Waking Gently

Waking Up in the Morning as a Form of Spiritual Practice

Waking up in the morning is a metaphor for life — a kind of daily microcosmic reenactment of our overall purpose for being in the world.  That is, just about every religious tradition emphasizes spiritual growth.  And the connection between “awakening” and spiritual growth can be found in practically all forms of spiritual teaching.

Family of Zen Alarm Clocks for a Peaceful Awakening

Now & Zen Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Yoga for Bedtime

Need help sleeping? Doing yoga exercises before bedtime can be just what you need:

Sit up in bed comfortably, either with your legs folded or straight in front of you; whatever you can do with the most ease. Sit up and lean slightly back on your pillows or backboard. Close your eyes and rest your hands on your thighs and just breathe here for a few minutes. This doesn’t have to be a serious meditation but just a short while to do nothing but breathe.

Yoga for Bedtime

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 Women’s Magazine by TARA STILES

Yoga and Meditation Timers with Chimes and Gongs

Now & Zen – The Yoga Timer Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

The Ins and Outs of Better Breathing

The ins and outs of better breathing

Try this relaxation exercise from breathing guru Andrew Weil, MD, best-selling author and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona. The payoff? “Blessed relief” from constant thinking, Weil says.

• Sit with your back straight.
• Place the tip of your tongue against the ridge just behind your front teeth.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
• Inhale quietly through your nose with your mouth closed to a mental count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
• Exhale completely through your mouth, this time whooshing to a count of eight.
• Inhale again and repeat the exercise three times for a total of four breaths.
  

  How to Improve Your Breathing

TIP: If you have trouble holding your breath, speed up but stick to the four-seven-eight count. Practice twice a day, but don’t do more than four breaths at a time for the first month; later you can work up to eight breaths. You may feel a little light-headed, Weil says, but it will pass.

Now & Zen – The Gong Meditation Timer Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Set Your Gong Meditation Timers for a Breathing Exercise

eating in season

Summer–for most of us it’s the season of fun, a time to get out of our homes and enjoy the sunlight. In addition to the bright summer days, many delicious and unique foods are in season.

By Brooke Holmgren

Foods eaten in season contain peak nutrients and generally put less of a dent in your budget than if purchased out of season. Whether you want to grow your own fresh produce in your backyard, stop by a farmers market, or shop at your local grocery or co-op, the following hints and tips lead you to the freshest produce and where to find it.

Summer Produce
First of all, to eat in season means choosing fruits and vegetables at their natural peak growing times. When produce is grown in conditions that require minimal care, they’re in season; think of how berries grow fat and ripen in the hot steamy months of July and August. Here is a list of commonly known produce best eaten in the summer months: basil, green beans, beets, all kinds of berries, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrots,
celery, chicories, collard greens, cucumbers, fennels, arugula, all kinds of herbs,
lettuce, mustard greens, onions, peas, peppers, radicchio, spinach, summer squash, tomatillos, and tomatoes.

Some produce is best grown in your backyard, while others taste better left to the pros. So, which vegetables are best purchased fresh or picked from your yard?

The Joys of Gardening
There are several benefits to growing your own produce. For one, you know exactly what has been placed on or around the garden. This is the only certain way to know if your produce is organic or not. You’ll also have a greater appreciation for where your food comes from. Starting a garden from seeds or young plants is also much cheaper than buying produce from a grocery store. In addition, it’s fun to pick a cucumber or tomato from your back yard to include in your dinner. In this way, gardening tends to be a rewarding experience.

>>What to grow : While vegetable (and fruit) gardening varies by temperature zone (see garden.org/zipzone/to find your specific zone), there are a few staples that can be grown just about anywhere. These include tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, and lettuce.
Berries grow best in moderate climates, especially in the northern United States, but citrus fruits are best grown in year round heat…think of Florida’s famous oranges.

>>What to do with too much produce: Sometimes your tomato plants offer up far too many tomatoes for you and your family to eat. Canning these vegetables preserves the taste and freshness throughout the year. How nice it would be to open a jar of tomatoes in
winter to include in a soup or stew!

>>The environmental benefits of gardening: In addition to the immediate cost benefits of gardening on your monthly grocery bill, the cost of gardening is also minimal on the environment. Consider those imported Chilean blueberries you can buy at the supermarket in January. Those blueberries were picked before they were fullyripened (drastically reducing vitamin and mineral contents) in order to ship them to your supermarket before spoiling. Thousands of gallons of fuel are consumed by tractors, trucks, and airplanes in order to get those blueberries to your table. The same is true for
most, if not all, fresh produce purchased during winter months if you live in northern climates. Of course it’s always beneficial to your health to eat fruits and veggies, but consider where these foods come from. The closer the food is grown, the better for your health, your wallet, and the environment.

