finding balance in your life

Myth: You must be even-tempered.
Truth: Balance encompasses the full range of emotions.

You may think the balanced person takes everything in stride, never gets upset or irritable, rarely gets depressed or overwhelmed. But that’s simply not true. Balance is not about remaining placid and peaceful. In fact, by avoiding negative emotions such as anger, grief, or sadness, you are causing an unhealthy imbalance, says medical intuitive and neuropsychiatrist Mona Lisa Schulz, author of “The New Feminine Brain: How Women Can Develop Their Inner Strengths, Genius, and Intuition.”

So go ahead, get angry. Have a good cry. True balance is achieved by understanding the nature of our moods and feelings, not by suppressing them.

Meditation Timer with Tibetan Bowl

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yoga

Stretch the Stress Out

What it does: Relieves lower-back aches and releases overworked back muscles, opens hip joints and helps ease sciatic pain, strengthens abdominals and inner thighs.

How to do it: Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, knees soft. Start to bend forward, hinging at the hips and pressing your palms into your upper thighs; reach your sit bones back (your butt will stick out a bit) to help extend your spine. Continue forward, draping your torso down toward your legs; let your head and arms dangle. Stay for two to three minutes, exhaling with an “s” sound on each breath, then roll up one vertebra at a time.

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine

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.

Zen Timers and Gentle Alarm Clocks

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yoga stretch

What it does:

Stretches the chest and upper-back muscles, improves posture.

How to do it: Sit tall in a chair. Bend elbows and interlace your hands behind your head. Tilt your head back slightly and let the weight of your head rest in your hands. Lift your spine and chest up toward the ceiling. If it’s comfortable, arch the uppermost portion of your spine slightly back, but keep your focus on lifting up the chest. Stay for up to one minute, breathing deeply and exhaling with an “s” sound.

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine

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.

Yoga timers and gentle wake up clocks with chimes

yoga

When its popularity in America first began to soar — along with the celebrity endorsements — you wouldn’t hear yoga mentioned without the word “trend.” For sure, commercial interests continue to fuel this misnomer (you can actually purchase Diet Coke yoga pants). But yoga has long since proven its staying power, in part because of its success as both a physical and emotional therapy. “Trends come and go, but yoga is popular because it works,” says Richard Faulds, former president of Kripalu and author of “Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat.” “Science is studying it,” he adds, “and frankly? It’s kicking butt.”

From relieving carpal tunnel to helping cancer survivors with recovery, yoga’s benefits have made news in various medical publications, including the Journal of the American Medical Association. Nearly half of the hospitals surveyed for the American Hospital Association provide an Eastern method of exercise or therapy, including yoga. Even some insurance companies have gotten on board, helping their clients pay for classes.

As rosy as the yoga scene looks, the future holds even more promise. “As younger people see the difference in mobility between older people who have practiced yoga and those who haven’t, yoga will continue to grow in popularity,” predicts Sandy Blaine, a 14-year veteran teacher, cofounder of the Alameda Yoga Station in Alameda, California, and author of “Yoga for Healthy Knees.” “We’ve started to see yoga crop up in schools and PE classes; perhaps we’ll someday witness a widespread acceptance of its philosophical foundation.”

With millions of Americans practicing yoga — these days, it’s not so much a question of who does yoga, but who doesn’t — it may just be a matter of time. From preschoolers to senior citizens, new moms to Navy SEALs, everyone seems to find something to like in this ancient Eastern discipline. Some expect (and get) a deeply spiritual experience, enriched by chanting, prayer, and meditation; others are in it for the ripped abs and glutes of steel. Regardless of what draws a person in initially, yoga has a way of delivering rewards that go well beyond the expected. “The key,” says Faulds, “is learning how to enter the practice in a way that works for you.”

