Japanese Influences- Zen Alarm Clocks

Boulder Colorado based Now & Zen makes beautiful and useful Japanese influenced products for your home.  Now & Zen’s most popular product is the Zen Alarm Clock, which wakes you gracefully with a gradually increasing series of acoustic chimes or gongs.

Zen Clocks Inspired by Japanese Influences

Now & Zen’s line of over 50 different Zen Clocks were all conceived and designed by philosopher Steve McIntosh.

Steve’s love of beauty and passion for spiritual practice led him to invent products that would make a real difference in people’s lives. He created Now & Zen’s brand aesthetic by combining the harmonic proportions of sacred geometry with motifs from traditional Japanese influences.  This has resulted in product designs that have a timeless, universal appeal.

Now & Zen’s Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Japanese Calligraphy Dial Face - Chime Alarm Clock By Now & Zen

Zen Clocks by Now & Zen, Inc.

Looking for the perfect desk clock gift and feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the options? Here are a few tips to consider when finding a desk clock gift for the special professional in your life.

(1) Desk Clock Gift Tip # 1: Does it look professional?

When picking out that perfect desk clock gift, your friend/loved one will really appreciate you taking the extra time to find one that maintains their professional image. One thing to consider is the material: clocks made out of nicer materials, such as wood or metal, typically make nicer gifts. Another concept that is important is the aesthetic features of the clock and if it blends with the current décor in the office. For example, our Zen alarm clock <link> is great for someone trying to have a very natural or organic feel in their office.

(2) Desk Clock Gift Tip # 2: How does it sound?

Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is more annoying than the regular tick-tick-tick-tick from the second hand on typical desk clocks. When you are selecting a great desk clock gift, it is important to consider those annoying little sounds that a lot of clocks can make. What you don’t want to do is spend a lot of time and money on getting the perfect clock, just to find out a month later the recipient had to take the batteries out so it wouldn’t tick all of the time.

(3) Desk Clock Gift Tip # 3: Is it a timer?

A lot of highly-efficient professionals use timers to maintain good time management. A great feature for a desk clock gift is a timer function. Can you set it to ring in 30 minutes from now? Can you have it ring in regular intervals or on the hour, so the recipient of your gift can keep audio track of the time? These additional features can go a long way in helping your friend/loved one get the maximum amount of use from your gift.

(4) Desk Clock Gift Tip # 4: Don’t be the running Office Joke

A lot of more expensive, experiential clocks come with a large number of unnecessary bells and whistles. You can get lights that slowly turn on to simulate the dawn, little scented beads on the top of a clock, or the ability for a clock to go down 20,000 feet under water. Just remember, sometimes more is not better- it’s just more. Simple, classic, great-sounding clocks typically make the best gifts for the office. You don’t want the gift you worked so hard to pick out to become the running joke in the office because it dumped little scented beads all over the floor.

Desk clock gift – Tips for find the professional in you your life a great clock for their desk:Looking for the perfect desk clock gift and feeling a bit overwhelmed at all the options? Here are a few tips to consider when finding a desk clock gift for the special professional in your life.

Desk Clock Gift Store - Boulder, CO

Now & Zen’s Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800 779-6383

How Much Time Should You Meditate Daily?

There is a great story about a Kundalin yogi who was determined to reach spiritual enlightenment. He would meditate each and everyday, and continue to meditate for longer and longer each day. As months and then years went by the now wise Kundalin yoga master meditated 22 hours per day.  Unfortunately, not all of us can meditate for 22 hours a day, we do the best with the time we have. Finding balance is an important philosophy in a natural lifestyle. Balancing your meditation and your time are going to be important.

Zen Timers for Meditation by Now & Zen

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

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Bowl Gong Meditation Timer - How Much Should You Meditate Daily?

Singing Bowl Meditation Store - Boulder, CO

Unique Brain Waves

Just in between the sleeping and waking state is a brain state known as the Alfa State.  When in the Alfa State, your brain produces unique brain waves that have been found to be very helpful in increasing the effectiveness of personal affirmations.

An affirmation is a specialized technique of stating a goal to yourself in a way that re-programs your preconscious mind for improved performance.  Affirmations are most effective when they are expressed as statements of fact or convictions written down in your own language. The most effective affirmations are personal, positive and in the present tense.  For example, if your goal is to become a better parent, effective affirmations may include:  “I am balanced in my expressions of discipline and understanding toward my children.” or “When I demonstrate love and compassion to my kids, they learn to show love and warmth to each other.”

