creating a sacred space in your garden

“According to mystics, spaces aren’t sacred because of their location but because of all the prayers said on that land,” Chris Prelitz says. He offers these tips for creating sacred space outdoors.

• Find a place that’s quiet and peaceful. “Your best clue is to notice where your cats hang out,” Chris notes.

• Transform an ugly spot. Damaged land offers an opportunity for healing. Spending time in meditation and prayer at a certain place helps sanctify it.

• Remind yourself of your oneness with Creation. Place statues, art, water, candles, crystals, or stones engraved with inspiring words in your garden.

• Make places to rest. Place a chair or bench in a comfortable spot, then sit ­quietly. Spend time “being” rather than doing.  Set your Zen Timepiece for a 20 minute meditation.

Zen Timepiece, tibetan singing bowl timer and clock

• Create ceremonies. Burn incense or sage. Write your prayers and intentions on colorful strips of paper and bury them or tie them to branches. Plant a tree as part of a ceremony. Host a wedding. Start a garden meditation circle with ­family and friends.

Use our unique “Zen Clock” which functions as a Yoga and 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 Natural Home Magazine, June/July 2005 by Marsha Scarbrough

stillness in the garden

Now & Zen’s Singing Bowl Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

drink more tea

Drink more tea.

When the whole Starbucks craze started, I always felt left out when my girlfriends wanted to meet for coffee because while I love the aroma of fresh brewed coffee, the taste makes me gag and cringe. But then a friend turned me onto hot tea, and things have never been the same since.

I love hot tea for many reasons. For one, it has turned out to be my herbal Xanax. It calms me when I’m feeling anxious, and comforts me when I’m having a rough day. I’m known for being freezing cold at all times, so I enjoy holding a hot mug while reading a book or people watching. These are all of my emotional reasons for drinking tea, but here are 10 health reasons to make the switch!

• Tea contains antioxidants that protect your body from the ravages of aging and the effects of pollution.
• Tea has less caffeine than coffee. An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 135 mg caffeine; tea contains only 30 to 40 mg per cup. If drinking coffee gives you the jitters, causes indigestion or headaches or interferes with sleep — switch to tea.
• Tea may reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke. Drinking tea may help keep your arteries smooth and clog-free, the same way a drain keeps your bathroom pipes clear.
• Tea protects your bones. It’s not just the milk added to tea that builds strong bones. One study that compared tea drinkers with non-drinkers, found that people who drank tea for 10 or more years had the strongest bones, even after adjusting for age, body weight, exercise, smoking and other risk factors.
• Tea gives you a sweet smile. Tea itself actually contains fluoride and tannins that may keep plaque at bay. So add unsweetened tea drinking to your daily dental routine of brushing and flossing for healthier teeth and gums.
• Tea bolsters your immune defenses. Drinking tea may help your body’s immune system fight off infections.
• Tea protects against cancer. Thank the polyphenols, the antioxidants found in tea, once again for their cancer-fighting effects.
  

  tea

• Tea helps keep you hydrated. The only time the caffeine becomes a problem as far as fluid is concerned is when you drink more than five or six cups of a caffeinated beverage at one time.
• Tea is calorie-free. Tea doesn’t have any calories, unless you add sweetener or milk. If you’re looking for a satisfying, calorie-free beverage, tea is a top choice.
• Tea increases your metabolism. Green tea has been shown to actually increase metabolic rate so that you can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day. Over a year’s time you could lose eight pounds just by drinking green tea. Of course, taking a 15-minute walk every day will also burn calories.

People frequently wonder which tea is better – green, black, or white? To be honest with you, there really isn’t enough difference to get overly excited about. All teas generally contain the same amount of flavonoids. Green and black teas come from the same plants, but green tea is dried for a shorter time and doesn’t go through a fermenting process used for black tea.

“The Zen Alarm Clock & Chime Timer’,  uses soothing acoustic chimes that signal it’s time –  gently and gradually.

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.

adapted from Ode Magazine, Feb. 2009

Digital Zen Alarm Clock, a perfect tea timer

Now & Zen’s Chime Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Toyokuni Utagawa, Flower Arrangement

By skillfully managing your attention, you’re able to both experience life in a balanced way and stay oriented in a positive, productive direction. John Milton might have been thinking of the power of focus when he wrote: “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.”

Like consciousness or mind, attention is a complex neurological and behavioral business. There’s no tidy “attention center” in the brain. Instead, an ensemble of alerting, orienting, and executive networks collaborate to attune you to what’s going on in your inner or outer world in a coherent way that points you toward an appropriate response.

