Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes: The Dream, 1883

Sleep Type: The Human Alarm Clock
You crash as soon as your head hits the pillow, but wake like clockwork at 2, 3, or 4 a.m.

What’s Going On?
“We all wake up briefly — two to three dozen times a night — without awareness or memory,” says Paul Glovinsky, Ph.D., coauthor of “The Insomnia Answer.”  If you’re all too aware of your awakenings, a number of things may be going on.  Simple conditioning, a la Pavlov’s dogs, could be to blame.  Your body can be “on the lookout for that awakening, especially if there’s a clock in the bedroom,” Glovinksy says.  Also consider stress: You may fall asleep out of pure exhaustion, but as soon as your sleep needs are slightly quenched, anxieties wake you up again.  For some people, says Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., director of Sleep Programs at Miraval Resort, the body’s inner clock, or circadian rhythms, may be malfunctioning

What to Do
Whatever’s behind your awakenings, hiding your neon time reminder is step one.  This would be the perfect time to get the Zen Alarm Clock in the Digital style (so you could close the lid) or the original style without the light.   If you can’t see the clock, you won’t panic as you calculate how many hours remain until daybreak — and how little you’ve slept. “Put it on the floor or close the cover to the Zen Clock,” says Joyce Walsleben, R.N., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at New York University. “When the alarm chimes, you can get up, but otherwise, you’re in bed to sleep.” For many people, this simple shift alone reconditions their brain.

Boulder, Colorado—an innovative company has taken one of life’s most unpleasant experiences (being startled awake by your alarm clock early Monday morning), and transformed it into something to actually look forward to. “The Zen Alarm Clock,” uses soothing acoustic chimes that awaken users gently and gradually, making waking up a real pleasure.

What makes this gentle awakening experience so exquisite is the sound of the natural acoustic chime, which has been tuned to produce the same tones as the tuning forks used by musical therapists. According to the product’s inventor, Steve McIntosh, “once you experience this way of being gradually awakened with beautiful acoustic tones, no other alarm clock will ever do.”

adapted from Body + Soul, May 2008 by Sarah Schmelling

Alarm Clocks for a Progressive Awakening, Zen Clocks in Digital Styles

Now & Zen – The Most Gentle Alarm Clocks with Chimes

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1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Isoda Koryusai, Japanese (active c. 1764–1788), Courtesan Playing the Samisen

Home is a container of soul health.  The roof and walls shelter and nurture the spark of life that animates our modes of dwelling.  They define the setting where soul health is transformed from raw energy into the ­myriad experiences of living. Furniture, clothing, and other objects foster the inner work of the psyche.  The bed encourages the soul to dream and make love.  Each element of home plays its role in bringing forth the latent possibilities of soul.

The headlines of spiritual experience are often grabbed by dramatic tales of angelic light and celestial encounters, but soulfulness mainly grows within the realms of everyday life.  A cozy moment in bed that warms a deep place within us, a conversation at the kitchen table that connects parent and child, and other common experiences sustain and enrich the depths of who we are.

The needs of soul health are satisfied through the archetypal actions of human dwelling —cooking, eating, gathering with others, sleeping, dreaming, lovemaking, bathing, managing finances, and solitude. Cook­ing, for example, is a practical activity that creates edible meals; it also cares for the souls health creative urge to transform the raw stuff of life into digestible and appetizing forms. Eating satisfies the hunger in our bellies, but also satisfies the soul’s desire for fulfillment.

Bamboo Digital Chime Clock, a calming timer and alarm clock made from natural materials like bamboo, walnut, and maple

The rooms and furniture of your home are more than a mere collection of isolated objects. They are tangible nurturers of soul health.  A home for the soul sparks our imagination.  Its architecture and furnishings offer more than mechanical functions and urge us to explore the essence of who we truly are.  Colors, textures, and shapes act as bridges that lead our attention from the material world of isolated objects into the interconnected realm of he spirit.

A home for the soul offers more than one level of experience at a time.  It simultaneously addresses all levels of mind, body, and environment—our myths, ­emotions, thoughts, senses, actions, bodily functions, and the ecological processes of nature.  The bathtub of such a home might honor Venus’s desire for beauty, ease the conflict of a hectic day, warm and soothe the body, cleanse the skin’s pores, and connect us to the sprinkling of rain and the flowing of streams.

