Hypnic Jerk Spiritual Meaning

Have you ever been in bed and are about to fall asleep when suddenly you are woken up by a jerk? Rather than someone shaking you and asking you to wake up, you woke yourself up with a single jerk. This jerk is commonly known as hypnic jerk which is short for the hypnagogic jerk.

A hypnic jerk is a type of involuntary muscle jerk, spasm, shake, or sudden movement known as myoclonus. These jerks are not caused by an underlying disease or infection.

Hiccups and hypnic jerks are a form of myoclonus that occur often in healthy people and aren’t a cause for concern. In this article, we will explore the hypnic jerk spiritual meaning

What are Hypnic Jerks?

Myoclonus is brief, sudden, and involuntary shock-like jerks, shakes, or spasms that are sometimes localized to one part of the body. They are of no cause of concern unless they happen frequently and interfere with your speaking, walking, or eating. Myoclonus is of three types: Physiological, essential, symptomatic, and epileptic.

1) Physiological myoclonus

Hiccups, hypnic jerks, and spasms while exercising and during an anxiety attack are types of physiological myoclonus that occur commonly in healthy individuals.

2) Essential myoclonus

Essential myoclonus is unrelated to any disease, is oftentimes unexplained, and is hereditary.

3) Symptomatic myoclonus

Symptomatic myoclonus occurs because of an underlying medical condition such as stroke, metabolic disorders, reaction to certain medications, head injury, brain tumor, amongst many other nervous system conditions.

4) Epileptic myoclonus

Epileptic myoclonus occurs during an epileptic disorder.

Typically, right when we are about to sleep, we might feel a sudden jerk in one side of our body, it can affect just our leg or our arm, but after that our body relaxes again and we can go back. This sudden jerk, aka hypnic jerk, affects 60 to 70% of the population and is very common.

Hypnic jerks are usually accompanied by other sensations and mental imageries such as dreams and hallucinations. Therefore, along with this sudden spasm you might have also experienced the sensation of falling from a building, seeing blinding lights, snapping sounds, or even cackling.

Mild hypnic jerks are painless, however, sometimes they are strong enough to disrupt the process of falling asleep.

Hypnic jerks occur randomly and are accompanied by other symptoms like rapid breathing, rapid heartbeat, dreaming or feeling as if you are falling off of a tall building, and sweating. Hypnic jerks affect both men and women. Researchers have not been able to discern a concrete cause for this phenomenon.

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Hypnic Jerk Spiritual Meaning

While it may disrupt your sleep for a second and make you feel a little uncomfortable, the spiritual meaning of hypnic jerk is actually quite positive. Some people believed that hypnic jerks spiritually symbolize that the universe is on our side and we are being constantly guided, observed, and controlled by our spirit guide.

The universe is constantly trying to show us the right path and a hypnic jerk is just one of the ways in which it tries to contact us. Our body is in its most relaxed state when we are sleeping and it is much easier for our guardian angel to communicate with us then because we are not as dismissive of these messages.

The hypnic jerk, as the name suggests, is a sudden shock-like sensation. Many people believe that this is our guardian angel’s way of alerting us of unworldly threats. With the help of the jerk, the higher spirit is telling us that we must stay consciously alert to any attacks during the night because ghosts and evil spirits roam the physical realm during that time. If it weren’t for the hypnic jerk, the evil spirit might locate you in the dream world and catch you.

In many cultures, people believe that when we are awake, evil spirits such as demons and ghosts can’t harm us. Therefore, our guardian angel wakes us up with the help of a hypnic jerk whenever there is an evil spirit close to us.

Many times because of our busy schedules we are unable to pray to God. So, the hypnic jerk is a reminder for us to pray for the sake of your spiritual growth, happiness, and success.

Sometimes hypnic jerks are accompanied by a falling sensation. If you have experienced this then that means the universe is telling you that you are making several mistakes right now and you should be careful otherwise there will be serious consequences.

Normally, hypnic jerks are a rare occurrence and people don’t experience them all of the time. However, it is believed that if you experience 4 hypnic jerks in one night then that is the universe’s way of telling you that lately you have been making many mistakes in your life and that can hurt your future prospects.

Hypnic Jerk During the Day

Although uncommon, if you experience a hypnic jerk during the daytime then that is your guardian angel telling you that soon you’ll be in a situation that will be just as unexpected as the hypnic jerk. There is, however, no way of suggesting that on a spiritual level this has either negative or positive consequences. It depends solely on how you perceive the situation.

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Possible Causes of Hypnic Jerks

Hypnic jerks are experienced by everyone at one point in their life. Some possible reasons for hypnic jerks are:

1) Exercise

Vigorous exercising before going to sleep can cause hypnic jerks. While regular exercising does improve the overall quality of sleep, however, vigorous exercising before going to sleep results in your body being more alert and, therefore, more susceptible to experiencing hypnic jerks.

2) Coffee and Tobacco

Coffee and tobacco are stimulants that affect our brain chemistry. Stimulants like these stay in our system for 6 to 8 hours usually. Therefore, coffee or tobacco consumption before going to sleep can result in hypnic jerks.

3) Alcohol

While alcohol is a depressant that makes you feel drowsy, it does not, however, translate to a good night’s sleep.

4) Stress and Anxiety

When we are stressed and anxious before sleeping, not only is it difficult to fall asleep because our brain is still alert but it also makes it easier for you to get startled when you fall asleep.

5) Irregular sleep habits

Hypnic jerks can also be caused by sleep deprivation and irregular sleeping patterns.

How to Prevent Hypnic Jerk?

A hypnic jerk is a type of myoclonus. This means that they are involuntary and can’t be prevented altogether. However, you can avoid waking up from a hypnic jerk by following these tips:

1) Avoid vigorous exercising late at night. If you do wish to exercise before going to sleep try exercises that relax you rather than those which make you more energetic.

2) You must avoid drinking that last cup of coffee. You can significantly improve your sleep schedule by not drinking coffee at night. It is even better if you can avoid drinking coffee late afternoon.

3) You should avoid stimulants such as nicotine and alcohol before going to bed as well.

4) Try creating a bedtime routine that can help your body relax. For example, drinking a cup of calming tea, reading a book before bed, or stopping using electronics an hour before bed.

5) The blue light that emits from television screens, computer monitors, and smartphones is cold light which gives a signal to our bodies that it is still daytime and you shouldn’t sleep right now. Therefore, by not using these devices and dimming the light in your room at least an hour before bed, you can become more relaxed.

Final Words

On the medical front, hypnic jerk is not a serious condition that requires any sort of medical condition unless it happens frequently and disrupts you from doing activities. And on the spiritual front, hypnic jerks occur because it is our guardian angel’s way of telling us that we are under attack from an evil spirit. The universe and our guardian angels protect and guide us with hypnic jerks.

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