Along with performing the Apollonian task of organizing your world, attention enables you to have the kind of Dionysian experience beautifully described by the old-fashioned term rapt—completely absorbed, engrossed, fascinated, perhaps even “carried away”—that underlies life’s deepest pleasures, from the scholar’s study to the carpenter’s craft to the lover’s obsession. Some individuals slip into it more readily, but research shows that with some reflection, experimentation, and practice, all of us can cultivate this profoundly attentive state and experience it more often.

Considering attention’s importance, it’s surprising that until recently, science has come up with few strategies to improve it. Most new strategies have a “back to the future” quality derived from their origin in meditation, secularized and made amenable to scientific study. These cognitive regimens can strengthen attention and are both free and safe, all of which must appeal to the 78 million baby boomers and their aging children, who are equally concerned about maintaining their mental and physical health.

Bamboo Alarm Clocks & Meditation Timers

Deciding what to pay attention to for this hour, day, week, or year, much less a lifetime, is a peculiarly human predicament, and your quality of life largely depends on how you handle it. Moses got his focus from God; Picasso from his nearly supernatural creativity. We have other motivations and gifts, and most of us have to go through a more complicated process to find the right things to focus on. We must resist the temptation to drift along, reacting to whatever happens to us next, and deliberately select targets, from activities to relationships, that are worthy of our finite supplies of time and attention.

Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned is that it shouldn’t take a crisis to show you that your life is the sum total of what you focus on or to make you question that your well-being depends on what happens to happen to you. After running that tough experiment, however, I have a plan for the rest of my life. I’ll choose my targets with care—writing a book or making a stew, visiting a friend or looking out a window—then give them my rapt attention. In short, I’ll live the focused life, because it’s the best kind there is.

Excerpted from Utne Reader, March/April 2010 from the book Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher

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.

Zen Alarm Clocks with Chimes & Singing Bowls

Now & Zen’s Chime Timer and Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

yoga

To find a yoga style that jibes with you, first consider whether your intentions are mainly physical, emotional, or spiritual, says Hansa, president of Yoga Alliance, an organization that registers yoga teachers nationwide. (She uses only one name.) Some people practice yoga for strength and flexibility, some crave relaxation, and some seek a connection with a higher power. (Some want all four.) There is no right or wrong reason to practice yoga, but different styles fulfill different needs. Just as if you were placing a personals ad, you need to think about what you want before you get started.

class consciousness
Yoga’s popularity has exploded of late—18 million Americans now regularly twist themselves into pretzels, more than double the number in 1997. But the sheer variety of classes to choose from can be daunting. Here’s a primer to help you decide what’s right for you.

partner yoga

ananda
founder: Swami Kriyananda

What it is: A gentle approach to postures, ananda yoga emphasizes calming the mind in preparation for meditation. Holding the postures is said to create self-awareness, and affirmations are often incorporated to enhance the poses.
Sign on if: You’re looking for a deeply spiritual experience that also builds strength and balance.
For more information: www.expandinglight.org

ashtanga
founder: K. Pattabhi Jois

What it is: The foundation of many “power yoga” or “power flow” classes, this fast-moving series of breath work and sweat-inducing poses is said to purify the mind and body. The room isn’t heated, but you’ll sweat anyway.
Sign on if: You like pushing your muscles to the max and conquering new heights of cardio endurance.
For more information: www.ayri.org

anusara
founder: John Friend

What it is: A dual focus on principles of alignment and physical expressiveness gives practitioners an in-depth understanding of the poses as well as a strong dose of spirituality. Although physically challenging, the style emphasizes accepting each student’s abilities.
Sign on if: You seek a physical and spiritual workout and are internally driven.
For more information: www.anusara.com

bikram
founder: Bikram Choudhury

What it is: Known as “yoga to the stars” because of its popularity in Hollywood, Bikram consists of a 90-minute series of 26 poses. Ideally, classrooms are heated to 105 degrees with 60 percent humidity to facilitate stretching and loosening of muscles and tendons.
Sign on if: You have a high tolerance for heat and respond well to a highly charged, athletic environment.
For more information: www.bikramyoga.com

