time your walking meditation with the Digital Zen Timer by Now & Zen, Inc.

Ways to Relive Stress:

Get rid of nervous tension by inhaling as you take four steps, then exhaling for four steps. Repeat for at least three minutes (the longer, the better). Work up to six to eight steps per inhale and exhale. Use your Digital Zen Timer on the ‘Repeat Mode’ so that it will chime every three minutes to time yourself.

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Timers and Alarms with Chimes

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

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Time your exercise each day and sleep better

An early-evening workout may help you sleep. A study from Northwestern University, in Chicago, showed that insomniacs who did about 40 minutes of moderate cardio between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. four times a week got an average of 75 more minutes of sleep a night.  Set your Digital Zen Clock/Timer for at least 20 minutes. Choose an easy routine and finish two hours before bed, says Kori Malyszek, a coordinator for the Equinox Fitness Training Institute, in Los Angeles.

adapted from RealSimple.com

Bamboo Digital Zen Timer and Alarm Clock

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Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Stretch and do Yoga with Your Chime Timer to Create a Wake Up routine in the Morning

These energy-boosting changes to your daily routine will leave you feeling recharged.

Time to Wake Up!

Even if you’re a morning person, you’re probably far from firing on all cylinders when you first open your eyes. “It can take up to two hours to get the brain fully alert,” says Matthew Edlund, M.D., the director of the Gulf Coast Sleep Institute, in Sarasota, Florida, and the author ofThe Power of Rest: Why Sleep Alone Is Not Enough ($26, amazon.com). One reason you’re lethargic is that your core body temperature has dipped during the night to keep you in deep, restorative slumber. Try these morning energy strategies to get going with a lot less grief.

Let in the sun and stretch. Exposure to light stimulates your brain to stop producing melatonin (the hormone that helps induce sleepiness), says Edlund. Light also gets your body out of sleep mode by resetting the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus (a big name for a region about the size of a grain of rice), which controls the body’s circadian rhythms (or 24-hour biological clock). Meanwhile, Edlund says, “the first physical activity of the day raises the body temperature and increases blood flow to your brain.” Open the blinds, then try some stretches in front of the window. (If neighbors live in close range, make sure your pj’s are presentable.) Use your Zen Timepiece by setting it to count down in 20 minutes while you gently stretch and do a few yoga poses.

Chime Timer by Now & Zen with Tibetan-Singing Bowl Gong

Get moving. A morning workout triggers feel-good endorphins and lowers elevated stress hormones. The effects can last six to eight hours, says Gregory Florez, a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, in Salt Lake City: “Morning exercisers tend not to have midmorning slumps and are sharper mentally than if they hadn’t exercised.” You’ll get the most bang for your energy buck, he says, with a workout that includes both cardio and strength training.

Look at something you love. Mornings are especially hard because we’re in survival mode, says Jim Loehr, Ed.D., a cofounder of the Human Performance Institute, in Orlando, Florida. We have to meet basic needs, like hunger and thirst, and to the body that feels as if we’re under threat, which saps our energy. Positive emotions, like hope and gratitude, fight that energy drain by counteracting the primal messages that we’re in some kind of danger. Loehr suggests kick-starting those positive emotions by looking at something meaningful: Next to your bed, place a treasured photo, flowers, or anything else you’re grateful to see.

Shake up your routine. The brain responds to novel experiences by releasing a rush of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, which make you more alert. No need for a morning cliff dive—just take something ordinary and switch it up: If you’re right-handed, use your left hand to brush your teeth.

By Amy Paturel and Sara Reistad-Long from RealSimple.com

Chime Timers and Clocks for A Gradual Awakening

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(800) 779-6383

Choosing a Calming Alarm Clock

Americans recently voted alarm clocks one of their most hated inventions- and it’s not difficult to understand why.

But it seems there is more reason to fear your alarm clock than to loathe it.  For rather than just dragging you from slumber each morning, alarm clocks could actually be bad for your health, creating dark circles under your eyes and morning grogginess.

You don’t need to be a doctor to appreciate that the sudden shrill of an alarm clock could be bad for your heart.  But scientists have now proven that people who are suddenly forced awake by the sudden ringing of an alarm had higher blood pressure and heart rate than those who woke up peacefully.

Alarm Clocks  can also add to your overall stress levels. The sudden noise triggers the body’s protective ‘fight or flight’ response, pumping up your adrenaline levels.

How to choose a better alarm clock

While this might be useful to get you to work on time, it can also lead to chronic stress which in turn contributes to high blood pressure, sleep problems and depression.

Now & Zen ^® creates natural lifestyle Alarm Clocks that make a real difference in people’s lives. The growing preference for natural foods and natural fibers is carried forward by Now & Zen^® in the natural acoustic sounds and natural hardwood materials featured in every Now & Zen^® Zen Alarm Clock.  With a selection of different styles, these unique alarm clocks wake you gradually and naturally.  A series of acoustic bell-like chimes transforms your daily arrival into a tranquil beginning.  Each timepiece combines beauty and versatility.

These are high quality products that are not only modern and luxurious but are also peaceful and add to a stress-free day in an already stress filled world. Please visit their website to see these unique creations.  www.now-zen.com

Choose a Soothing Chime Alarm Clock for Better Health

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(800) 779-6383

How to Decorate with Clocks

It fills your environment with beautifully complex tones whenever it strikes. In the morning, its exquisite sounds summon your consciousness into awakening with a series of subtle gongs that provide an elegant beginning to your day. Once you experience the Zen Timepiece’s progressive awakening, you’ll never want to wake up any other way. It also serves as the perfect meditation timer. Available in 5 wood styles.

A Zen-like Clock helps Make Living Spaces More Zen

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(800) 779-6383

Therapeutic Chime Alarm Clocks

Pythagorean Tuning

The special tuning of the Zen Alarm Clock’s chime takes its inspiration from the ancient Greek master Pythagoras who lived in the 6th century B.C.  Pythagoras is one of history’s most mystical geniuses.  Although he is best known for his theorem in geometry, Pythagoras was primarily a religious teacher, and his understanding of the universe retains much vitality for our day.  Pythagoras embodied the ancient Greeks’ zest for understanding and their passion for the “physics of spirit.”

The Zen Alarm Clock’s chime is tuned according to the ancient method developed by Pythagoras.  The larger chime on model 4502 corresponds to an “E” note, and the smaller chime on model 4460 to a “B” note.  However, these notes vibrate at different frequencies than their equivalent notes on a modern piano.  Modern instrument tuning makes each note slightly flat or sharp so a whole range of instruments can play together.  But modern tuning compromises the enchanting and therapeutic quality—the purity—of the naturally occurring tones discovered by Pythagoras.  As a result of their natural tuning, the tones of your Zen Alarm Clock correspond to the vibrations of nature—the motion of the planets and the frequencies of life.  This is the secret of its therapeutic effect.

Zen Clock Store in Boulder, Colorado

Now & Zen Headquarter 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

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Clock Store

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