yoga forward bend

Everyday stress can throw your entire system off kilter; your muscles tighten, your heart races, and your stomach starts acting up — again. A simple seated forward bend can activate a reserve of sustaining energy that, according to Chinese medicine, rests between the kidneys.

Everyday stress can throw your entire system off kilter; your muscles tighten, your heart races, and your stomach starts acting up — again. A simple seated forward bend can activate a reserve of sustaining energy that, according to Chinese medicine, rests between the kidneys. “It calms the nervous system, gets the organs fully functioning, and clears up obstructions in the kidneys and adrenal glands,” explains Daniel Max, nutrition counselor, shiatsu practitioner, and yoga instructor with Max Sense of Self in Watertown, Massachusetts. Get your qi back in no time with this quick stretch.

What It Does
Calms the mind; relieves stress; stretches the spine, shoulders, hamstrings, and back; stimulates the kidneys and adrenal glands; improves digestion; and reduces fatigue.

How to Do It
1. Sit with your legs extended straight in front of you, feet parallel with toes pointing up. Press the back of your legs into the floor.

2. Inhale deeply and lift through the upper body. With your spine straight and shoulders back, pull the navel in slightly toward the spine, creating space in the abdomen. Exhale, release, and lean forward, bending from the hip, not the waist.

3. Fold forward only as far as you can (keep your knees bent if that’s more comfortable). With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso slightly; if you feel able to go further, release a little more fully into the bend on an exhale. Try not to crunch; maintain length through the spine.

4. Hold for a few breaths, allowing your body to open up. Direct your breath toward the kidneys, breathing deep into the lower back. Then inhale and sit up slowly, lifting your torso away from the thighs until your back is straight. Repeat 2 to 3 times. Set your Zen Timer for 20 minutes and continue until the chime sounds.

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.

The Only Singing Bowl Yoga Timer and Alarm Clock

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine, April 2008

Now & Zen’s Singing Bowl Yoga Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

(800) 779-6383

create a sacred place to be mindful

Is there a place in your home or yard where you can let go, relax, and renew your awareness of transcendent, loving oneness? It doesn’t take much to create such a place.

Your can create your healing retreat —a garden, a teahouse, a room—or you can claim one that already exists—a window seat, a rock by a stream. Your haven can be a balcony with potted plants and a wind chime, a hot tub surrounded by lavender, a bedroom where you have banished all distractions, or a comforter you roll up in like a cocoon. It needn’t even be a particular place; it can be an experience you recreate each time you need it, like a candlelight bubble bath with fresh flowers and Mozart.

There are no rules about how to create a personal haven, but consider incorporating some of these features (let your heart and your gut guide you):

• A gateway or marked entry to set it aside as sacred

• Privacy (freedom from interruptions and demands)

• A place to rest (a bed, hammock, comfortable stool)

• Calming colors

• Curved shapes

• Soft textures

create a sacred space in your house

• Plants

• Objects of beauty

• Simplicity, absence of clutter

• Soothing sounds (birdsong, moving water, music, wind chimes)

• Sunlight or soft, warm electric light

• Pleasing scents

• The four elements: air, earth (the ground, stones), water (in a bowl, fountain, or body of water), fire (sun, candles, a fire)

• A long vista, if there’s a pleasant one available

• Symbols of calm, transcendence, love, nourishment (hearts, stars, sun, moon, angels, personal treasures)

You deserve it

If you are like most people, the hardest part isn’t finding or creating a sanctuary; it’s believing that you deserve to spend time there. We tend to be so overwhelmed with demands that time taken away from meeting them feels like time wasted. We somehow learned that doing something just because it feels good is detrimental to others. Question these assumptions.

In fact, great inspiration, beautiful works of art, and profound love arise from the experience of unstructured time. In quiet, we can hear our muses and feel our passions. Here we can dream freely and drink from the deep well of our source. The peace we find carries into all our actions and relationships. What better gift can we give the world?

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.

Bamboo Meditation Timers and Alarm Clocks

adapted from Natural Home Magazine, January/February2004 by Carol Venolia

interiors that create well-being

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

yoga to recharge

Flick on your energy switch and get centered with this ancient 10-minute yoga routine.

In the high peaks of the Himalayas, there are spiritual seekers known to have extraordinary endurance and youthfulness, not to mention that ever-elusive inner peace. Their secret? A centuries-old series of daily yogalike postures known as the Five Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation. “The monks found this routine to be a key to their age-defying vitality and inner fulfillment,” says Carolinda Witt, a teacher of the rites and author of The 10-Minute Rejuvenation Plan (Three Rivers Press, 2005). Thanks to Witt, who has adapted the rites for those who can’t travel to the Himalayas, you can experience the power of these five exercises in your own home. The moves target the chakras—the spinning energy centers that extend from the base of your spine to the crown of your head—and get them to spin rapidly, and in unison. “The rites rev up your chakras to their fullest potential,” says Witt. “It’s like turning on an inner power switch.” Besides a boost in energy, flexibility, and core strength, Witt’s students report handling stress better, feeling more focused, having a stronger sense of purpose, and experiencing an overall feeling of connectedness.