Fresh Farmers Markets
Whether found in urban city centers with hundreds of vendors or a roadside stand with five farmers, there has been a recent farmers market revival due to the high quality of the food.

>>More bite for your buck: This  rise in popularity is mainly due to the generous amount of food you get for your dollar. At a farmers market, you’re buying directly from the farmer or the farmer’s family, eliminating the markupfrom supermarkets and grocery stores. In addition, the foods purchased are fresh! Like foods picked from your garden when ripe, the produce sold at farmers markets are rarely picked prematurely. This ensures the best taste and nutrient value.

>>Fewer dents in the environment: Like gardening, the environmental impact of shopping for produce at a farmers market is much less than shopping at a conventional supermarket. However, some farmers and consumers may have to travel long distances to participate in a farmers market, especially urban markets. Regardless, shopping at a farmers market is a great way to ensure food quality and healthfulness.

>>Conecting with the farmer: At farmers markets you often purchase produce directly from the farmer and can speak to him or her about the food you’re buying. Knowing the person or people who grew your food can be a rewarding experience. It makes you feel more connected to the food you’re eating.
Farmers markets can also be a great place to socialize. What other place can you think of where urban dwellers and rural farmers mingle? There are often people from all walks of life depending on where the market is. Urban markets tend to be larger and feature more ethnically diverse foods.

>>Popular market eats: According to a 1998 study done by Rutgers University, the most popular foods purchased at farmers markets are apples, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, melons, peaches, peppers, snap beans, strawberries, sweet corn, and tomatoes. In addition to freshly grown food, there are often artesian-baked goods available. Other commonly available items are plants, flowers, jams/jellies, fresh fruit juices, dried fruits, cheese, organic meats, honey, farm fresh eggs, and nuts.

Again, there are seasonal aspects to farmers markets. Often times there are summer, fall, and winter markets featuring respective produce. Winter markets are likely to favor gourds, squash, sweet corn, and canned or preserved goods. Depending on what produce or goods you’re looking for, shop in season. Mid to late summer is the best time for abundant farmers
markets.

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.”

Maple Zen Timepiece

Now & Zen – The Zen Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

sleeping problems

How to Fight Too Much Sleep

Not getting enough sleep can sometimes be a bad thing. But did you know that getting too much sleep is just as bad?

Set an alarm . It doesn’t have to be too early, just enough to get anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep. Do this for at least a month and your body will get used to waking up at this time so you won’t have to use the alarm. Try not to hit to snooze button, however, it trains your body to stay tired in morning. If you have a coffee machine that will start at certain time automatically, set it so you can wake up to the scent of fresh brewed coffee.

Or just use an alarm clock that is not disruptive!

adapted from Wikihow.com

Chime Alarm Clock for a Gradual Awakening

Now & Zen’s Chime Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Take a Pose to Dose - Kitagawa Utamaro Ukiyoe by YukiSakuma

Take a pose to the doze
“There’s a feedback loop between the muscles and the brain,” Dr. Naiman explains. “When you stretch and release tension, the brain relaxes too.” The deepest meditative state is known as “sleepless sleep.”

To get to a sleepful state, Dr. Khalsa finds the yoga Bridge pose especially useful. Lie on your back with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and your heels parallel, close to your butt. Lift your hips and arch up onto your shoulders. Lace your palms together underneath your body and press your arms into the floor or mat. Hold the posture while taking 10 to 15 long, slow breaths.

Take a Pose to Doze

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.

adapted fro Women’s Health Magazine by BY LIESA GOINS

Waking up in the morning should be as pleasant as falling asleep at night. The Zen Alarm Clock's gradual, gentle awakening is transformative.

Now & Zen – The Yoga & Meditation Timer Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

How to Ease Yourself to Sleep: Harunobu Suzuki, Beauty at the Veranda

A big part of cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia is learning exercises to help your body relax before bed. One way to do this is through progressive tensing and relaxing of your muscles while lying in bed.

“Start at one end and work your way up or down your body,” says Joyce Walsleben, PhD, assistant professor at New York University School of Medicine. “Feel your muscles clench and then release, how they’re lying on the bed, how the covers fall over your body. Make it as elaborate or inconsequential as needed to put you into a cocoon of sleep.”

Another version of muscle relaxation: Imagine a wave of relaxation flowing down your body, from your head to your feet. You can give the wave a color, sound, or temperature.

