buddha

A Philosopher Asks Buddha

A philosopher asked Buddha: “Without words, without silence, will you tell me the truth?” The Buddha sat quietly. The philosopher then bowed and thanked the Buddha, saying, “With your loving kindness I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path.” After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked Buddha what the philosopher had attained. The Buddha commented, “A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip.”

Zen Koans by Venerable Gyomay Kubose

gong meditation timer

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl St.

Boulder, CO  80302

zen koans

One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to him, “Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?” Manjusri replied, “I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?”

–from “Zen Koans” By Venerable Gyomay Kubose

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

zen alarm clock with soothing sounds

are you tired of your wife's beeping alarm clock -- choose a gentle chime alarm clock

Perfect alarm clock gift makes waking up a calming  and relaxing experience

Replace Your Loved Ones Alarm Clock, so that you don’t have to be awakened by their Frightening, Beeping Alarm Clock…

Are you tired of your wife’s alarm clock?

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.”

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.

Now & Zen’s Gentle Chime Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Sleep your way to a better health with The Zen Alarm Clock

A good night’s rest can help you lose weight, beat depression, and ward off heart disease.

People think sleep is a waste of time,” says James P. Krainson, M.D., director of the South Florida Sleep Diagnostic Center in Miami. “But they don’t realize that sleep will make them more productive.” It will also help you improve your memory, shed postpregnancy pounds, and stave off obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Dozens of studies support the notion that sleep is just as important for maintaining good health as diet and exercise. For example, a study published in the journal Sleep found a relationship between short sleep and increased diabetes risk. Other studies found a lack of sleep can exacerbate pain, cause mood disturbances, and even increase the risk of gum disease.

Your wake-up call. If results from a 2007 Sleep in America poll are anything to go by, too many women are risking their health from lack of sleep. Conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NFS), last year’s poll revealed that 60 percent of American women get a good night’s sleep only a few nights per week or less. Apparently, when women are pressed for time—which, let’s face it, is every day—sleep is usually the first thing to go.

Take back the night. With health benefits that important, you can’t ignore those eight hours of shuteye any longer. To help you get back in bed and waking up well rested, we looked at four sleep ailments—and discovered some surprisingly effortless solutions.

THE PROBLEM: No time
Recent research at the University of Pennsylvania, published in 2007 in Sleep, says our work-driven culture keeps us from getting the rest we need. Among the findings: The more time we spend working and com- muting, the less time we spend in bed. Even when we know that get- ting more sleep will make us feel better, it usually isn’t enough to keep us from burning the candle at both ends, says Michael Breus, Ph.D., sleep expert and author of Beauty Sleep: Look Younger, Lose Weight, and Feel Great Through Better Sleep (Plume, 2007). What’s required, Breus says, is a plan for making sleep a priority:

Set your ZenAlarm Clock for sleep. Set your alarm to go off an hour before you want to go to sleep. The alarm is your cue to start getting ready for bed.

Wind down for an hour. Take 20 minutes to shut down the house for the night and prepare for the next morning. Spend the next 20 minutes doing your usual evening ablutions like washing your face, brushing your teeth, and changing into your pj’s. For the final 20 minutes, relax and meditate in bed. That’s it. No work, reading, e-mails, phone calls, paying bills, or getting into a discussion with your partner about your health, finances, or relationship during your power-down hour, says Breus. “Avoid any activity that gets your mind revved up before you go to bed,” he advises.

Create a sleep sanctuary. “I’ve gone into bedrooms of people who say they can’t sleep, and they’ve got a computer in there, a TV, a huge pile of laundry on the floor,” says Breus. The question then becomes, according to Breus, not “Why can’t I sleep?” but “How could I sleep under these circumstances?” To transform your bedroom, Breus recommends moving the computer and the TV out of the room and clearing out the clutter. “You want to create an area that’s flowing and positive,” he writes in his book Beauty Sleep.

Adapted from Natural Health Magazine, July 2010 by Susan Hayes

Sleep your way to better health and wake up gently with a Zen Clock

Utamaro Portrait of the Courtesan Shirotama of the Tamaya 1790

Now & Zen has created a unique wellness gifts that will delight that someone special.  The Zen Alarm Clock® and The Digital Zen Alarm Clock® are lifestyle timepieces that really impact people’s lives — they provide a gentle and gradual awakening with Tibetan bell-like acoustic chimes.  But more than alarm clocks, these products also serve as aesthetically beautiful timers for practices such as yoga, bodywork, and meditation.