THE FIRST RITE
SpinningIncreases energy flow; improves balance and coordination; enhances circulation.
EMOTIONAL BENEFITS: Creates a sense of joyfulness and freedom.

A. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your arms straight out to your sides at shoulder height, palms facing down. Relax your shoulders and gaze forward. Begin spinning in place, clockwise.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS:

B. Pivot on your right heel (but keep your right foot pressed into the floor—you’ll be sliding your toes in a clockwise circle) and step your left foot next to your right foot. Move at a speed that’s comfortable, and breathe normally through your nose. Avoid taking short, choppy steps with your left foot-the goal is to spin as smoothly as possible. Keep count of every turn by softly focusing on a stationary object, like a door or piece of furniture, and noting each time you pass it.

TO FINISH: When you’ve completed all your repetitions (for your first week, do three), stop and place your hands on your hips for balance. Close your eyes and take three deep, cleansing breaths.
TO PROGRESS: Turn on both feet instead of anchoring yourself with your right foot, and increase your speed.

THE SECOND RITE
Modified Leg Raise Strengthens the core, hips, lower back, legs, and neck.
EMOTIONAL BENEFITS: Promotes mental clarity and inner confidence.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS:

A. Lie on your back on a yoga mat with a folded towel under your lower back. Keep your legs together and straight and place your hands behind your head, fingers interlaced. Contract your abdominals and press your pelvis toward the mat; keep your abs tight throughout this exercise. Inhale and lift your head and shoulders off the floor slightly. Hold your breath as you bend your right knee and bring it directly over your right hip, keeping your lower leg parallel to the floor.

B. Straighten your right leg and flex your foot, pointing it toward the ceiling.

TO FINISH: Exhale and bend your right knee until your lower leg is again parallel to the floor. Then bring your right foot to the mat and slide it down to meet your left foot as you lower your head and shoulders to the mat. Repeat the move with your left leg. When you’ve completed all your repetitions (for the first week, do three), take three deep, cleansing breaths.
TO PROGRESS: Instead of raising one leg at a time, raise both legs. And instead of bending at the knee, use your abs to lift your legs straight off the mat and bring your feet toward the ceiling, keeping your lower back in contact with the mat.

THE THIRD RITE
Kneeling Backbend

PHYSICAL BENEFITS: Opens the front of the body; relieves muscle tension; stretches the spine.
EMOTIONAL BENEFITS: Helps connect you to your emotions; gives you full access to your creativity; allows you to go with the flow.

A. Kneel on a yoga mat with your legs hip-width apart, your knees in line with your hips (contract your abdominals to keep your hips from pushing forward), your toes curled under, and your hands on your buttocks, fingers pointing down. Keep your back straight.

B. Keeping your abdominals contracted, inhale as you lift your chest (without puffing out your ribs). Arch your back slightly and look up, gently squeezing your shoulder blades together, keeping your neck long. (Rather than bending back, focus on lengthening up and opening your chest.)

TO FINISH: Exhale and return to start position. When you’ve completed all your repetitions (if this is your first week, do three), take three deep, cleansing breaths.
TO PROGRESS: Deepen the stretch in your back: Press your shoulder blades together more firmly while lengthening your spine up. Squeeze your buttocks to keep your hips aligned over your knees.

THE FOURTH RITE
Tabletop Builds strong arms, wrists, shoulders, and legs; improves balance and stability; invigorates the circulatory and lymphatic systems.
EMOTIONAL BENEFITS: Initiates feelings of stability, balance, and order; enhances self–discipline and improves productivity.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS:

A. Sit on a yoga mat with your legs about hip-width apart, your knees slightly bent, and your feet flat on the floor about two feet away from you. Place your hands behind you near your hips, palms flat on the mat and fingers pointing toward your toes. Pull your abdominals toward your spine.

B. Inhale as you press down through your hands and feet, and lift your hips off the floor until they’re at the same height as your knees. Slide your knees forward until they’re aligned over your ankles. Bring your head back slightly and gaze toward the ceiling, keeping your neck long. Your posture should look like a flat tabletop with your torso parallel to the floor, arms straight, wrists aligned with shoulders, and knees aligned with ankles.

