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Archive for August, 2010

Give Thanks

giving thanks

giving thanks

Cultivating gratitude can boost well-being—and may help you sleep better.

Gratitude is a fundamental component of most spiritual paths, and a growing body of research suggests that it has important health implications, too, including better sleep, fewer physical ailments, and a greater ability to cope with stressful situations.

“Gratitude elevates, it energizes, it inspires, it transforms,” says Robert Emmons, a University of California, Davis, psychology professor who has helped champion the study of gratitude as a factor in mental and physical health.

A series of studies he conducted in 2003 found that people who kept weekly written records of gratitude slept longer, exercised more frequently, had fewer health complaints, and generally felt better about their lives when compared with those who were asked to record only their complaints. In another study, he found that students who wrote in gratitude journals felt more satisfied with their lives and their school experience.

Practicing conscious gratitude has also been linked with positive mental health. Todd Kashdan, associate professor of psychology at Virginia’s George Mason University, found that when veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder kept gratitude journals, they experienced a greater sense of overall well-being in their lives. “There are two parts of being grateful,” Kashdan says. “One is recognizing that someone benefited in some way, then mindfully seeing the connection to yourself. You have to really be in the present to see what’s happening in your life, what’s causing things to happen, and how you fit into things bigger than yourself.”

A gratitude practice is a natural companion to yoga, which “offers numerous opportunities to reflect on all there is in one’s life to be grateful for,” says Emmons. To begin consciously cultivating gratitude, try considering what life would be like without a pleasure you now enjoy, or think about who you are grateful for. A daily gratitude journal can help you be more mindful of these things in your life. But your gratitude practice doesn’t have to be scripted: Simply taking time on a regular basis to mentally note your blessings is a big step in the right direction.

adapted from Yoga Journal,  by Jill Duman

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Chime Alarm Clocks, intention, mindfulness practice, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks


Beautifully made dream pillows and eye pillows are the epitome of pampering!

Silk Lavender Eye Pillows

Silk Lavender Eye Pillows

Creating Eye Pillows:

Summer holidays are perfect times for craft projects. Here’s one you can do in an hour and use right away. Eye pillows are handy for traveling and for relaxing in Savasana.

Materials You’ll Need (makes one eye pillow)

For the pillow
1/2 yard of fabric that has been washed, dried, and ironed

For the filling
1/2 cup dried beans or flax seeds
1/2 cup dried rice, lentils, or buckwheat
1/2 cup dried lavender or chamomile

When selecting the filling consider the recipient’s scent preferences and any potential allergies. Mix together three or all of the above items. You’ll need 1 1/2 cups total.

creating beautiful eye pillows

creating beautiful eye pillows

Make the Pillow

Step 1 Cut the fabric

Using a ruler and pencil, mark two 4 1/2-by-10-inch rectangles on the wrong (nonprinted) side of the fabric. With a pair of scissors, cut along the marks to create the two panels needed for the pillow.

Step 2 Sew the seams

Place the two panels’ right (printed) sides together, with the raw edges aligned. Stitch a 1/2-inch seam around the raw edges, backstitching (sewing first in reverse, then forward over the same stitches) at each end. Leave one of the 4-inch sides open, so you can later add the filling. Stitch a 3/8-inch reinforcement seam around the raw edges, leaving the same 4-inch opening. This reinforcement will ensure that the mixture doesn’t leak out of the pillow after you’ve filled it.

With your scissors, cut two 1/4-inch notches in each seam allowance (the area between the stitching and the raw, cut edge of the fabric), one on either side of each of the four corners, making sure not to clip the stitching. Turn the eye pillow right side out for the next step.

Step 3 Fill the pillow

Spoon 1 1/2 cups of filling into the pillow’s open seam.