Zen Alarm Clocks are an aesthetic accouterment to almost any wellness practice.   We have been featured in many mainstream media outlets including Good Morning America, GQ Magazine, The New York Times, American Spa, and The L.A. Times.  These beautiful personal timers are a perfect wellness gift.

We have sold over 100,000 of our original triangular-shaped Zen Clocks (and sales continue to grow every year largely through word-of-mouth), and our Digital Zen Alarm Clocks (winner of the Denver Business Journal’s Most Innovative New Consumer Product Award) are continuing to be the favorite in independent retail channels nationwide.

Japanese Leaves Zen Alarm Clock by Now & Zen, Inc.

Now & Zen’s Wellness Alarm Clocks and Timers Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

zen alarm clock reduces grogginess

Gradual awakening with natural tones helps reduce morning grogginess

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.

Sleep sounder and reduce morning grogginess with zen clocks

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.”

The luxurious awakening provided by the Zen Alarm Clock is part of the growing preference for things natural—natural foods, natural fibers, and now, natural acoustic sounds.  Like organic tomatoes in your salad, the organic sounds of the Zen Alarm Clock’s sweet acoustic chimes are truly a gourmet experience.  And those who like organic food may also appreciate how the Zen Clock can be used as an aesthetically sophisticated timer for practices such as yoga or meditation.

Zen Alarm Clocks, made by Now & Zen, Inc., come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  The company markets its products internationally through third-party retail stores and catalogs, and also sells directly to consumers through its website and Boulder headquarters store. The company’s philosophy is expressed by its tag line: ‘quality of thought, stillness of being.’ Now & Zen’s complete line of natural lifestyle products can be seen at: www.now-zen.com.

tranquil alarm clock with gentle chime

Now & Zen Headquarter Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Waking up in the morning should be as pleasant as falling asleep at night. The Zen Alarm Clock's gradual, gentle awakening is transformative.

Zen meditation appears to reduce sensitivity to moderate pain when practiced by well-trained individuals, Canadian researchers report.

“Previous studies had already shown that teaching patients with chronic pain to meditate seemed to help them, but no one had examined how these effects might come about,” said study author Joshua A. Grant, a researcher in the department of physiology at the University of Montreal. “We reasoned that the best approach would be to study healthy people with a lot of meditation training already under their belts, because effects would presumably be strongest in them.”

“The first finding then is that the meditators are much less sensitive to heat pain,” noted Grant. “We [also] found that this pain reduction in meditators was related to how many lifetime hours of practice they had accumulated, with more pain reduction in the more senior practitioners.”

Throughout the experiments, the researchers also found that meditators seem to breath much more slowly than non-meditators — providing some of the first hard proof that the cardio-respiratory system could be the underlying mechanism by which meditation promotes pain control.

Grant and his University of Montreal co-author, Dr. Pierre Rainville, report the findings in the January issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the practice of meditation refers to a wide range of techniques that harness a controlled focus on objects, words, breath, or posture to invoke relaxation, calmness, psychological balance, overall wellness, and/or disease control.

Wake up with gradual, beautiful acoustic chimes. The Zen Alarm Clock transforms your mornings and gets you started right, with a progressive awakening

Regardless of the approach, NCCAM highlights four attributes that are common to most forms of stand-alone meditation or meditation performed in conjunction with other disciplines such as yoga, tai chi, or qi gong: finding a quiet space; engaging in a comfortable (but specifically prescribed) posture; focusing; and maintaining an “open attitude” towards the flow of thought and distractions.

Grant and Rainville’s study focused on the effects of Zen meditation. In essence, this technique is described as a “mindfulness-based practice” with historic roots in Buddhism, which calls for directing one’s attention to one’s inner as well as outer environment.

Thirteen Zen meditators, all of whom had already logged more than 1,000 hours of practice with the technique, were enrolled in the study. Between the spring and winter of 2006 the authors compared the practitioners’ reactions to moderate pain to that of 13 men and women of similar age with no meditation or yoga background.

