhaps you’ve come to certain conclusions or met someone who helped you realize your spiritual purpose, or it’s your angel or spiritual guide leading you towards a new chapter in your life.
3. You’re having a hard time and need help.
During hard times, your spiritual guides might visit you to help you out. If you need support in making a decision or you’re going through something, your angel or spirit guide might wake you up and give you strength while you think about what to do.
If you’re in a difficult situation or unable to handle something that life has thrown at you, it’s normal to worry. Often our worrying wakes us up because of the constant pressure.
Don’t use this time awake to worry, but take this chance to rely on your support and really start working out the best solution to your problems.
4. You’re repressing something that needs to come out.
When you repress your feelings, they have a way of coming out and causing chaos. Your 4 am wake-up call might be just the right push you need to deal with this. Repressed feelings can have serious consequences on your life. They can prevent you from forming close relationships and make you feel distant from other people.
If you’re uncomfortable talking about your feelings, you might be in this situation. If you always seem happy, but it’s just because you won’t allow yourself to feel negative emotions, your feelings might be repressed. Listen to your subconscious and start dealing with them.
5. You’re in denial about something.
When we lie to ourselves, it comes out sooner or later. The reason you might be waking up at 4 am could be that there’s something you’ve been in denial about.
Lying to yourself can be subtle. You might be rationalizing something you know is wrong. You might be denying the significance of something despite how it affects you. You might be pretending something isn’t happening just because you don’t want it to.
Still, you’re always aware of the truth, and your subconscious is telling you to change your behavior. Once you do, you’ll feel much better because once you release the truth, you become free.
6. You need to let go of your resentments.
If you’ve been carrying negative energy toward someone, you might be waking up because you need to get rid of it. Resentment, hatred, jealousy – these feelings only hurt you, and your mind and soul are telling you to leave them behind and heal.
To make place for positive energy, the negative has to go. Otherwise, you’ll get stuck in the past and won’t be able to move forward. You need to make a choice: do you cling to grudges, or do you open yourself to new blessings?
7. You’re approaching a period of change.
When something in your life is about to change, you might start seeing signs that point you to it. One of them is waking up at 4 am. It’s possible that you’re experiencing some kind of transition that will make a difference in your life.
The reason you wake up at 4 am when something like this is about to happen is that you need time to think about your place in life, your desires, and your path.
The quiet darkness before dawn is the time when these thoughts come on their own and invite you to take the chances that are coming.
8. You’re invited to pray.
The Lord is giving you a sign that you should pray at this hour, asking for His help and protection. The Bible is filled with references to early morning prayers when it’s time to connect to the Lord and look for shelter in Him.
The darkest hour is the time when we struggle with our own darkness, so this is the right time to seek wisdom and guidance from the Lord. This can be your special time for prayer and comfort before the day begins.
9. You’re being warned.
Another possibility is that you’re being warned of an approaching misfortune, or something bad is about to happen. Spirits, guides, angels, or the universe might be seeking your attention to warn you that you should be careful.
There’s a chance that someone evil might want you harm, that an accident might happen, or that you’re being warned of some health issues that you should watch out for. Examine your life and think about what you’re being warned about and be vigilant and careful.
10. You’re needed.
Someone needs you, and you’re able to sense it. This feeling of someone, somewhere thinking about you and needing your help or company is what won’t let you sleep through the night. Think about who it might be and in what way you can contact or reach them.
Do you have a family member or friend you haven’t talked to in a while? Is there a lost love who might be trying to reconnect? Keep thinking about it and paying attention to other signs around you to figure out how to find and help the person who needs you.
See also: Waking Up At 2 AM Meaning: 14 Reasons
Chinese medicine
Both health issues and emotional and spiritual reasons can at the same time be the cause of waking up at 4 am. For example, in Chinese medicine, which recognizes that the body and soul are connected, a lack of emotional balance is believed to cause health issues.
Your qi, or your life energy, is thought to move through your body’s meridians – channels through which it flows – and while you sleep, your qi moves from organ to organ in your body.
If you keep waking up at 4 am, your qi has found a blockage in your lungs, which is the organ that rules sadness. This means that you could be going through feelings of grief or suffering from depression.
Once your emotional state reaches balance, you will stop waking up at this time. Useful things to do at this time are to seek help for dealing with grief, meditation, and journaling.
In Conclusion
Looking for the waking up at 4 am meaning can be a long road filled with many possibilities. Your first step should be to eliminate any health issues that might present an immediate problem. Next, you should look at your environment and habits.
When you’ve excluded those, take a look at the possible spiritual meaning of waking up at 4 am. There doesn’t have to be just one reason or one meaning. The best way to figure out why you’re being woken in the middle of the night is to pay attention to other signs around you.
Be careful, and have a good sleep.
