sleeping outside, a perfect place for dream time...

There’s something irresistibly romantic about sleeping outside. Long a part of cowboy and camping traditions, it achieved architectural expression in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the rise of the sleeping porch. The idea continues to evolve.  Whether used for a daytime catnap or a full night’s rest, open-air sleeping platforms can give you a chance to enjoy summer weather to the fullest.

Garden sanctuary
As a child, Marni Leis wanted a backyard playhouse.  She realized her dream as an adult by building what she calls her “teahouse.” The 6- by 13-foot screened pavilion occupies a wooden platform near a small pond.  Gauzy curtains frame the entrance and provide privacy and bug protection when needed.  A shallow gabled roof covered with translucent fiberglass shelters the area from rain and drizzle without blocking the light.  A portable Digital Zen Alarm Clock sits on a basket table by the futon bed on the platform bed.

She furnished the space with comfortable, stylish pieces, including a chair found at a flea market, an old coffee table, and an antique bookcase.  “I used fabrics I could wash easily, because they are exposed to the elements,” she says.  “I also used pieces that meant something to me.  These give the place an air of nostalgia.  When you’re there, you feel like you could be in another time or place.  It’s great to get outside away from the noise and be alone with nature.”

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.

adapted from Sunset Magazine by Mary Jo Bowling

Digital Zen Alarm Clocks, for a calm awakening

Now & Zen’s Gentle Chime Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Choose a Gentle Chime Alarm Clock

View your sleeping environment and decide what you can control. Awakening can be triggered by external cues such as light and sound; hence the effectiveness of the alarm clock. These triggers can override the circadian rhythm.

• Light: Your mind will respond to light and bring you out of sleep. Leave your curtains or blinds open to wake up with the sunrise. Close them if you need to sleep later. Adjust the positioning of your bed to catch the light at the right time—you may need to move your bed occasionally since the sun will strike your room at a slightly different angle as the seasons progress. If you are camping, locate your tent so that the sun will hit it unobstructed (make sure there are no trees, hills, etc. that will prevent the sun from hitting your tent early in the morning). Remember that the sun rises in the east; in the northern hemisphere a south-facing orientation will receive more sunlight, and in the southern hemisphere a north-facing orientation will get more, but unless you are trying to wake up when the sun is high in the sky, you will still want to face to the east to catch the sun when it rises. As stated earlier, the position of your bed will depend heavily on the time of the year, and the time you want to wake up. If you need to get up before the sun rises, putting the lights in your room on a timer can also help, as this may not seem as disruptive as an alarm clock. Or better yet, choose a gentle, soothing way to wake up like using a Zen Chime Alarm Clock.  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.
  

  Zen Chime Alarm Clock, for a progressive awakening

• Sound: Noises (such as that pesky alarm) also bring you out of sleep. Identify what sounds regularly occur around where you sleep—and when they occur. Trains, automobiles, animals, and other people going about regular tasks can serve as waking cues. You can take advantage of this by noting what wakes you up and when. Consider leaving your window open to capture more sounds.
• Temperature: Your sleeping body is very sensitive to temperature. If you turn your heat down at night and have a timer on your thermostat, you can set the heat to come back on about an hour before you want to wake up. Assuming you were at a comfortable sleeping temperature all night, this should prompt you to awaken. You can also use temperature in conjunction with light, since sunlight hitting your bed directly will warm you up. You may even be able to choose what blankets you use so that you will be comfortable throughout the night (your body temperature drops after midnight), but begin to get too hot as your body temperature naturally rises (regardless of external temperature), toward the end of your sleep cycle. If you want to take a brief nap outside on a hot day (when you are camping or backpacking, for instance), you can choose someplace to sleep where you will be in a shadow initially, but where you will eventually be in the sun.
  

  sleep

• Smell: If you drink coffee regularly, the easiest way to use smell as a trigger to awake is to put your coffee maker in your bedroom and set its timer for just before when you want to wake up. Smell is not generally a reliable way to wake up, though, so use this in combination with other methods.
• Feeling: Drink a tall glass of water before going to bed. You will find that you wake up very promptly.and will occasionally have to wake up and use the bathroom, so you’ll be up at least 30 minutes before target time.

adapted from wikihow.com

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

gentle alarms can wake you up so that you are still relaxed

Sleep Issues

Sleep Statistics

In 2008 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set out to learn just what determines how much sleep Americans get. The lowdown from the survey’s 403,981 respondents follows.

Women are more likely than men to get an insufficient amount of sleep. The results were 12.4 percent of women surveyed versus 9.9 percent of men.