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 Body + Soul, October 2007

Zen Alarm Clock with Japanese Maple Leaves

Now & Zen – The Yoga Timer Store

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Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

give stress a rest

They were the butt of the joke when uttered by Stuart Smalley, the self-help guru from “Saturday Night Live.” Kidding aside, affirmations are a powerful way to combat stress. “They bring you back inside yourself instantly, making you calm and focused,” says Kathleen Hall, CEO of the Stress Institute and author of “A Life in Balance.” If the idea of chanting a self-affirming mantra makes you cringe, consider this: A study published in Psychology Science showed that affirmations reduced cortisol (a stress hormone) responses to stress. Use a positive statement that speaks to your particular need. If your stress is fear-based, try “I’m protected and guided.” If you’re feeling anxious, think, “I’m calm and balanced.” Repeat the words to yourself until you feel your outlook take a turn for the better.

adapted from Wholeliving.com

Use our unique “Zen Clock” which functions as a Yoga & Meditation 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.

Zen Alarm Clocks with Gentle Chime

Now & Zen – The Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Snow at Itsukushima by Watanabe Shozaburo

1.  Power

Giving to others is the most powerful thing we can do for ourselves.

2. Honor

Approach gift shopping as an opportunity to honor the people you really love.

3.  Strength

Share your strengths — and be open to others’ gifts.

4.  Need

Help others because they need it, not because you need to provide it.

5.  Kindness

Kindness is in our nature; practice giving and receiving it freely.

6.  Discovery

Teach what you know, and you’ll discover what you’re ready to learn.

7.  Presence

Simply being present is often the most valuable gift you can give.

8.  Abundance

Contribute to abundance: If you no longer need something, pass it on.

9.  Contribution

Give yourself time to consider what you most want to contribute to the world.

10.  Welcome

The right gifts are just as welcome in simple packages.

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine, 2009

Natural Chime Alarm Clocks and Timers

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entering silence, starry night in the wilderness

How one woman survived three days in the wilderness—alone.

I shivered in the pitch-black night as a steady rain showered my head. I sank deeper into a state of abject loneliness with every miserable drop. My saturated sleeping bag weighed me down as I searched blindly for my flashlight, all the while berating myself for not tying up the tarp before I fell asleep beneath a formerly clear, starry night.

Feeling panicky on the first night of my solo experience in the woods, I imagined the worst—three days of rainy, damp desolation. What am I doing here? I wondered. I could be home, snuggled up with my husband in our cozy bed!

And then it hit me. I realized that this moment was exactly why I had come here—to face my demons head-on, to ride out the fear of being alone in the dark and of being eaten, possibly, by a bear. Isn’t that what a vision quest is all about? Flinging oneself into the wilderness (in this case, a California state park on Labor Day weekend, but still) to test one’s inner strength and hopefully receive some sort of life guidance, perspective, and inspiration?

For the last 10 years, I had contemplated embarking on a quest like this with awe and trepidation. An extrovert by nature, I thrive on the company of others. I can’t be alone in my own house for five minutes without feeling anxious, so how could I endure three entire days by myself? I feared I would go crazy with no one to talk to, engulfed by the deafening silence of nature.

To my surprise, I discovered that nature is extremely loud. Have you ever heard throngs of blue jays chattering overhead at the crack of dawn? I was definitely not alone—from the disturbed gopher under my sleeping bag (was I camped on his house?) to the constant parade of insects, birds, and critters, I was in a forest teaming with life and endless entertainment.

Two days later as I packed my gear, I had a hard time believing the time had passed so quickly. Suddenly the power of facing and overcoming my deepest fears overwhelmed me, and I fell to my knees sobbing. A strength I never knew existed inside me welled up as I realized I could now be alone and unafraid.

I shouldered my backpack, danced a little jig to celebrate my emancipation, and walked out of the wilderness a changed woman.

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, Sept. 2009 by Laura Gates

Zen Alarm Clock, a natural chime sound alarm clock

 Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

meditation in motion, walking mindfulness practice

Attention, multitaskers: Want to exercise and meditate at the same time? Try Breathwalk, a form of walking meditation that incorporates pranayama and mantra techniques from the Kundalini Yoga tradition. The late Yogi Bhajan introduced this practice to the West in the early 1970s. Since then, yoga students of all shapes and sizes have used it to improve their cardiovascular health, tone their nervous system, boost their energy, stabilize their moods, quiet mental chatter, and embrace the present moment. In its full form, Breathwalk is a five-step process that can take up to 60 minutes; here’s an abbreviated routine you can do in less than 20. Try it in a meadow, on the beach, in the woods, or, if you’re feeling adventurous, on a city street.