TO FINISH: Exhale and lower to the starting position. When you’ve completed all your repetitions (if this is your first week, do three), take three deep, cleansing breaths.
TO PROGRESS: Start by sitting with your legs extended in front of you rather than bent; this will further strengthen and stretch the arms, wrists, and shoulders.

THE FIFTH RITE
Pendulum Relieves fatigue and stress; improves flexibility and overall strength.
EMOTIONAL BENEFITS: Promotes insight, passion, and expansion.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS:

A. Come onto your hands and knees on the yoga mat, with your hands under your shoulders (fingers pointing forward) and your knees under your hips. Keep your arms straight and move your hands forward three to five inches. Contract your abdominals and tuck your pelvis toward your spine. Curl your toes under. Inhale and lift your knees off the mat. Lift your tailbone toward the ceiling and straighten your legs as much as possible without locking your knees until your body forms an inverted V. Press your heels toward the floor. Keep your neck in line with your back and your head between your upper arms. Gaze toward the mat.

B. Exhale, contract your buttocks, come onto the balls of your feet, and lower your hips toward the mat while shifting your weight to your hands, keeping your arms straight. Slide your head forward and up, open your chest, and gaze up slightly. Press your shoulders back; your body should be parallel to but not touching the floor.

TO FINISH: Return to start position. When you’ve done all your repetitions (if this is your first week, do three), take three deep, cleansing breaths.
TO PROGRESS: Contract your abdominals throughout the entire move to further strengthen your core.

Use our unique “Zen Clock” which functions as a Yoga & MeditationTimer.  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 Natural Health Magazine, by Holy St. Lifer

Tibetan Bowl Clock with brass bowl/gong , a perfect yoga timer with gentle gong

Now & Zen – The Yoga and Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

meditation may increase compassion

Meditation might be your prescription for a happier mind and kinder heart, a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows. Scientists worked with 16 Tibetan monks and 16 meditation novices, giving the beginners lessons on compassion meditation two weeks prior to a series of brain-scan experiments. Those brain scans — taken while the participants responded to different emotional cues — revealed that the monks had more activity in certain brain regions involved in processing empathy. The findings, according to study authors, suggest that meditation may train the brain to increase feelings of compassion and happiness.

To start your own meditation practice, try this exercise created by “Untrain Your Parrot” author Elizabeth Hamilton:

• Set your Zen Meditation Timer with Gong for 20 minutes.
• Sitting with your spine erect, breathe deeply, placing your fingertips over the center of your chest if you like.
• As you inhale, picture a person to whom you want to extend compassion. As you exhale, silently say, “May compassion awaken.” Inhale and exhale for several breaths, focusing on the center of your chest.
• Recalling the person, silently say, “May whatever clouds compassion be healed.” Repeat this cycle with the phrase, “May this moment be experienced, exactly as it is,” and finally, “May compassion be extended to all.”
• Repeat the exercise for 20 minutes until your Zen Timer Gongs.

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 from Body + Soul Magazine, August 2007

Zen Timepiece, a brass singing bowl clock and timer for meditation and yoga

Now & Zen – The Zen Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Benefits of Sleep

Wake up! New research reported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows that sleep is one of the brain’s most powerful tools for learning and remembering. University of Chicago researcher Daniel Margoliash found evidence that young birds practice singing while they sleep: Brain cells active during waking hours showed similar firing when the baby birds napped. “Birds dream of singing,” Margoliash says. And after navigating a spiral maze all day, rats apparently dream of running. Matthew Wilson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that the sleeping rodents’ brains replayed electrical signals characteristic of running. In human laboratory experiments, students who were tested and then allowed to sleep before retesting showed consistent improvement.

In fact, Robert Stickgold of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that a period of sleep between tests resulted in a 20% boost in performance without additional training, and “the more sleep the students got, the more they improved.” Says Stickgold, “Modern life’s erosion of sleep time could be seriously short-changing our education potential.” He says that “cramming all night may help you pass a test, but if you want to remember any of it after college, you need to sleep on it.”

adapted from Natural Solutions, Aug, 2002

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.

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.”

Chime Wake Up Clock by Now & Zen

Now & Zen’s Chime

Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO 80302

(800) 779-6383

meditation practice can be done anywhere and anytime

Meditation: Heart Warming
Time: 5 to 20 minutes.
When and Where: Anytime, although the end of the day is nice. Try to find a cozy place.
Position: Set your Zen Timer to 5 to 20 minutes. Sitting comfortably or lying down, eyes open or closed.
Intention: I am awake to love. I am ready to give and receive.

In this meditation you give yourself time to feel the emotional impact of all that is in your heart. Be leisurely, and linger in any of the meditation’s phases for as long as you like.

1. Begin by thinking of someone or something you love without reservation. Notice the sensations that arise in your heart and let yourself be with whatever is there — warmth, aching, joy, longing.