Work helps you sleep. People who are employed get more rest than those who aren’t. But retirees get more sleep than either of those groups. (Only 9.5 percent of retired respondents reported not getting enough z’s.)

More education = more sleep. People with a college degree snooze more than those without a high school diploma or a GED.

Married and single people sleep roughly the same amount. But being divorced, widowed, or separated increases your likelihood of insufficient sleep.

Where you live affects your sleep. West Virginia has the highest rate of sleeplessness—more than 19 percent of respondents. For more sufficient sleep, head to North Dakota, where only 7.4 percent reported inadequate sleep.

The good news? The older you grow, the more likely you are to get enough sleep. People over the age of 65 reported the lowest percentage of insufficient sleep.

adapted from RealSimple.com

Zen Alarm Clocks Contribute to Good Sleep Habits

Now & Zen Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

it's okay to yawn

Afraid to risk rudeness and let out a hearty yawn? Well, here’s an excuse to give Miss Manners a hissy fit: According to neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, MD, director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania, yawning is one of the best-kept health secrets. “If you want to maintain an optimum healthy brain, it is essential that you yawn,” says Newberg. The action stimulates neural movement in certain areas of the mind and regulates brain temperature and metabolism—all of which can increase muscle control, enhance sensuality, and even ward off jet lag. Newberg suggests yawning 10 times in a row every day, along with your regular workout or wellness routine. A nightly yawning ritual can help you:

Chill out. Newberg says a good yawn can relax you more effectively than meditation. “More than simply calming the body, yawning brings the mind into a heightened state of cognitive functioning.”

Stay focused. “Yawning rids the brain of sleepiness, helping you keep your attention on important ideas and concepts,” says Newberg. So why do we start yawning before we hit the sack? Because it also helps regulate our internal clock: When we’re tired, yawning signals sleep.  No need to set your Zen Alarm Clock for bedtime quite yet.

Be more compassionate. Studies show yawning stimulates the part of the brain responsible for generating empathy and social awareness. So intentional yawning may actually strengthen our ability to be kind to others.

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, October 2009 by Danielle Winston

Digital Zen Alarm Clock

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Choki Eishosai, Sunrise at New Year

It turns out that toddlers are not the only ones who do better after an afternoon nap.  New research has found that young adults who slept for 90 minutes after lunch raised their overall learning power, their memory apparently primed to absorb new facts.

Other studies have indicated that sleep helps consolidate memories after cramming, but the new study suggests that sleep can actually restore the ability to learn.

The findings, which have not yet been published, were presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego.

“You need to sleep before learning, to prepare your brain, like a dry sponge, to absorb new information,” said the lead investigator, Matthew P. Walker, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley.

The study recruited 39 healthy young adults and divided them into two groups.  All 39 were asked to learn 100 names and faces at noon, and then to learn a different set of names and faces at 6 p.m.  But 20 of the volunteers who slept for 90 minutes between the two overall learning sessions improved their scores by 10 percent on average after sleeping; the scores of those who didn’t nap actually dropped by 10 percent.

Set your Zen Alarm Clock in your office and take a little snooze so that you can prime your brain for the best overall learning experience.

adapted from The New York Times, February 2010 by Roni Caryn Rabin

Zen Timepiece, an alarm clock to wake one from napping with Tibetan bowl/gong

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Soothing Chime Alarm Clocks

Soothing Acoustic Chime Alarm Clock by Now & Zen, Inc. – Boulder, Colorado

“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.  This Soothing Alarm Clock is the Best Choice for Pregnant Women not wanting to disturb their little sleeping sweeties…

Soothing Chime Alarm Clock for New and Pregnant Mothers

Now & Zen’s Chime Alarm Clock  Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

snooze news from Now & Zen, Inc.

New research shows that getting a good night’s rest can do more than help you feel your best the next day—it can also reduce your risk of developing diabetes. Scientists at the University at Buffalo found that people who sleep fewer than six hours a night during the work week are 4.5 times more likely to have elevated levels of blood sugar than those who snooze six to eight hours.

Why? “Inadequate sleep activates the sympathetic nervous system, which can lead to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance,” says Lisa Rafalson, research assistant professor at the University at Buffalo and author of the study. “Lack of sleep may also cause us to eat more, and being overweight is a strong risk factor for diabetes.”

adapted from Natural Solutions, August 2009

Chime Clocks for a Natural Awakening

Now & Zen’s

Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

Just Say No to a Snooze Button

Most modern alarm clocks include a “snooze button” mechanism which allows the user to go back to sleep for a brief period after the initial alarm.

just say no to the snooze button on your alarm clock

Zen Alarm Clocks make waking up a beautiful experience

Boulder, Colorado