The Practice
Begin walking at a normal pace, observing your bodily sensations. Then tune into your breath. Are you breathing with your chest muscles or with your diaphragm? Is your breath shallow and erratic or smooth and deep? Noisy or quiet? Through your mouth or through your nostrils? Gradually refine your breath so that it becomes nasal, diaphragmatic, and free of noise and irregularities.

Now coordinate your breath with your stride, inhaling for four steps and exhaling for four steps. When this feels comfortable and automatic, begin to practice the following breathing pattern: Keeping your nasal passages and facial muscles relaxed, take four short staccato puffs of air through the nostrils—one puff for each step. (Your breath will be audible now; focus on the sound.) Essentially, you are dividing your inhalation into four segments that are synchronized with four consecutive steps. After the first puff, your lungs should be about one-quarter full; after the second, two-quarters full; after the third, three-quarters full; and after the fourth, four-quarters full.

zen stones

Without pausing, exhale in the same fashion, contracting the abdominal muscles and pushing the navel to the spine for four steps (and four segments of the out-breath), so that the final puff pushes the last quarter of air out of your lungs. Continue this pattern for five minutes, then walk and breathe normally for three minutes. As Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, senior student of Yogi Bhajan and co-author of Breathwalk, says, “It’s not about, ‘How far did I walk, how many calories did I burn, how much effort was expended?’ It’s about synchronizing the body, breath, and mind to the present moment, about experiencing a profound sense of connection with yourself and nature.”

Now, repeat the eight-minute practice. This time, as you synchronize your segmented breath with your stride, mentally say the mantra sa ta na ma—one sound for each step and each segmented breath. Repeat the mantra in coordination with the quartered breath for five minutes, then walk and breathe normally for another three.

“Practice for three days in a row and you’ll feel the energizing, focusing effects immediately,” Khalsa says. “If you do it for 40 days you can get really intimate with the technique. You can slip it into the cracks of your day to support you—that’s its purpose.”

adapted from Yoga International, by Shannon Sexton

Tibetan Meditation Timer with Brass Singing Bowl

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Lake Meditation

Lake Meditation

Move your attention from the mountain to the lake. Crystal-clear, turquoise-hued lakes toward the peak of some mountains in the Himalayas are called “sky lakes” because they so perfectly reflect the sky above. Protected by the higher peaks and trees, the surface of such a lake is smooth and calm. You don’t need to visualize yourself as a lake. Rather, contemplate the lake and its quality of reflectivity. Notice how the water is translucent, allowing you to see into its depths. Notice how it is also as reflective as a mirror, so you can see your face and the sky above on its surface. As you imagine yourself looking into the surface of the water, notice how the water reflects only what is there, neither editing out nor adding in anything. The water reflects the dark, ominous storm clouds and the fluffy white clouds equally. When birds fly overhead, the water reflects them; yet once they are gone from the sky, it shows no trace of them.

When the waves (vritti) are calmed, the mind (citta) has this dual ability of the lake to be both translucent and reflective. Once your mind is stabilized, you can turn your attention to it. Imagining your mind to be as translucent and reflective as the sky lake may bring forth thoughts, feelings, and emotions, but you can simply reflect what arises without judging or comparing, and without editing out anything through aversion or denial. Perceptions of sound, smell, or touch may arise, and, free of grasping and pushing away, you can simply reflect. In this way, destructive or unwholesome patterns can be seen, so that their power over you is lessened. Attachments are loosened. Breathing in, see yourself as the water of the sky lake; breathing out, reflect.

adapted from Yoga Journal, by Frank Jude Boccio

Zen Chime Alarm Clock and Timer

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383