Kitagawa Utamaro, Komuraski of the Tamaya, House After a Bath, 1795

A home for the soul is not a material goal to be acquired, but a setting for inquiring into the processes of living. Within its walls we can discover how the germ of consciousness within us grows to become the events and circumstances that define our existence.  We can discern the links between our personal needs and dreams and the universal forces that shape the cosmos.  In a home for the soul health, common objects and actions become symbols that at once hide and reveal the deeper powers that animate our lives.

A home for the soul has character and personality.  It contains rich textures and colors that invite the hand and delight the eye.  It reflects subtle gradations of light that range from murky shadows to shimmering points of illumination.  Forms are imaginative and reveal how they support activity.  There is care and attention to detail. Natural materials such as wood, stone, wool, silk, and cotton are used to create an environment that opens to the vitality of sunlight and fresh air.  A home for the souls health is a sensuous dwelling place that urges us to savor the mingling of spirit and matter.

Boulder, Colorado—an innovative company has taken one of life’s most unpleasant experiences (being startled awake by your alarm clock early Monday morning), and transformed it into something to actually look forward to. “The Zen Alarm Clock,” uses soothing acoustic chimes that awaken users gently and gradually, making waking up a real pleasure.  Rather than an artificial recorded sound played through a speaker, the Zen Clock features an alloy chime bar similar to a wind chime.  When the clock’s alarm is triggered, its chime produces a long-resonating, beautiful acoustic tone reminiscent of a temple gong.  Then, as the ring tone gradually fades away, the clock remains silent until it automatically strikes again three minutes later.  The frequency of the chime strikes gradually increase over ten-minutes, eventually striking every five seconds, so they are guaranteed to wake up even the heaviest sleeper.  This gentle, ten-minute “progressive awakening” leaves users feeling less groggy, and even helps with dream recall.

Zen Chime Clock with Japanese Maple Leaves in Honey Finish, an alarm clock for your body, mind and spirit

Now & Zen – The Gentle, Soothing Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

adapted from Natural Home, July/August 1999

Reprinted from Home for the Soul by Anthony Lawlor. Copyright © 1997, Anthony Lawlor. Reprinted with permission of Clarkson N. Potter, a division of Crown Publishers.

yoga practice in bamboo

As Robert Svoboda attempts to summarize the three major paths of the Vedic knowledge, he writes:

Because every embodied individual is composed of a body, a mind and a spirit, the ancient Rishis of India who developed the Science of Life organized their wisdom into three bodies of knowledge:  Ayurveda, which deals mainly with the physical body; Yoga, which deals mainly with spirit; and Tantra, which is mainly concerned with the mind.

The philosophy of all three is identical; their manifestations differ because of their differing emphases.  Ayurveda is most concerned woth the physical basis of life, concentrating on its harmony of mind and spirit.  Yoga controls body and mind to enable them to harmonize with spirit, and Tantra seeks to use the mind to balance the demands of body and spirit.

Use our unique “Zen Clock” which functions as a Yoga Timer.  It features a long-resonating acoustic chime that brings your meditation or yoga session to a gradual close, preserving the environment of stillness while also acting as an effective time signal. Our Yoga Timer & Clock can be programmed to chime at the end of the meditation or yoga session or periodically throughout the session as a kind of sonic yantra. The beauty and functionality of the Zen Clock/Timer makes it a meditation tool that can actually help you “make time” for meditation in your life. Bring yourself back to balance.

adapted from wikipedia.org

Meditation & Yoga Timers and Clocks

Now & Zen’s Yoga Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Zen Timepiece, tibetan singing bowl timer and clock

Singing bowls (also known as Himalayan bowls, rin gongs, medicine bowls, Tibetan bowls or suzu gongs in Japan) are a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell.  Rather than hanging inverted or attached to a handle, standing bells sit with the bottom surface resting.  The sides and rim of singing bowls vibrate to produce sound.

Singing bowls were traditionally used throughout Asia as part of  Bon and Tantric Buddhist Sadhana.  Today they are employed worldwide both within and without these spiritual traditions, for meditation, trance-induction, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice.

Singing bowls were historically made in Tibet, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Japan, and Korea.  Today they are made in Nepal, India, Japan and Korea. The best known type are from the Himalayan region and are often termed Tibetan singing bowls.