Step 4 Close the final seam

Fold each side of the remaining 4-inch seam 1/2 inch toward the inside of the pillow, and pin the opening closed. Either by hand or with a sewing machine, stitch a seam across the folded edges to close the 4-inch opening, then try out the pillow: Set your Zen Meditation Timer to 5 minutes, lie down, put it over your eyes, and treat yourself to 5 minutes of deep relaxation.

adapted from Yoga Journal, by Victoria Everman

Zen Mediation Timers

Zen Mediation Timers

 Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Chime Alarm Clocks, Meditation Timers, Meditation Tools, mindfulness practice, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Well-being, Zen Timers


Discover tranquility

Flecked with water lilies and fringed with greenery, a heart-shaped pond exemplifies the spirit of the Osmosis Meditation Garden. A stone path leads visitors across a small bridge to the Moon Pavilion

Flecked with water lilies and fringed with greenery, a heart-shaped pond exemplifies the spirit of the Osmosis Meditation Garden. A stone path leads visitors across a small bridge to the Moon Pavilion

In the West, gardens are designed for outdoor living as much as for viewing. Japanese gardens, on the other hand, are more for viewing ― to communicate peace and tranquility. The new Meditation Garden at the Osmosis spa in Freestone blends the two approaches. “It’s a Japanese-style garden created for California,” says owner Michael Stusser. The design, by Robert Ketchell, founder of the British Japanese Garden Society, is Japanese, but the use of California native plants and the lovely coastal-hills setting tie it directly to the region.

What makes it so serene? A mirror-smooth pond reflects the day’s changing light and passing clouds. Plantings are simple yet sculptural: a single conifer beside a shapely boulder in one area, a Japanese maple and several conifers in another. Gravel raked in swirls around boulders evokes the feeling of water.

Like Japanese gardens, the Meditation Garden is meant to be viewed through a moon window in the pavilion near the pond. But like a California garden, it invites you in to feel the tranquility.

INFO: Osmosis: The Enzyme Bath Spa (209 Bohemian Hwy., Freestone; 707/823-8231) celebrates its 20th anniversary on Sep 9 with a concert and sushi buffet ($65); tickets limited. 

Osmosis is having a 25 year anniversary celebration on September 12th with food music and complementary cedar enzyme foot baths. The cost is $25.
Garden tours are planned for every Sunday in October between 11am and 3:00pm
 

 

adapted from Sunset Magazine, by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Hot Springs, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, teahouse, Well-being


Reiki: A Calming Vibe That Can Boost Your Body’s Self Healing Mechanism

Reiki Treatment

Reiki Treatment

Reiki, a Japanese healing treatment, quiets the body and spirit by tapping into a “life force.”
“Universal life energy” is what Reiki (pronounced RAY-kee) means in Japanese. Reiki practitioners use this energy-the subtle vibrational force that surrounds and permeates every living thing- to enhance and balance the body, says Susan Mitchell, a Reiki master and owner of Reiki Healing Arts in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “The practitioner acts as a conduit,” explains Beth White, a Reiki master in New York City. “During a session, the energy flows through the practitioner’s hands and you absorb it on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level.” The result? A feeling of meditative peace.
Evidence

Reiki originated in Japan in the 1920s and was brought to the United States in the 1930s by Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American. Although the studies of Reiki thus far have been small (five larger ones sponsored by the National Institutes of Health are under way), they indicate-as does strong anecdotal evidence-that the method is effective at reducing pain, anxiety, and stress, and increasing a sense of wellbeing. A study published last year in Integrative Cancer Therapies compared the effects of Reiki treatments with the effects of rest on fatigue, pain, anxiety, and overall quality of life in 16 cancer patients. Researchers found that the individuals who received Reiki experienced increases in quality of life and decreases in fatigue, changes that were not seen with rest alone.
Pamela Miles, a Reiki master in New York City and author of Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide (Tarcher, 2006), says the physiological changes seen following a Reiki session include a healthy decrease in heart rate and blood pressure and an increase in salivary immune hormones. “Reiki can help make your body’s self healing mechanism more effective,” she says. “Universal life energy” is what Reiki (pronounced RAY-kee) means in Japanese. Reiki practitioners use this energy-the subtle vibrational force that surrounds and permeates every living thing- to enhance and balance the body, says Susan Mitchell, a Reiki master and owner of Reiki Healing Arts in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “The practitioner acts as a conduit,” explains Beth White, a Reiki master in New York City. “During a session, the energy flows through the practitioner’s hands and you absorb it on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level.” The result? A feeling of meditative peace.
Reiki

Reiki

Evidence

Reiki originated in Japan in the 1920s and was brought to the United States in the 1930s by Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American. Although the studies of Reiki thus far have been small (five larger ones sponsored by the National Institutes of Health are under way), they indicate-as does strong anecdotal evidence-that the method is effective at reducing pain, anxiety, and stress, and increasing a sense of wellbeing. A study published last year in Integrative Cancer Therapies compared the effects of Reiki treatments with the effects of rest on fatigue, pain, anxiety, and overall quality of life in 16 cancer patients. Researchers found that the individuals who received Reiki experienced increases in quality of life and decreases in fatigue, changes that were not seen with rest alone.

