“My Body Clock Wakes Me at 5am. But Waking Up and Feeling Awake Are Two Different Things.”
Patricia’s internal alarm goes off at 5am every morning. It has done for 50 years.
Her eyes open. The bedroom is still dark. The house is quiet except for the first birds starting their chorus.
She’s awake. But she’s not really awake.
“I lie there feeling like I’ve been hit by a truck,” the 73-year-old explains. “My body clock would wake me up right on time, but the rest of me hadn’t caught up.”

Patricia and her husband have been in the Wairarapa for a number of years now, but they first came to New Zealand back in 1973.
“We love the Wairarapa,” Patricia says. “The sky is huge here.”
At 73, she still tends to her lemon and lime trees, takes daily walks through town, and catches local shows when they come through. Her husband, 75, does the same. They’re the kind of couple who’ve been married so long they walk in sync without thinking about it.
Retirement was supposed to be their reward for decades of work. Freedom. Time to enjoy what they’d built.
“We earned this,” Patricia says simply. “We did everything right. Retirement was supposed to be when we finally got to enjoy it all.”

But somewhere around 60, sleep started changing. Not dramatically at first – just lighter, less restorative. She’d sleep the same hours but wake feeling like she had barely rested.
“Everyone says your sleep gets worse as you get older. I just accepted it,” she recalls.
Then her husband began experiencing the same thing. Now both of them were waking at 5am like clockwork, both feeling drained.
The morning walks became harder. What used to energize them became something to get through. Garden work that was once a pleasure became a chore. By lunchtime, they’d both be exhausted.
“The worst part was watching each other decline,” Patricia admits. “We’d both be tired all the time. He was grumpy. I was snappy. We just weren’t ourselves.”
They started saying no to things. Evening shows? Too tired. Dinner with friends? Maybe next time. Full days in the garden? Not anymore.
“When you’re exhausted, everything feels harder,” she reflects. “Your patience goes. Your enjoyment goes. Even your relationships suffer.”

The crystallizing moment came on a Thursday evening. They’d bought tickets to a local show – something they used to love. At 6:30pm, an hour before they needed to leave, Patricia found her husband asleep in his chair.
“I looked at him and thought, I’m just as exhausted,” she says. “We’d go and be miserable, fighting to stay awake. What’s the point?”
They didn’t go. Thirty dollars wasted.
“That night I thought, we can’t keep living like this,” Patricia recalls. “If we’re too tired for a 7:30pm show, what are we even doing?”
They’d tried the usual things. Earlier bedtimes. Warm milk. No screens after dinner. All the advice from the sleep hygiene articles.
“We were doing everything ‘right,'” she says. “Going to bed at 9pm, sleeping until 5am. Eight hours. But we’d still wake up exhausted.”
Her husband suggested they accept it. “Maybe this is just being in our 70s.”
But Patricia wasn’t ready to accept or put up with that.
The answer came from an unexpected place. Scrolling online one morning – what had become one of those “what else am I going to do at 5am” sessions – Patricia found an article about a New Zealand joint cream. Her husband’s knees had been troubling him, so she clicked through to the company’s website.

That’s when she noticed they made a sleep supplement. Koru Sleep. Natural ingredients designed to support the body’s own sleep chemistry.
“What caught my eye was that it wasn’t just one thing,” Patricia explains. “It combined ingredients that work together. And it was completely natural.”
She showed her husband. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say no.
“Honestly, I thought it was probably another one of those things that promises the world and delivers nothing,” Patricia admits.
“I read everything about it before I bought,” Patricia says. “I’m one of these people that reads all the ingredients.”
The 60-day guarantee made the decision easier. “I thought, ‘Well if it doesn’t work, I can get my money back. What have I got to lose?’”
They ordered a bottle. Both decided to try it.
That first night, they each took two capsules 30 minutes before bed.
“I didn’t expect anything,” Patricia says.