“You should personalize the experience as much as you want,” says Kathy Doner, MD, who runs a hypnotherapy practice in Sebastian, Fla. “You might start by just noticing your breath with your hand on your tummy. Then with each out breath, focus on a different section of the body and say a word like ‘calm,’ ‘relax,’ or ‘peaceful,’ whatever works for you. You’re redirecting your attention to a part of the body, and when the mind is focused on the body, it’s not thinking ‘I can’t sleep.'”

To try progressive muscle relaxation tonight, follow these step-by-step instructions.

The body responds to stress with muscle tension, which can cause pain or discomfort. Progressive muscle relaxation reduces muscle tension and general mental anxiety. Progressive muscle relaxation often helps people get to sleep.

Ease Yourself to Sleep

Procedure

You can use a prerecorded audiotape to help you go through all the muscle groups, or you can just learn the order of muscle groups and work through them from memory.

1. Choose a place where you can lie down on your back and stretch out comfortably, such as a carpeted floor.
2. Inhale and tense each muscle group (hard but not to the point of cramping) for 4 to 10 seconds, then exhale and suddenly and completely relax the muscle group (do not relax it gradually). Give yourself 10 to 20 seconds to relax.
3. When you are finished, return to alertness by counting backwards from 5 to 1.

Muscle groups and how to tense them

• Hands: Clench them.
• Wrists and forearms: Extend them and bend your hands back at the wrist.
• Biceps and upper arms: Clench your hands into fists, bend your arms at the elbows, and flex your biceps.
• Shoulders: Shrug them.
• Forehead: Wrinkle it into a deep frown.
• Around the eyes and bridge of the nose: Close your eyes as tightly as possible. (Remove contact lenses before beginning the exercise.)
• Cheeks and jaws: Smile as widely as you can.
• Around the mouth: Press your lips together tightly. (Check your facial area for tension.)
• Back of the neck: Press your head back hard.
• Front of the neck: Touch your chin to your chest. (Check your neck and head for tension.)
• Chest: Take a deep breath and hold it, then exhale.
• Back: Arch your back up and away from the floor.
• Stomach: Suck it into a tight knot. (Check your chest and stomach for tension.)
• Hips and buttocks: Press the buttocks together tightly.
• Thighs: Clench them hard.
• Lower legs: Point your toes toward your face, as if trying to bring the toes up to touch your head. Then point your toes away and curl them downward at the same time. (Check the area from your waist down for tension.)
  

  Ease Yourself to Sleep

Progressive muscle relaxation is sometimes combined with meditation.

adapted from Health.com by Healthwise

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.

Now & Zen – The Progressive Chime Alarm Clock Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Wake up refreshed, love your alarm clock, transform your mornings with The Zen Alarm Clock's progressive awakening with gentle chimes.

Breathing Exercise for Relaxation: Ohara Koson (Shoson). 1877-1945 two carp and white lotus 1933

Make the breath-brain connection
Dr. Khalsa recently supervised a small Harvard study using specific breathing techniques to treat insomnia, and all subjects reported an improvement in the quality and quantity of sleep. “There is evidence that long, slow abdominal breathing will reduce anxiety and arousal,” Dr. Khalsa explains. Dr. Naiman recommends one breathing exercise (similar to those Dr. Khalsa used) called the 4-7-8 breath exercise. With your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth, just behind your upper teeth, exhale completely. Close your mouth and inhale through your nose for four counts. Hold your breath for seven counts. Then, exhale while mentally counting to eight. Repeat the cycle three more times. Both are important for restful sleep.

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.

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. Available in 5 wood styles, including bamboo.

adapted from Women’s Health Magazine, by BY LIESA GOINS

Breathing Exercise

Chime Alarm Clocks and Meditation Timers

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

how to stop hitting the snooze button

Consider purchasing the best alarm clock without a Snooze Button.  It has a built-in Snooze feature!  When our Zen Alarm 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.

Eliminate Snooze Buttons with The Zen Alarm Clock

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

wake up without an alarm clock

Envision your wake-up time. As you lie in bed, think about the time at which you want to wake. Visualize a clock with that time on it, and visualize yourself getting up at that time. You may even find it helpful to tell yourself out loud, “I will wake up at (the desired time).” While this may sound silly, controlled experiments have revealed that many people can use these techniques to successfully and regularly awaken at the correct time without using an alarm or other external trigger. How the brain manages to keep track of the hours is unknown.

Or choose an Alarm Clock that doesn’t have a shrill, beeping sound like The Zen Alarm Clock by Now & Zen, Inc.