Our Zen Timepiece’s acoustic 6-inch brass bowl-gong clock is the world’s ultimate alarm clock, practice timer, and “mindfulness bell.”

Singing Bowl Alarm Clocks - Never Hit Your Snooze Button Again

adapted from wikipedia.org

Zen Timepiece, a bowl/gong alarm clock and timer in cherry finish

Now & Zen’s Singing Bowl Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Meditation Tools by Now & Zen

As a result of cultural evolution, we’re becoming more discerning about the real nature of quality.  Quality thinking is concerned with the welfare of the greatest relevant whole — our whole selves, our whole environment, and our whole society.  Now & Zen products embody quality of thought through their use as tools that improve your life, in the esoteric principles they embody, and in their originality. Stillness of being is also an integral part of a natural lifestyle. The practices of prayer, meditation, and yoga all contribute to a stillness of being.  Now & Zen products serve as accoutrements to these practices; and they also help create a sense of stillness through the beauty of their designs.

Now & Zen’s company mission statement is as follows:

Now & Zen, Inc. seeks to manifest on the levels of matter, mind, and spirit.
These levels translate in the business world as fact, meaning, and value.
Now & Zen’s mission is divided accordingly:

Fact: Make money selling quality products.

Meaning: Create a national brand that stands
for quality of thought, and stillness of being.

Value: Provide products that remind people they live in
the presence of the sacred, however they may define it.

Now & Zen Headquarter Store - Boulder, CO

Boulder, Colorado

Please visit our website ( www.now-zen.com ) which gives further information on our products and mission. For a catalog of current Now & Zen products, please call us at: (800) 779-6383 or (303) 530-9028, or send us an e-mail.

Now & Zen – The Zen Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Tsukyoka Yoshitoshi 1888 - Lift Depression with Meditation, Use Your Chime Meditation Timer

A recent study found that age-old meditative techniques and more modern cognitive therapy can help alleviate symptoms. Anil Coumar, a psychotherapist and director of the mental health clinic at the University of Washington, Seattle, offers these do-it-yourself mood-lifting meditations:

Get moving. For many people, meditation is a remote, Eastern technique that involves sitting with your legs crossed on a cushion. But almost any activity can be mindful and healing, says Coumar. “Through a practice of mindfulness, we can see how our thoughts are not facts—they come and go.” To slow down your thinking and realize that you can release negative thoughts as quickly as they come, try this eating meditation: Hold a raisin in your hand and intentionally look at it as if you’ve never seen one before. Roll it between your fingers and notice each crease. Pay attention to your thoughts about it—maybe you’ll think, This is ugly or I’ve never noticed the true color of a raisin before. Then put it in your mouth and observe how your saliva flows as you chew.

Uncover your unconscious. Imagine you’re walking down the street and see a good friend walking in the opposite direction. You nod and smile, but your pal just looks ahead and keeps going. How do you respond? “Someone might say, ‘Oh, she probably didn’t see me.’ Another might think, ‘What did I do wrong now?’ Depending on how you interpret that event, you’re going to feel good or bad,” says Coumar. This kind of cognitive exercise can teach us how we unconsciously have these thoughts. The point? To make the normally unconscious thoughts that fuel depression conscious so you can acknowledge them—and then more easily let them go.

It’s exquisite sounds summon your consciousness out of your meditative state with a series of subtle gongs. Once you experience the Zen Timepiece’s progressive tones, you’ll never want to meditate any other way.  It serves as the perfect meditation timer and alarm clock . Available in 5 wood styles, including bamboo.

Gong Meditation Timer with Singing Bowl

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine by Ziba Kashef, 8/2009

Now & Zen’s Chime Timer & Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Your body has a message for you...yoshitoshi taiso

Your body has a message for you. Are you listening?

Our bodies are innately wise and have much to teach us about restoring and preserving our health…if we are willing to listen. A symptom is more than an isolated event. It is a messenger from our body giving us a “heads up” that an underlying problem exists and needs attention. If we learn to pay attention and understand the message provided by these “teaching assistants” sent by our bodies, symptoms become opportunities for implementing changes.

Mind-Body Connection
Your body and mind are interconnected, and each impacts the other. When you hurt your foot, your body shares this information with your mind, and you feel pain. When you’re worried about something, there is a physical response in your body. When you’re excited and happy, your body has a different physiological response.