Affirmations and Zen Clocks by Now & Zen Inc

To use a progressive alarm clock for an affirmation practice, formulate and write down an affirmation of improvement in your life.  Before you go to sleep, read the affirmation to yourself and resolve to remember it when you first wake up.  When you are first awakened by your Zen Alarm Clock, lie quietly in bed before moving or opening your eyes and repeat your affirmation to yourself three times.  If you lie still, the chances are good that your brain will remain in the Alpha State during the first few strikes of the bowl or chime.

Now & Zen Showroom, Boulder, CO

If you do nothing to disturb this “freshly awakened” state while you repeat your affirmation to yourself, you will maximize the effectiveness of the affirmation through this alfa wave programming technique. Like the dreamwork techniques discussed above, the improvement of your life through affirmations in the alpha state can be accomplished without the use of Zen Clocks; but using the progressive alarm clock makes the process easier and more fun.

Zen Clocks with Chimes

Now & Zen Inc. – The Zen Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

Takaragawa Onsen in Japan

Practice Mindfulness at an Onsen

An onsen is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs.  As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth.

Onsen come in many types and shapes, including outdoor and indoor baths. Baths may be either public run by a municipality or private often run as part of a hotel, ryokan or Bed and Breakfast.

Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, NM

Onsen are a central feature of Japanese tourism often found out in the countryside but there are a number of popular establishments still found within major cities.  They are a major tourist attraction drawing Japanese couples, families or company groups who want to get away from the hectic life of the city to relax. Japanese often talk of the virtues of “naked communion”  for breaking down barriers and getting to know people in the relaxed homey atmosphere of a ryokan with an attached onsen.

The presence of an onsen is often indicated on signs and maps by a kanji,  (yu, meaning “hot water”).

One of Now & Zen’s favorite Japanese onsen is called Ten Thousand Waves, located in the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Taking time to view the Koi fish at Ten Thousand Waves Onsen

In the larger scheme of things, our days on this planet are few and precious, so it seems fitting that we should begin each day with grace and beauty.  Used as an alarm clock, your Zen Clock thus serves as a useful reminder that each day is a new and sacred opportunity to live life to its fullest.  But in addition to its use as an alarm clock, your Zen Timepiece is also an aesthetically-sophisticated timer that enhances practice activities and social gatherings. It can also serve as a “mindfulness bell” that periodically calls you to stillness.

We often bring our Digital Zen Timer with us as a ‘Travel Alarm Clock’ when we go on a journey so that we can use it to meditate in a lovely hot spring like Ten Thousand Waves.

Meditation Timer with Singing Bowl

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

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Timer in Bamboo by Now & Zen, Boulder, CO

Soothe your little sweetie with a gentle massage

Empirical research suggests our appreciation of massage starts early—as tastes go, it’s one that needs little acquiring. That’s certainly the message behind the growing trend of infant massage, where mothers and fathers (and sometimes caretakers) bond with their wee ones through loving touch and improve their overall health. Parents, nurses, and doctors say that massage helps babies grow better, improves digestion, and eases colic. Studies conducted at the Touch Research Institutes at the University of Miami School of Medicine show that infant massage facilitates weight gain in preterm infants, decreases babies’ level of stress hormones, and balances out their sleep/wake cycle. “Nurturing touch is important for children’s physical, social, behavioral, mental, and cognitive development,” says Linda Garofallou, an infant and pediatric massage therapist at Children’s Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. She gives infant massage to patients and also trains others in the technique.

To do an infant massage, choose a time when your baby is well fed and rested. Set your Zen Timer for twenty minutes.  Put a towel in a quiet room for the baby to lie on, choose a natural oil such as coconut, almond, or avocado, and play relaxing music. Assess the baby’s receptivity by observing her response to your touch. If she is stiff or tense, then use your intuition: either hold her closely in your arms until she relaxes—or wait for another time. A gazing, quiet, yet alert state means she is ready to begin.

Mom and baby

A common stroke, called Indian Milking, entails holding one foot with your hand and then “milking” the leg from the ankle to thigh. Follow this by holding the thigh with both hands and gently twisting and squeezing your hands as you move from thigh to foot. (For more strokes, see Vimala Schneider’s classic book, Infant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents [Bantam, 1989] or visit the International Association of Infant Massage, www.iaim.ws/home.html, to find a certified infant massage instructor near you.)

