Harunobu Suzuki, A Girl Collecting Chrysanthemum Dew by the Stream

Meditation is often credited with helping people feel more focused and energetic, but are the benefits measurable?

A new study suggests that they are. When researchers tested the alertness of volunteers, they found that the practice proved more effective than naps, exercise or caffeine.  The results were presented at a recent conference of the Society for Neuroscience.

The researchers, led by Prashant Kaul of the University of Kentucky, took 12 students who did not meditate and taught them the basics in two short sessions.

Then, over a series of weeks, the students were asked to come in and take a test devised to measure skills like reaction time. The tests involved a series of visual cues on a display screen that the volunteers had to react to by pushing the correct button.

The students were asked to take the tests in mid- to late afternoon, when people tend to be sleepiest. They did so before and after 40 minutes of meditating, napping or exercising, or after taking caffeine. Napping produced poor results, presumably because of “sleep inertia,” the researchers said.

Caffeine helped, and exercise was unpredictable.

Earlier studies have found that people are awake while meditating but that their brains undergo changes similar to patterns found in sleep. Some studies have found that people who meditate a lot report sleeping less, so the researchers were curious to see if meditation could serve the same function as sleep. The results support the idea that it can.

In fact, when some of the students were asked to skip a night’s sleep and then take the test, the researchers said, meditation was even more helpful.

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.

adapted from The New York Times, October 2006 by Eric Nagourney

Digital Zen Alarm Clocks, meditation timers and alarm clocks with chimes

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Combing Beauty by Goyou, 1920

For a relaxing bedtime beverage, Donald Yance, an Oregon-based clinical herbalist and certified nutritionist, suggests combining several herbs as follows:  Passionflower and skullcap soothe agitated nervous systems and can help with mental chatter; oat seed strengthens the nervous system and helps people who are too tired to sleep; and chamomile provides a gently relaxing base.

relaxing bedtime beverage

1 chamomile tea bag
30 to 60 drops passionflower tincture
15 to 30 drops skullcap tincture
15 to 30 drops milky oat seed (Avena sativa) tincture

Pour boiling water over tea bag and let steep for five minutes.  Remove tea bag, and add drops of tincture to tea.  Stir in a touch of honey if desired.  Sip and enjoy.  Then set your Zen Alarm Clock and crawl into bed.

Zen Alarm Clock with Progressive Chime, set your clock as part of a relaxing bedtime routine

adapted from Body + Soul, May 2008 by Sarah Schmelling

Now & Zen’s – The Zen Timer Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Utamaro Kitagawa, A Mother Dozing While Her Child Topples a Fish Bowl

A recent poll at the McGraw-Hill Companies posed this question to a few thousand employees: if there were more hours in the day, would you work, sleep, relax, socialize, or play? For the overwhelming majority, the answer was a no-brainer:  sleep.

This is serious news: the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences reports that sleep-related fatigue costs U.S. businesses $150 billion annually in absenteeism, accidents, and lost productivity. Charles Czeisler, M.D., a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, has found that pulling an all-nighter or sleeping as little as four to five hours daily for a week produces the level of cognitive impairment experienced by a person who is legally drunk. Yet we glorify people who sacrifice sleep.

The U.S. is not the only sleep-deprived nation. As globalization takes its toll, cities in Spain are seeing the disappearance of the siesta due to long commutes that make a midday trip home impractical.

The problem even has Japan taking snoozing seriously. High school teachers in some areas are dimming the lights to give students a power nap. And in Bangkok, Thailand, last November, civil servants were encouraged to take naps at lunchtime in a room where cell phones are banned.

Sara Mednick, Ph.D., author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, says that napping is also catching on in New York City, where MetroNaps, with its space-age-style sleep pods, offers respite at its location in the Empire State Building, and Yelo, a sleep salon on West 57th Street, provides hexagonal sleeping pods.

Meanwhile, the Medical Journal of Australia sang the praises of the 10-minute power nap, and the Australian organization SIESTA (Society for the Introduction of Extra Sleeping Time in the Afternoon) quotes specialists from the Adelaide Institute of Sleep Health on the mental and physical benefits of the nap. They join Harvard and Columbia studies suggesting that napping helps the brain process information and reduces accidents at work and on the road.  Just tell that to the boss when you doze off!  Be sure to set your Zen Alarm Clock to waken you gradually and gently so you can get back to work refreshed and altert.

Chime Alarm Clock with Soothing Sounds

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.

adapted from Spirituality and Health Magazine, May 2007 by Swaha Devi

Zen Chime Clock with Japanese Maple Leaves in Honey Finish

Now & Zen’s Soothing Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Just Breathe

meditation, just breathe

Find a comfortable seated position and begin by observing your natural breath.  Notice the texture, length, and rhythm as the breath flows in and out of your body.  Feel the temperature of the air as it touches your nostrils.  Take note, too, of pauses between breaths.