Using high-tech thermal probes, the researchers exposed the left calf area of each participant to a series of painful and non-painful heated “stimulations” ranging from 37º C (neutral) to 43º C (warm and non-painful) to a maximum of 53º C (hot and moderately painful).

During each session, participants were either instructed to keep their eyes closed and not fall asleep; to shut their eyes and focus their attention on the left leg stimulation; or to close their eyes, focus on the left leg, and try not to judge the stimulation but instead merely observe the sensation moment-to-moment.

Based on self-reported pain levels, Grant and Rainville found that the last concentration exercise, designed to simulate meditation “mindfulness,” helped the meditators experience less pain, but had no impact on non-meditators.

Non-meditators were also not helped when they were told to focus on the leg stimulation. In fact, both the intensity of their pain and pain “unpleasantness” went up by 15 percent and 21 percent, respectively. In contrast, meditators given the same instruction experienced no increase on either score.

Having a refreshed mind and body are two keys to a natural and Zen lifestyle.

“I think this study gives credibility to the stories often heard about certain individuals sitting through painful medical or dental procedures, for example, without anesthetic, relying on hypnosis or highly focused concentration to get them through the pain,” Grant said. “I’m not suggesting that if you practice Zen meditation you will never need apainkiller. But slowly, through studies like this and those on hypnosis, we’re understanding that we have perhaps a lot more control over aspects of our experience than we previously believed. Having this attitude of optimism is important, both to cultivate one’s own potential and to generate interest and support in understanding it scientifically.”

Dr. Herbert Benson, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, described the study as “tremendously important” and as “another brick in the foundation” supporting mind-body approaches to pain control.

The Zen Alarm Clock can effect your awareness in a variety of positive ways, all of which require your participation.

“Stress is responsible for upwards of 60 to 90 percent of visits to doctors,” said Benson, who is also associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “So, to point to meditation as a means to evoke a relaxation response that could enable the mind to control pain isn’t that far of a leap.”

He noted that prior studies have suggested that various meditative techniques help release pain-relieving endorphins. “So this study is a nice addition to already existing literature,” Benson said. “And it suggests that what we have here is a relatively effective inexpensive approach that could help treat conditions that are being poorly treated by drugs and surgeries.”

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.

It's exquisite sounds summon your consciousness out of your meditative state with a series of subtle gongs. Once you experience the Zen Timepiece's progressive tones, you'll never want to meditate any other way.

More information

There’s more on the health benefits of meditation at the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

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.

Now & Zen – The Meditation Timer Store with Bowl Gongs

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Orders@now-zen.com

It's exquisite sounds summon your consciousness out of your meditative state with a series of subtle gongs.

Meditation is easy in theory but fiendishly difficult in practice—unless you can give your mind a vehicle for moving inward.

There are decisive moments in the flow of every meditation session—moments of transition that either sustain the momentum of practice or impede it. One of these occurs early in the meditative process, soon after relaxing the body and making it comfortable. At this point the mind naturally begins looking for a more subtle focus to carry it inward. What will that focus be?

In yogic meditation, the answer is breath awareness. Breath awareness relaxes muscles and organs, calms the nervous system, and centers the mind. It sets the stage for a profoundly penetrating concentration, and ushers in a sense of peace and well-being. Breath awareness is to meditation what good lighting is to fine photography—not its final goal, but indispensable nonetheless. Meditation unfolds through breath awareness.

The art of breath awareness is more elaborate than most of us suspect. Breathing is an organic process, and its natural sensations result from the interaction of many elements—lungs, muscles, nerves, heart, and mind. In the early moments of meditation, breath awareness means bringing the rhythmic movements of respiration into awareness, then observing and shaping them. The more tuned we are to these natural sensations of breathing, the more effortless breathing becomes.

As time passes, breath awareness shifts to the relationship between breathing and the nervous system. These two are closely linked and respond to one another like best friends. When nerves are upset, breathing is affected; when breathing relaxes, so does the nervous system.

Finally, the flow of breathing is coordinated with the repetition of a mantra, relaxing and focusing the mind. Thus breath awareness becomes a means of using the breath as a support for concentration.

Let’s look at each of these three phases more closely.

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.

