elements

[IQU3838]

Hi,

Could anyone tell me what the underlined part means in the following context?

Thank you very much. (I have posted this question couple of days ago, but nobody answer me, could I post it again? If not, sorry for violating the rules. I won't do that again. )

"Once upon a time, my mother used to sleep through the
night. So did I. Like so much else, our sleeping patterns were
almost identical. We flung ourselves across our beds, sleeping
through storms and hurricanes and car alarms and darkness,
and waking up to a trail of sunlight filtering in, with the world
still on its axis, still turning, the way we’d left it. She hasn’t
slept like that in seven months.

Now, she wakes up around two in the morning, as if to

get a head start on all those elements."

Or maybe she’s figured
out that the world tilts slightly when we sleep, and she gets up
to watch it and try to pull it back in place."

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

I assume 'elements' refers to all the things that occur while she (the author's mother) is asleep. (i.e. storms, hurricanes, car alarms, darkness)