iyengar
founder: B.K.S. Iyengar

yoga

What it is: Precision, alignment, and symmetry are key elements of an Iyengar class. Postures are held up to five minutes to build strength and encourage deep release. Props, such as blocks, belts, and blankets, help students hold difficult poses, but can also create a start-and-stop pace that some people don’t like.
Sign on if: You’re a detail-oriented person who likes to get things right, no matter how long it takes.
For more information: www.bksiyengar.com

kripalu
founder: Swami Kripalvananda

What it is: Slow-paced classes focus on creating an emotionally and physically safe learning environment. Offers a strong emphasis on mind-body integration.
Sign on if: Relaxation is just as important to you as building strength and increasing flexibility.
For more information: www.kripalu.org

kundalini
founder: Sikh master Yogi Bhajan

What it is: The focus is on freeing energy by awakening kundalini, the coiled energy located at the base of the spine. Despite its sexy reputation, kundalini emphasizes breathing exercises and chanting in lieu of a more physical practice.
Sign on if: The spiritual and emotional dimensions of yoga interest you more than getting a workout.
For more information: www.3HO.org

viniyoga
founder: T.K.V. Desikachar

What it is: A gentle style that incorporates asanas, chanting, breathing practices, and meditation, Viniyoga focuses on an individual’s needs and abilities.
Sign on if: You’re looking for a supportive and nurturing environment where your limitations are taken into consideration in each asana. Especially good for people with chronic health problems.

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.

Singing Bowl Yoga Timer

excerpted from Natural Solutions, June, 2003 by Catherine Guthrie

Meditation & Yoga Timers and Clocks

Now & Zen’s Yoga Timer

and Chime Alarm Clock

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

Harunobu Suzuki, A girl Collecting Chrysanthemums by a Stream

The courage to witness

Ancient contemplative practices have long understood the nature of mind as something that pushes away pain and clings to pleasure. But if you’re like most people, you probably didn’t begin yoga or meditation intent on acquiring tools to help relieve your suffering. Instead you’ve been waiting for the moment when you could balance on your head or sit without fidgeting on your meditation cushion. Then one day in a yoga class, you realize that you don’t hear your usual internal dialogue bemoaning your inherently stiff hamstrings or comparing your abilities to everyone else’s. Instead, you are aware of your breathing, and you begin to notice the subtle feelings within your body as you practice. You’ve been tuning into what’s happening as it is, in fact, happening. You have been practicing mindfulness.

Stay Present
These three simple tips can be practiced under everyday circumstances so that when you find yourself faced with intense situations, like grief, the skills may have already taken root.

Yoga

Smoothing the breath

The breath and the mind travel in tandem. When the breath gets agitated, the mind cannot settle. By bringing attention into the breath, the mind is naturally soothed. For five minutes a day, sit quietly and simply pay attention to the path of the breath in and out of the nose as you soften the tongue and release the jaw. Allow thoughts to come and go, but continuously bring your focus back to the breath.

Dropping in

The body reflects our physical, emotional, and mental states. For instance, joy spontaneously lightens the step and softens the face, whereas depression can cause the shoulders and chest to collapse down. At random moments when you think of it through the course of each day, just check in with your physical state. Make note of your physical feelings and sensations and the quality of your breath. Then consider what thought or circumstance might be contributing to that experience.

Being kind

When others offer you kindness, responding congenially comes easily. But when others act unhappy, angry, or distant, being kind proves more difficult. The easy path? Responding with an equally charged emotion, or simply leaving the person alone to suffer. When unpleasant situations with others arise, experiment with making no assumptions about why they behave as they do. Simply offer kind support—without the desire that your act of compassion will change the situation or benefit you.

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 Zen Clocks, progressive chime clock and timer

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Shinsui Itō, Before a Mirror (1916) Ukiyo-e

People in need of a creative boost should take a long nap, according to new research highlighted by ScienCentral. The researchers found that naps increase people’s ability to solve problems creatively, but only if the nap includes REM, the deep sleep when dreams occur. REM sleep happens only after about an hour of sleeping, so a long nap is recommended. According to researcher Sara Mednick, “if you take a nap with REM sleep, you’re actually going to be boosting your ability to make these new associations in creative ways.” Mednick has tried to put her findings to good use by taking a nap at least three times each week.  A good way to peacefully end your nap is to use your Zen Alarm Clock with progressive chimes.

adapted from Utne.com by Bennett Gordon, September 2009

Zen Alarm Clock in Maple Finish with Maple Leaves Dial Face and Chime

Now & Zen – The Zen Alarm Clock Store

Set Your Gentle, Chime Alarm Clock -- The Zen Alarm Clock Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383