Becoming the Witness
If you direct your attention to your breath, what exactly will you feel? Which sensations are the key to breath awareness? Pervading all the sensations of breathing is the experience that exhalation is cleansing, carrying away fatigue and tension; and that inhalation is nourishing, drawing in fresh energy. Observe this repeatedly. As time passes, each time you inhale, you will be able to sustain your awareness of the breath flowing in; each time you exhale, you will feel the breath flowing out. Firmly attach your awareness to these natural rhythms of breathing and you will notice a marked improvement in your concentration.

Once you are well connected to these rhythms, pay attention to the movements of your torso in more detail. These movements reflect the selection of muscles you are using to move air in and out of the lungs. The mechanics of breathing vary, depending on the posture of your body. If you are lying down on your back, you will feel the abdomen rise and fall. But if you are sitting erect, abdominal movements are much less noticeable. Instead, with each inhalation the ribs flare to the side, with only modest expansion of the upper abdomen. Exhalation is primarily a process of releasing muscle contractions and allowing the lungs to shrink to their normal size, although you may feel the abdominal muscles mildly contracting at the end of each breath.

Sit comfortably erect, close your eyes, and examine your breathing. Find the pace that feels natural and well suited to you. Relax the muscles of the abdominal wall all the way around to the spine in the back. Then let the sides of the rib cage expand laterally with each inhalation. Although there will be little movement in the front of the chest, don’t let yourself become bound by “rules” against chest breathing. Stick to the relaxed experience of breathing, and feel the natural expansion and contraction of your body with each breath.

As you continue, begin to weave one breath into the next. Don’t hurry—simply let the transitions from breath to breath be smooth and relaxed. Extended pauses in the breath distract the mind and disturb the nervous system. When these pauses are eliminated, each breath will satisfy you, and each will come at precisely the right moment.

After a comfortable and unhurried period of working with the breath (perhaps five or six minutes), the next step is to relax all effort. Breathing is normally effortless. It flows automatically, at the periphery of awareness. During meditation, you can return to effortless breathing, yet maintain awareness at the same time. To do this, continue resting your attention on the sensations of breathing, and at the same time, relax every mental effort. Your body breathes, and your mind relaxes. You are the transparent observer of your own breathing.

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.

Breathing is influenced by a variety of factors. Pleasant and unpleasant emotions, stress, pain, and even everyday movements alter the way we breathe. Laughter, for example, is a unique form of breathing. So are sighs, sobs, and the sharp inhalations that mark moments of sudden anxiety. Stress can have deep-acting effects, embedding itself in the fabric of the breath. Efforts to defend against chronic pain often restrict breathing, while intense pain may make the breath wildly erratic. Even bending over to tie your shoes can distort the movements of your breath.

Because the muscles of respiration are skeletal muscles, they can be controlled voluntarily. This means that you can make adjustments in breathing, reversing or at least relieving some of the effects caused by stress, pain, and negative emotions. That is one of the aims of breath awareness—the restoration of deeply relaxing patterns of breathing.

Ultimately, however, breath awareness is not so much about correcting breathing patterns as restoring the ability to witness them. Watching the breath comes naturally with a modest amount of practice. Once you are able to simultaneously relax your breathing and observe it, breath awareness will introduce you to deeper levels of yourself.

Calming the Nervous System
Painful thoughts, negative emotions, and stressful reactions inevitably arise during meditation. Having become rooted in the mind, they emerge in our practice. As we have seen, breath awareness gives us the ability to meet these distractions with less reactivity. The key is to feel the tension between relaxed breathing and these negative influences, and to choose (remember, breathing can be voluntary) to maintain a steady, relaxed flow of breath when meeting them. Even a little disturbed breathing is enough to get your heart racing and nerves tingling. Conversely, the ability to preserve relaxed breathing reestablishes a sense of self-acceptance and self-control. This calms the nervous system and creates a shift toward inner balance. It also brings us back into the present moment rather than allowing us to become enmeshed in images of the past or fantasies about the future.

Suppose, for example, that during meditation the thought of a painful work conflict arises. This thought reflects an entire array of associations, emotions, and behaviors (perhaps you’ve been avoiding meeting with a colleague for some time now). Here in meditation, nonetheless, it’s just you and your thought—meeting on the plains of your mind. The conflict will need to be worked out, no doubt, but to do that effectively may mean living with it for a time. How can breath awareness help?