2. Bring both hands to your heart, feeling the warm contact of your palms against your chest. Imagine your heart being warmed by your love, melting any cold places, any part of you that is afraid, grieving, or lonely.

3. Make a humming sound, such as ahhh or ohhmm. Enjoy the way the sound vibrates in your chest for as long as you like. Then gradually let the sound fade away; you can return to it at any time.

4. Again notice the contact of your hands on your heart. Slowly open your arms outward, as you would to embrace someone. Take a few breaths and then slowly bring your hands back to your chest. Repeat this movement several times with great leisure. The simple motion of opening to give and drawing in to receive is a yoga of the heart, a way of expressing balance. End by bringing your hands back to your heart; pause, savoring the sensations and feelings.

Benefits of Meditation
– Promotes relaxation
– Enhances health
– Cultivates vitality
– Fosters clarity
– Increases focus
– Reduces stress

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 from Body + Soul Magazine, June 2005 by Lorin Roche and Camille Maurine

Japanese Maple Leaves Dial Face, the Zen Alarm Clock and Timer

Now & Zen- Meditation Timer & Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Meditation Pose, centering prayer

Going through a divorce, my world was askew. Physically, I was paying attention to my core with exercise, but emotionally I was a wreck. When my yoga teacher, Claudia, who was also a Benedictine oblate at Holy Wisdom Seminary, told me about Father Thomas Keating and the Centering Prayer movement I wanted to be open. Keating (along with other Trappist monks) brought the concept to the American public in the mid 1980s, reviving a practice that had been prominent during the first sixteen centuries of Christianity. During the Reformation, this mystical experience was discarded in favor of Rationalism and it wasn’t until the Western World discovered Buddhist meditation that it became popular again.

The goal of Centering Prayer is to know God’s love and feel God’s grace. To do so, you must get quiet, focus on a sacred word of your choice, and relax and enjoy the moment. The result—at least sometimes—a mystical experience. What’s not to like?

Well, for me, the God stuff was a problem. Having left organized religion, I wasn’t sure I believed in prayer or God. But when seeking inner peace, it’s hard to ignore the value of prayer to comfort. Meditation is one path to serenity, said Claudia; prayer is another. They both calm the mind and open the heart.

I met Claudia in her meditation studio. Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, she struck a chime and had me repeat after her: “Be still and know that I am love” (a slight modification of Psalm 46:10). “Be still and know.” “Be still.” “Be.”

I tried to clear my mind of thoughts, focusing only on the sacred word I chose. I tried “Home,” thinking it is so close to “Om” that it will be easy to find my meditation point. Nothing. Then “Freedom,” “Peace,” “Nothingness.” Finally, I settled on the word “Divine,” and fell through time and clouds into a space where I felt comforted. Then the chime sounded. Twenty minutes had passed.

I didn’t know where I had been—it was like I had found a silent sanctuary in my mind that was there all along. Claudia says entering into Centering Prayer is similar to falling in love—all boundaries collapse and you feel authentic and fearless. The real payoff is in the regular practice of Centering Prayer. Knowing you will be calmed and comforted in the loving arms of the universe is a sweet retreat at the beginning or end of a day.

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 Healing Lifestyles & Spas, by Judy Kirkwood, 2010

Zen Chime Alarm Clock and Timer

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Portable Zen Alarm Clock for Small Spaces

1. Reduce your need for space.
■ Cut back on how much you own.
■ Install small appliances.
■ Put space where you need it, not where you don’t (who needs a big room if it’s just for sleep?).

2. Design storage for your needs.
■ Use vertical space (for example, book-shelves above windows or high on walls, and floor-to-ceiling storage).
■ Waste no space (for example, put storage under stairs, drawers in stair risers and shelves in stud space).

3. Expand space via design.
■ Keep spaces neither too open nor too chopped up.
■ Let in plenty of natural light.
■ Align furniture along a diagonal. Draw a line between opposite corners of a room and orient seating so people often look from corner to corner—long views makes rooms feel bigger.
■ Use light colors, and use various colors or shades of paint to differentiate spaces (variety helps expand space, as long as it’s not too broken up).
■ Incorporate many outdoor living spaces and let the home open to them naturally.
■ Let in light with ceiling-height windows.
■ Build in furniture (for example, a dining booth requires less space than a table and chairs does).

4. Make things and spaces multifunctional.
■ A dining table can convert into an office desk or crafts table with proper storage nearby.
■ Consider foldaway furniture (for example, a Murphy guest bed, or a fold-up or sunken dining table).
■ Let furniture such as bookcases or headboards double as room dividers.

adapted from Natural Home Magazine, November/December 2010

digital zen alarm clocks for small spaces

Now & Zen – The Zen Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383