As thoughts arise, note them, but then allow them to float by like clouds, gently bringing your attention back to the breath.  If you find it difficult to concentrate, try silently counting.  For example, inhale 1, exhale 1, inhale 2, exhale 2, up to 10, and then repeat the cycle.  After a while, you can stop counting and just focus on your natural breath.

adapted from Yoga Journal, ‘Presence of Mind’ by Janice Gates

Zen Alarm Clock with Progressive Chime

Now & Zen’s Mindfulness Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Mt Fuji Ukiyo-e by Hiroshige, woodblock print

Meditation is a holistic discipline by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the reflexive, “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.  Meditation is a component of many religions, and has been practiced since antiquity.  It is also practiced outside religious traditions.

Different meditative disciplines encompass a wide range of spiritual goals—from achievement of a higher state of consciousness, to greater focus, creativity or self-awareness, or simply a more relaxed and peaceful frame of mind.

wikipedia.org

Singing Bowl Meditation Timer and Alarm Clock

Meditation Timer with Singing Bowl

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO 80302

Create calm and relaxing bedtime rituals

Sat Bir Khalsa, a Kundalini Yoga teacher who’s also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and a neuroscientist at the Division of Sleep Medicine of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is studying how a form of Kundalini Yoga breathing called Shabad Kriya helps people with insomnia, offers good news: “Treating the arousal should treat the insomnia.” By creating a routine of soothing rituals, you can bring your nervous system back into balance and transform your sleep patterns for good.

Rituals for Relaxing

Whether it’s yoga to reduce muscle tension, breathing to slow the heart rate, or an herbal massage to calm a racing mind, a hot bath to sooth your tired body, or a bedtime story to slow you and your children’s minds, creating a simple routine can be the most effective way to get a better night’s sleep.  Maintaining consistency will help you and your children keep your circadian rhythms—the biological changes that happen every 24 hours—steady. Eventually, your body will naturally understand and crave sleep during these hours. Set your Zen Alarm Clock as part of your bedtime routine.

By Nora Isaacs Yoga Journal

“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 Alarm Clock by Now & Zen

Now & Zen – The Zen Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Ryoanji Zen Garden, Kyoto, Japan

Steve McIntosh, Inventor of the Zen Clocks and Tehya (his wife) were most fortunate to visit the Ryoanji Zen Temple in Kyoto, Japan before their son, Peter McIntosh was born.  It was a most peaceful and memorable trip.  Below is a description of the ancient site:

Ryōan-ji is a Zen Temple located in northwest Kyoto, Japan.  The garden consists of raked gravel and fifteen moss-covered boulders, which are placed so that, when looking at the garden from any angle (other than from above) only fourteen of the boulders are visible at one time. It is traditionally said that only through attaining enlightenment would one be able to view the fifteenth boulder.

Ryōan-ji

Japanese gardens are a living work of art in which the plants and trees are ever changing with the seasons.  As they grow and mature, they are constantly sculpted to maintain and enhance the overall experience; hence, a Japanese garden is never the same and never really finished. The underlying structure of a Japanese garden is determined by the architecture; that is, the framework of enduring elements such as buildings, verandas and terraces, paths, tsukiyama (artificial hills), and stone compositions. Over time, it is only as good as the careful maintenance that it receives by those skilled in the art of training and pruning. Part of the art is to keep the garden almost static, like a painting.

Ryōan-ji Temple Bell

Zen Timepiece Inspired by Ryōan-ji Temple Bell

The Zen Timepiece – a Gong Meditation Timer is the result of ten years of product evolution at Now & Zen, and we trust that you will find it a delight and a pleasure.  The Zen Timepiece’s greatest beauty is in its sound.

Once you take a moment to adjust the strike force and position of the bowl/gong to your liking, your ears will be treated to the lovely tones of the bowl’s long-resonating ring. We recommend you set the clock so that the bowl is sounded in the lower end of its range, because this is where it sounds the sweetest.

Gong & Chimes

Zen Clocks & Timers

Aaron Hoopes talks of meditation as being an avenue to touching the spiritual nature that exists within each of us.

“At its core, meditation is about touching the spiritual essence that exists within us all. Experiencing the joy of this essence has been called enlightenment, nirvana, or even rebirth, and reflects a deep understanding within us.

The spiritual essence is not something that we create through meditation. It is already there, deep within, behind all the barriers, patiently waiting for us to recognize it. One does not have to be religious or even interested in religion to find value in it.

Becoming more aware of your self and realizing your spiritual nature is something that transcends religion. Anyone who has explored meditation knows that it is simply a path that leads to a new, more expansive way of seeing the world around us.”

adapted from wikipedi.org

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.

Chime Meditation Timers

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.  The Digital Zen Clock can be programmed to chime at the end of the meditation 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.

Meditation Chime Timer by Now & Zen, Inc.

Zen Alarm Clock, Ukiyo-e Hokusai Wave Dial Face

Now & Zen’s Chime Meditation Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Silent Prayer- a zen prayer bell

The predominant form of worship among Quakers, or the Religious Society of Friends, has historically been communal silent prayer or meditation which consists of focusing on the Inner Light of Christ, listening for and awaiting the movement of the “still, small voice within”.

wikipedia.org

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

Signing Bowl Meditation Timer by Now & Zen, Inc.

Signing Bowl Meditation Store

Now & Zen’s Singing Bowl

Meditation Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383