Some people get sweaty palms when they’re nervous. Some get a sharp pain in their shoulders and neck when they feel they carry “the weight of the world.” Some people get headaches when they haven’t eaten properly. Some breathe shallowly and quickly when they’re anxious about something. These are all examples of your body providing you with information that allows you to take appropriate action.

If your observer is alert and you notice the physical phenomena present in your body, you obtain valuable information that you can use to impact your health and wellness. A pain that you’re feeling may be the result of an external incident such as banging your shoulder or cutting your foot; however, if there was not such an event, a physical ailment or change in your body’s status could be caused by some internal condition. If you pay attention to your body and address early signs suggesting that something may be wrong, you may be able to prevent larger problems from developing. Addressing these larger, more serious problems may be more painful and costly, and may require more invasive interventions.

Our Zen Clock’s long-resonating Tibetan bell-like chime makes meditating a beautiful experience – its progressive chimes begin your day with grace. When the clock’s alarm is triggered, the acoustic chime bar is struck just once … 3-1/2 minutes later it strikes again … chime strikes become more frequent over 10 minutes … eventually striking every 5 seconds until shut off.

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine by Marc Levin, 8/2011

Zen Meditation Timers and Alarm Clocks with Chimes

Now & Zen – The Zen Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

teahouse

There was a monk who was a sincere and ascetic practitioner. He was scholarly and had great understanding. He lived in a monastery with eight hundred monks. The Buddha’s teachings went straight to his heart, engendering compassion, kindness, and humility. He never cared to sit on a high throne or be a leader of any kind. He always sat in the last row and took a small portion of what was left to eat. But one day, a patron came to the monastery with buckets of yogurt to offer the monks. The patron began serving yogurt to the monks in the first row, filling their large bowls. This monk enjoyed yogurt very much and grew concerned as he thought to himself, “He’s giving them so much yogurt, when he reaches my row, there may not be any left for me.” When the patron reached the last row, the monk could see that there was still plenty of yogurt in the bucket. The patron went to put a serving into the monk’s bowl, but this monk immediately turned his bowl upside down. The surprised patron asked, “What’s wrong?” The monk replied, “This greedy monk already had his yogurt when you were serving the front row. He doesn’t deserve any more.”

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine by Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche, 3/2012

Zen Chime Alarm Clocks and Timers

Now & Zen’s Chime Timer and Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Meditation Timers and Chime Alarm Clocks

An accomplished meditator is capable of overcoming every obstacle in life. Developing this level of confidence requires an approach that goes beyond simply resting in a state of repose. It is not sufficient to learn a few techniques and practice meditation just to relax and quiet your mind. To sit calmly in your room, still your thoughts, and drift into a state of torpidity is not meditation. A cow may sit still and breathe quietly when its stomach is full, but can we call this meditation?Meditation is not just for relaxation; its primary purpose is to develop the capacity to respond skillfully and gracefully to life’s difficulties as well as its joys

Followers of the spiritual path must proceed in this way. Only then will we have the opportunity to experience the real essence and value of our human life. It is our chance to be reawakened, our precious opportunity to enjoy boundless energy and employ consummate skill for our own well-being and for the well-being of others.

The nature of the mind is unobstructed. Moment by moment, one thought is born, while another one dies. This energy is unceasing, and it springs from primordial wisdom. This energy is the essence of what we are. This essence manifests, but not in any solid or substantial way. We cannot imagine it or express it. It transcends imagination and expression.

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine by Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche, 3/2012

Although meditation can be done in almost any context, practitioners usually employ a quiet, tranquil space, a meditation cushion or bench, and some kind of timing device to time the meditation session.  Ideally, the more these accoutrements can be integrated the better.  Thus, it is conducive to a satisfying meditation practice to have a timer or clock that is tranquil and beautiful.  Using a kitchen timer or beeper watch is less than ideal.  And it was with these considerations in mind that we designed our digital Zen Alarm Clock and practice timer.  This unique “Zen Clock” features a long-resonating acoustic chime that brings the meditation session to a gradual close, preserving the environment of stillness while also acting as an effective time signal.

Singing Bowl Meditation Timers and Alarm Clocks

Now & Zen’s Singing Bowl Timer Store

Meditation Timer Shop In Boulder, Colorado

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383