The cost of stressful reactions is that they give negativity a foothold in the nervous system, which is then translated into unpleasant symptoms. During meditation, breath awareness short-circuits this translation process. It does not eliminate the conflict, but helps prevent it from taking up residence. When breathing remains relaxed and a steady focus of attention, problems are not so easily oversold to the nervous system and are less likely to overwhelm us.

Breath awareness is associated in yoga with a particular function of the mind, a function variously described as the ability to be the inner witness of experience, to remain detached in the face of discomfort, and to act decisively. Breath awareness helps create distance between this observing self in us (the buddhi in Sanskrit) and our distresses. It does not suppress conflict, but helps us recognize that conflict is not the ultimate truth of experience. Therefore, practices like breath awareness that help awaken the buddhi are particularly strengthening.

Quieting the Mind
In its final stages, breath awareness leads to a profound meditative experience. It fortifies and deepens your concentration. This is accomplished in two steps: through the sensation of the breath moving within the nostrils, and the coordination of the breath with a sound or mantra.

When the focus is on the breath flowing within the nostrils, the object of concentration is a sense experience (touch). When the breath is linked to the repetition of a mantra, it serves as a transitional device to bring the mind to a focus entirely within itself—a mental sound. Experienced meditators feel the breath in the nostrils and recite the sound of a mantra at the same time. In this way, concentration is firmly anchored.

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.

In the early stages of meditation (both in a particular meditation session and in the meditative learning process, in general), the mind is easily distracted. At that time, awareness of breathing acts like a set of training wheels on a bicycle. It allows the mind to focus, but remains ready to catch the mind if it loses its balance. The unbroken flow of breathing also prompts the mind to weave one mantra repetition into the next. As with the breath, when the sound of one mantra repetition ends, the next one begins.

With practice, the repetition of a mantra will supplant awareness of the breath. This is the inevitable direction of the meditation process. Yet slipping into the background of meditation, breathing will have performed many important functions. It is only after this work is complete that the mind turns further inward, resting in the pulsation of the mantra alone.

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.

Rolf Sovik, PsyD, is co-author of Yoga: Mastering the Basics and is the director of the Himalayan Institute of Buffalo, New York.

It's exquisite sounds summon your consciousness out of your meditative state with a series of subtle gongs. Once you experience the Zen Timepiece's progressive tones, you'll never want to meditate any other way. It serves as the perfect meditation timer. Available in 5 wood styles, including bamboo.

Now & Zen – The Meditation Timer & Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

orders@now-zen.com

Use our unique "Zen Clock" which functions as a Yoga Timer.

Relaxation Response: The relaxation response is a physical state of deep rest that changes the physical and emotional responses to stress (e.g., decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension). This technique is used by the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

The technique involves sitting in a comfortable position and repeating a word, sound, phrase, prayer or muscular activity while passively disregarding the everyday thoughts that come into the mind so the practitioner can focus on the object of repetition. The institute suggests doing the response for 10 to 20 minutes at a time.

Transcendental Meditation: Popularized in the West by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, transcendental meditation involves sitting comfortably with the eyes closed for about 15 to 20 minutes, allowing the practitioner’s mind to enter a deeply relaxed state referred to as “Transcendental Consciousness.” The Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corp., which promotes the study of transcendental meditation, says the practice can increase a person’s creativity and productivity, improve health and reduce violence, among other benefits.

Yoga: A series of physical postures that connect the movement of the body with the breath. The poses are designed to purify the body, increase flexibility, calm the mind and provide physical strength and stamina required for long periods of meditation. There are many different kinds of yoga that range from more relaxing to more physically demanding, so people interested in practicing should find out beforehand what style of yoga is best for them.

Writing it Down: One technique recommended by Rabin involves taking 15 minutes to write down everything that’s bothering you. Don’t read what you’re writing or take time to proofread it, just write everything down, says Rabin. At the end of the 15 minutes, simply rip up the paper and throw it away. “It’s amazing the calming effect” this technique has, he says.

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.

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.

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.

Now & Zen – The Bowl/Gong Meditation Timer

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

orders@now-zen.com