Babes aren’t the only ones who benefit from infant massage. Experts like Andrea Kelly, ceo of the International Association of Infant Massage in Ventura, California say that giving a massage releases nurturing hormones for both the mother (oxytocin) and the father (prolactin).

In addition to bonding, infant massage helps kids born with addictions or serious health problems, says Joanne Starr, MD, director of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery at Children’s Hospital. She’s seen the positive effects of Garofallou’s infant massage on the tiny heart patients she’s operated on. “I think it’s a very important part of their healing,” says Starr, who adds that many of these infants can’t be held because they are hooked up to ventilators. “It’s such a helpless feeling for the parents, but massage empowers them to do something.”

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, October 2007

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 Digital Chime Clock, a calming timer and alarm clock made from natural materials like bamboo, walnut, and maple

Now & Zen – The Zen Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Flower of Life

The Zen Timepiece can also be more actively incorporated into your meditation practice as a form of “mantra” or “yantra.”  Mantra is a sanskrit word which means “mental protection.”  In Eastern meditation traditions, a mantra takes the form of a word or sound which is chanted to occupy the mind and keep disturbing thoughts from distracting the meditator.  A yantra is used in Eastern meditation traditions as an image upon which the meditator concentrates until it “disappears.”

Zen Timepiece by Now & Zen, Boulder, CO

The Zen Timepiece’s bowl strikes can be used as a sort of external mantra or sonic yantra.  The clock’s countdown mode repeat function (the interval timer) allows the bowl to be struck repeatedly at any set period, so that as the strikes repeat, they serve to bring you back to the focal point of concentration.

Now & Zen's Meditation Timers and Alarm Clocks

Now & Zen’ s Meditation Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

can meditation reduce stress?

Dhyana heyah tad vrttayah.

Meditation removes disturbances of the mind. (Yoga Sutra II.11)

Research shows that meditation can help people with anxiety disorders. Philippe Goldin, director of the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience project in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University, uses mindfulness meditation in his studies. The general practice is to become aware of the present moment—by paying attention to sounds, your breath, sensations in your body, or thoughts or feelings—and to observe without judgment and without trying to change what you notice.

Like most of us, the participants in Goldin’s studies suffer from all sorts of disturbances of the mind—worries, self-doubt, stress, and even panic. But people with anxiety disorders feel unable to escape from such thoughts and emotions, and find their lives overtaken by them. Goldin’s research shows that mindfulness meditation offers freedom for people with anxiety, in part by changing the way the brain responds to negative thoughts.

In his studies, participants take an eight-week mindfulness-based course in stress reduction. They meet once weekly for a class and practice on their own for up to an hour a day. The training includes mindfulness meditation, walking meditation, gentle yoga, and relaxation with body awareness as well as discussions about mindfulness in everyday life.

Before and after the intervention, participants have their brains scanned inside an fMRI (or functional MRI) machine, which looks at brain activity rather than the structure of the brain, while completing what Goldin calls “self-referential processing”—that is, thinking about themselves. An fMRI scanner tracks which brain areas consume more energy during meditation and, therefore, which regions are more active.

Ironically, the brain-scanning sessions could provoke anxiety even in the calmest of people. Participants must lie immobilized on their back with their head held in the brain scanner. They rest their teeth on dental wax to prevent any head movement or talking. They are then asked to reflect on different statements about themselves that appear on a screen in front of their face. Some of the statements are positive, but many of them are not, such as “I’m not OK the way I am,” or “Something’s wrong with me.” These are exactly the kinds of thoughts that plague people with anxiety.

The brain scans in Goldin’s studies show a surprising pattern. After the mindfulness intervention, participants have greater activity in a brain network associated with processing information when they reflect on negative self-statements. In other words, they pay more attention to the negative statements than they did before the intervention. And yet, they also show decreased activation in the amygdala—a region associated with stress and anxiety. Most important, the participants suffered less. “They reported less anxiety and worrying,” Goldin says. “They put themselves down less, and their self-esteem improved.”

