Choose the Best Alarm Clock to Ring Your Bells - A Courtesan and Attendant on a Moonlit Veranda harunobu
The way we want to be awakened varies as much as the timepieces we use to get us up and going.
Invented in 1787, the alarm clock has become a necessity.
“Alarm clocks are a very individual thing,” says Neil B. Kavey, director of sleep disorders for New York-Presbyterian Hospital at Columbian Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan. “Some people have very strong preferences when it comes to alarm clocks. People who are sleep-deprived need an alarm that will wake them up instead of the sound of a chirping bird.”
But some people don’t like to be awaken by jarring bells or having to jump out of bed when the alarm sounds. Some people like to sleep an extra hour and therefore set the alarm to go off an hour early, while others like to hit the snooze button.
“Snooze alarms are helpful, but you get an interrupted sleep,” says Kavey, who noted that he is speaking clinically rather than scientifically when it comes to alarm clocks. “It’s best to get an alarm on a clock that you can live with and set it for the latest time possible, so you can sleep straight through till it’s time to get up. If you are getting enough sleep, you may only need a quiet or soothing alarm to wake you. But young people are such intense sleepers that they often require a loud alarm clock.”
Stores are filled with clocks from those that wake you with your favorite music to those that “ring” with the sound of ocean waves, rain, a babbling brook or a breeze blowing through pines.
There are even clocks that simulate the rising sun by gradually increasing the light from a high-intensity bulb during a period of 30 minutes.
“If you are worried about a power outage or getting up on time to catch a plane or for an important meeting, you might want to set two clocks, where one runs on a battery,” says Kavey. “But if you are getting enough sleep on a regular basis, you wouldn’t need an alarm clock. You’d wake up automatically based on your biological rhythms.”
"The Zen Alarm Clock," uses soothing acoustic chimes that awaken users gently and gradually, making waking up a real pleasure.
Just Say No to a Snooze Button
Most modern alarm clocks include a “snooze button” mechanism which allows the user to go back to sleep for a brief period after the initial alarm.
While this may make it easier for some people to “face the day,” here at Now & Zen we feel the whole concept of a snooze button is “all wrong.”
Wake up with gradual, beautiful acoustic chimes. The Zen Alarm Clock transforms your mornings and gets you started right, with a progressive awakening
People want snooze buttons because they want to awaken gradually. And this is only natural because just as our bodies fall asleep gradually, our bodies also want to wake up gradually. However, with a regular, snooze button-equipped alarm clock the user is initially “startled awake” by the alarm, and then continually startled awake with each press of the snooze button. This is not the way to treat your body because it creates a kind of merry-go-round of multiple “rude awakenings.”
As an alternative we recommend using our
Zen Alarm Clock, which wakes users gradually with a built-in 10 minute progression of gradually increasing acoustic chimes. It really is a better way to get up in the morning.
Zen Alarm Clocks make waking up a beautiful experience. And once you experience the Zen Clock’s gradual 10 minute chime progression, you will never want to wake up any other way again.
adapted from sfgate.com by Frances Ingraham Heins, Albany Times Union
One of the ultimate Zen like experiences is waking-up from a great slumber refreshed and energized. Your mind and body are harmoniously one, both alert and focused.
Now & Zen – The Chime Alarm Clocks Store
1638 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO 80302
(800) 779-6383
orders@now-zen.com
When the clock's alarm is triggered, its chime produces a long-resonating, beautiful acoustic tone reminiscent of a temple gong.
Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, sleep, Sleep Habits, wake up alarm clock