But when her body clock went off at 5am the next morning, something was different. She felt… rested.
“I lay there thinking, that’s odd,” Patricia recalls. “Usually I feel like I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. But that morning I actually felt okay.”
Her husband stirred beside her. “How do you feel?” she asked.
He paused. “Actually… not bad.”
Within the first week, the pattern was undeniable. Both were still waking at 5am but both were feeling fresher. Not young again, but noticeably better.
“The best way I can describe it is that my body knew it had had a sleep,” Patricia explains. “Before, I’d sleep eight hours and feel like I’d slept two.”
The morning walks changed first. Instead of dragging themselves around the park, they were walking briskly, chatting, actually enjoying it.
“My husband said one morning, ‘This is what our walks used to feel like.'”
By week two, they had energy past lunchtime. Garden work became enjoyable again.
Week three, they went to a local show. Not only did they stay awake – they enjoyed it.
“We came home talking about the performance,” Patricia laughs. “Actually engaged, not counting down the minutes until we could sleep.”
These days, both take Koru Sleep every night. It’s as routine as brushing their teeth.

“We read together before lights out, just like we used to,” Patricia says. “Then we sleep. Properly sleep. And wake up ready to go.”
When friends comment on their energy “for your age,” Patricia tells them the truth.
“I don’t make a secret of it,” she explains. “I tell them we’re taking this natural sleep supplement. Some are sceptical but then again, I was too. But we have had a few try it now.”
One friend called after two weeks. “She said, ‘You were right. I can’t believe the difference.'”
Their garden is thriving. The morning walks are a joy again. They’re booking shows without worrying they’ll be too exhausted to enjoy them.
“We’re actually living our retirement now,” Patricia reflects. “Not just surviving it. We wake up at 5am – we’ve always been early risers – but now we wake up fresh as a daisy, ready for the day.”
She pauses.
“I’m 73. My husband is 75. We’re not young. But we don’t have to feel ancient either. Good sleep changes everything. When you’re exhausted, everything feels like a burden. When you’re rested, everything becomes possible again.”
But how is it possible for a little unknown Kiwi sleep supplement to be building such a quiet following?
The secret behind Koru Sleep‘s effectiveness lies in its synergistic formula – a precise combination of seven premium ingredients that work together in ways other supplements simply can’t replicate.
The formula combines passionflower and L-theanine to naturally calm racing thoughts and quiet mental chatter; magnesium glycinate and zinc support the deep restorative stages when your body repairs itself; while valerian root helps you feel naturally drowsy without that groggy morning-after feeling.
Most importantly, 5-HTP and vitamin B6 work together to help your body produce its own melatonin – the hormone that signals it’s time for sleep.
This approach is grounded in decades of sleep science research showing that quality rest requires more than just sedation.
Groundbreaking studies at UC Berkeley revealed that proper sleep involves four distinct cycles, each vital for physical recovery, memory consolidation and emotional wellbeing. As we age, our ability to navigate these cycles naturally diminishes – which is precisely what Koru Sleep addresses.
By supporting your body’s own sleep chemistry rather than overwhelming it with synthetic compounds, Koru Sleep helps restore the natural sleep patterns you enjoyed in younger years. It’s not about knocking you out – it’s about helping your brain and body work together the way nature intended.

