how to have get more energy
When it comes to cultivating energy, you probably never did it better than when you were a toddler. You’d come barreling out of bed in the morning, eyes wide and arms full of toys. These days, you’re lucky if you can rouse yourself with multiple alarm clocks and a few cups of coffee. Snacks, if you have time to eat them, aren’t the healthy kind. As for naps and early bedtimes, they happen on rare, unplanned occasions, usually when you’re down with a cold or flu, or exhausted from running yourself ragged all week. With habits like these, it’s no wonder that more than one-third of Americans say they’re so tired that it interferes with work.
Depleted energy interferes with our lives. Feeling energetic “means having the vitality to do the things you want to do,” says Mark Hyman, M.D., editor-in-chief of the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and author of “UltraMetabolism.” That vitality isn’t just a state of mind — it’s a physical condition. Each of our cells contains hundreds of mitochondria, tiny “power plants” that combine the oxygen we breathe with the food we eat and then burn the combination to create energy.
increase vitality with a mindfulness practice
We know this process as metabolism. How energetic we feel largely depends on how well our mitochondria are functioning. To function optimally, they need quality fuel: a wholesome, varied diet, restorative sleep, and plenty of oxygen from regular exercise. But rather than enhance our vitality, we often sabotage it with “counterfeit energy” — stimulants like caffeine that we think give us more pep but only drain our energy in the long run.
Getting your energy back is possible. Start by simply looking at your day. From morning until night, energy leaks abound. These daily habits may seem perfectly innocent, but over time they impair your body’s vitality.
Waking up in the morning should be as pleasant as falling asleep at night. The Zen Alarm Clock’s gradual, gentle awakening is transformative.
The Walnut Digital Zen Clock’s long-resonating Tibetan bell-like chime makes waking up 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. As they become more frequent, the gentle chimes will always wake you up – your body really doesn’t need to be awakened harshly, with a Zen Clock you’re awakened more gradually and thus more naturally. Unlike artificial recorded sounds coming out of a tiny speaker in a plastic box, natural acoustic sounds transform your bedroom or office environment.
adapted from Body + Soul, September 2006
gentle wake up clock with chime