Goldin’s interpretation of the findings is that mindfulness meditation teaches people with anxiety how to handle distressing thoughts and emotions without being overpowered by them. Most people either push away unpleasant thoughts or obsess over them—both of which give anxiety more power. “The goal of meditation is not to get rid of thoughts or emotions. The goal is to become more aware of your thoughts and emotions and learn how to move through them without getting stuck.” The brain scans suggest that the anxiety sufferers were learning to witness negative thoughts without going into a full-blown anxiety response. Research from other laboratories is confirming that mindfulness meditation can lead to lasting positive changes in the brain. For example, a recent study by Massachusetts General -Hospital and Harvard University put 26 highly stressed adults through an eight-week mindfulness-based course in stress reduction that followed the same basic format as Goldin’s study. Brain scans were taken before and after the intervention, along with participants’ own reports of stress. The participants who reported decreased stress also showed decreases in gray -matter density in the amygdala. Previous research had revealed that trauma and chronic stress can enlarge the amygdala and make it more reactive and more connected to other areas of the brain, leading to greater stress and anxiety. This study is one of the first documented cases showing change ocurring in the opposite direction—with the brain instead becoming less reactive and more resilient.

Together, these studies provide exciting evidence that small doses of mental training, such as an eight-week mindfulness course, can create important changes in one’s mental well-being.

Zen Meditation Timers and Clocks - Boulder, CO

adapted from Yoga Journal, by Kelly McGonigal

meditation tools and gentle alarm clocks

Now & Zen’s Meditation Timer & Alarm Clock Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

wake up naturally

I recently taught my students about chronobiology—the study of cycles in organisms. We talked about the importance of a good night’s sleep, which is greatly aided by allowing sunlight and moonlight to synchronize our internal cycles. This means gradually awakening to morning sunlight and allowing our bodies to relax before bedtime by avoiding bright light.

Taylor had been troubled by insomnia. After this class, she was ready for a change. A few hours before bedtime, she turned off bright lights around the house and wrapped up her computer use for the day (the light from a monitor can throw off your biological clock). An hour before bedtime, she lit candles and turned off all electric lights. By candlelight, she bathed, got into her night clothes and meditated before falling into a deep, peaceful sleep. In the morning, she was awakened by the gradually increasing sunlight and her chime alarm clock with progressively increasing natural acoustic sound by Now & Zen. She came to class glowing with refreshment and a new sense of empowerment. Now Taylor understands that her body needs a relationship with natural cycles of light and dark. “I’m not nearly as groggy as I used to be,” she says. “Light really is stimulating!”

adapted from Natural Home Magazine, September/October 2009 by Carol Venolia

If you don’t have the luxury to gently wake up to by light — try the next best alternative…waking gently to soothing chimes.  Out Soothing Digital Chime Clock’s long-resonating Tibetan bell-like chime makes waking up a beautiful experience – its progressive chimes begin your day with grace.

Carol Venolia is an eco-architect and co-author of Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House (Lark Books, 2006). She teaches in the Sustainable Communities program at Dominican University of California.

Gentle Chime Clock to help you Naturally Wake-Up

Now & Zen’s Natural Chime Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

meditation

Put it into practice.

Sit comfortably in a place where you won’t be disturbed. Take three to five quiet breaths. Gently close your eyes.

Imagine the horizon spanning through your chest with a radiant sun rising in your innermost center—your heart. As though being melted by the solar warmth, release tension in your shoulders and across your throat. Soften your forehead and rest your attention inward on the light deep within. Take 
7 to 10 smooth, even breaths.  Set your Zen Meditation Timer to repeat and chime every 10 seconds to help you time your breathing.

As you inhale, invite the glow from your heart to expand toward the inner surface of the body. With each exhale, let the light recede. Take another 7 to 10 peaceful breaths. Inhaling, invite the light to touch the parts of you that interact with the world—your eyes and ears, the voice center in your throat, the palms 
of your hands, the soles of your feet. Exhaling, feel your light shine more clearly. As you continue to inhale and exhale, silently say: “I radiate friendliness for those who are happy, com-passion for those who are unhappy, equanimity toward all.” Continue until your attention wavers. Then, sit quietly for several minutes.

When you feel complete, place your palms together in front of your heart and bow your head. Release the backs of your hands to your thighs and lift your head. Gently open your eyes to return to the horizon of the world.

adapted from Yoga Journal by Kate Vogt

Zen timers for meditation and yoga

Now & Zen – The Zen Meditation Timer Shop

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383