Sleep specialists note that this multi-pathway approach often delivers benefits beyond just better rest. “When people start sleeping properly again, everything changes,” explains Zera Mariam, Cambridge University trained Neuroscientist. “Their energy returns, their mood lifts, even their appetite hormones rebalance. Good sleep is the foundation everything else builds on.”
Koru Nutrition, the Christchurch company behind the supplement, stands behind their product with a 60-day money-back guarantee – giving customers ample time to experience the cumulative benefits.
“Sleep is deeply personal – what works for one person might not work for another,” says André Linton, Managing Director of Koru Nutrition. “That’s why we give people two full months to see if Koru Sleep delivers the results they’re looking for. No questions asked if it doesn’t.”
For those ready to reclaim their nights, Koru Nutrition is currently offering readers substantial savings of up to $40 off.
Many customers are taking advantage of the multi-bottle offers, saying they never want to go back to counting ceiling fan rotations at 2am.
You can learn more about Koru Sleep and read additional reviews at https://go.trykoru.co.nz/koru-sleep-ncoa.
What Makes Koru Sleep New Zealand’s #1 Natural Sleep Solution?
What sets Koru Sleep apart is how its seven ingredients work in perfect harmony to address all three phases of healthy sleep. This isn’t just about getting you to sleep – it’s about keeping you asleep and ensuring you wake refreshed.
Relax to Sleep: Passionflower and L-theanine work together to ease the transition, calming anxious thoughts and allowing your mind to naturally wind down – like drawing the curtains on a busy day.
Remain Asleep: Magnesium glycinate and zinc foster deep, uninterrupted rest by supporting your nervous system and blocking external disruptions that might otherwise wake you.
Rise Feeling Rested: 5-HTP and vitamin B6 enhance REM and restorative sleep phases while helping your body produce its own melatonin, supporting the natural detox processes that happen during quality sleep.
This comprehensive approach addresses what sleep researchers call the “modern sleep crisis” – where stress, screen time and age-related changes conspire against proper rest. Rather than masking symptoms, Koru Sleep helps restore your body’s natural sleep architecture.
It’s this scientifically-backed, multi-action formula that’s helping thousands of Kiwis finally break free from the “2am club” – that exhausting cycle of sleepless nights and foggy mornings.
Over 259,671 Koru Sleep doses delivered so far!
The reviews speak volumes about why Koru Sleep has become New Zealand’s quiet success story…
Like Sarah from Wellington who shared: “After years of trying everything from meditation apps to prescription options, Koru Sleep finally gave me what I needed – actual deep sleep. I wake up feeling human again.”
Or Michael from Christchurch: “I was sceptical – how could natural ingredients work when nothing else had? But within a week my wife noticed I wasn’t tossing and turning. Now we both sleep through the night.”
And Jennifer from Auckland: “This has changed everything. I’m back to my morning walks, keeping up with the grandkids, actually enjoying my retirement instead of dragging through it.”
🚨 READER’S SPECIAL OFFER:
If you’re tired of being tired, if you’re ready to wake up refreshed instead of exhausted, Koru Sleep could be your answer.
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Sources:
Ozeki, M., Juneja, L. R., & Shirakawa, S. (2004). The effects of L-theanine on sleep using the actigraph. Japanese Journal of Physiological Anthropology, 9(4), 143–150. https://doi.org/10.20718/jjpa.9.4_143
Lyon, M. R., Kapoor, M. P., & Juneja, L. R. (2011). The effects of L-theanine (Suntheanine®) on objective sleep quality in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Alternative Medicine Review, 16(4), 348–354.
Payne, E. R., Aceves-Martins, M., Dubost, J., Greyling, A., & de Roos, B. (2025). Effects of tea (Camellia sinensis) or its bioactive compounds L-theanine or L-theanine plus caffeine on cognition, sleep, and mood in healthy participants: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Reviews, 83(10), 1873–1891. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaf054
Ngan, A., & Conduit, R. (2011). A double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of the effects of Passiflora incarnata (passionflower) herbal tea on subjective sleep quality. Phytotherapy Research, 25(8), 1153–1159. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.3400
Lee, J., Jung, H.-Y., Lee, S. I., Choi, J. H., & Kim, S.-G. (2020). Effects of Passiflora incarnata Linnaeus on polysomnographic sleep parameters in subjects with insomnia disorder: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 35(1), 29–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/YIC.0000000000000291
Abbasi, B., Kimiagar, M., Sadeghniiat, K., Shirazi, M. M., Hedayati, M., & Rashidkhani, B. (2012). The effect of magnesium supplementation on primary insomnia in elderly: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 17(12), 1161–1169.
Mah, J., & Pitre, T. (2021). Oral magnesium supplementation for insomnia in older adults: A systematic review & meta-analysis. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 21, Article 125. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-021-03297-z
Bent, S., Padula, A., Moore, D., Patterson, M., & Mehling, W. (2006). Valerian for sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Medicine, 119(12), 1005–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2006.02.026
Zhang, X., Lu, Y., Lv, F., et al. (2023). Valerian for insomnia on subjective and objective sleep parameters: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep and Breathing. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40675-023-00259-4
Sutanto, C. N., Xia, X., Heng, C. W., Tan, Y. S., Lee, D. P. S., Fam, J., & Kim, J. E. (2024). The impact of 5-hydroxytryptophan supplementation on sleep quality and gut microbiota composition in older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Clinical Nutrition, 43(3), 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2024.01.010
Gholipour Baradari, A., Alipour, A., Mahdavi, A., Sharifi, H., Nouraei, S. M., & Emami Zeydi, A. (2018). The effect of zinc supplementation on sleep quality of ICU nurses: A double blinded randomized controlled trial. Workplace Health & Safety, 66(4), 191–200. https://doi.org/10.1177/2165079917734880
Ebben, M., Lequerica, A., & Spielman, A. (2002). Effects of pyridoxine on dreaming: A preliminary study. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 94(1), 135–140. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.2002.94.1.135
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