Pamela Miles, a Reiki master in New York City and author of Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide (Tarcher, 2006), says the physiological changes seen following a Reiki session include a healthy decrease in heart rate and blood pressure and an increase in salivary immune hormones. “Reiki can help make your body’s self healing mechanism more effective,” she says.

A typical session

During a Reiki treatment, you lie down on a massage table while the practitioner places her hands in various positions on your head, throat, and front and back torso. (Clients are fully clothed, unless Reiki is used in combination with another treatment like a massage.) You may enter a state of deep relaxation. Many people report seeing colors and moving shapes, sensing pulsations, and feeling hot or cold. In many cases, though, the result is improved energy and a sense of wellbeing. “I go into what feels like a deep sleep,” says Spiegler, “and an hour later I ‘wake up,’ feeling totally rejuvenated.”
adapted from Natural Health Magazine, August 2008 by Susan Hayes
Bamboo Digital Chime Clock, a Reiki Timer and Clock

Bamboo Digital Chime Clock, a Reiki Timer and Clock

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Chime Alarm Clocks, intention, Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, mindfulness practice, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Well-being


A Colorado Garden: A Serene Asian-Inspired Garden

Kyoto meets Giverny in this artful garden, a sublime space for contemplation.

teahouse, photo by Povy Kendal Atchison

teahouse, photo by Povy Kendal Atchison

Japanese shoji screens traditionally are made from translucent rice paper, but the owners chose a durable, light-penetrating fabric that will prevail in harsh weather. It allows filtered light without sacrificing privacy. The floor is salvaged pine planks from a park ranger’s mountain cabin, and a round window brings in the garden even when the doors are closed.

Ten years ago, a Boulder, Colorado, couple bought a house on a patch of grass with some overgrown shrubs, sliced by an irrigation ditch. Where many people might have seen desolation, these intrepid gardeners saw the opportunity to create a private world of solitude and renewal. In the process, they discovered that designing and planting is as soothing as enjoying the completed garden.

The contemplative garden they’ve created gently nods to Asian style while embracing European impressionism. It borrows from 19th-century impressionist painter Claude Monet, as well as from the Japanese love of plant textures, weeping trees and artfully placed rocks. It includes water, rocks, expanses of greenery and winding paths, but not the formal Japanese plantings that require so much upkeep.

Monet’s famous garden in Giverny, France, includes a Japanese bridge over a water lily pond. In this Colorado garden, a pale-aqua bridge arches over an irrigation ditch that’s been funneling water to farmers for 100 years. Just as the lily pad pond became the Monet garden’s major draw, the ditch has been transformed—lined with sandstone rocks alongside a bed of river rocks. Gold, yellow and orange daylilies drape the bank, blooming in midsummer when the Siberian and Japanese irises offer only seed pods. Ornamental grasses bend and sway to the breeze stirred up by the water’s flow. The ditch is an enticement; visitors brace against the railing and peer into the water, watching blossoms float downstream.

Every corner of this garden was designed with careful thought, not lavish funds. A decade of hard work and trial-and-error provided an education.

Piecing together elegance

Every corner of this garden was designed with careful thought, not lavish funds. A decade of hard work and trial-and-error provided an education. In hindsight, the homeowners believe their decision to tackle their garden in small pieces rather than taking on the entire half-acre saved them time, money and frustration.

“We didn’t have a grand master plan,” one of the homeowners admits. Instead, he started by clearing dead and dying trees. Then he parceled the property into smaller gardens: a ditch lined with water-loving plants and flagstones circles the edges of the gardens and is sprinkled with elfin thyme and other herbs for groundcover.

To imitate nature’s undulating, uneven landscape, he built mounds, or berms, from garden soil, adding interest to the flat piece of land. Berms also provide quick drainage for plants that might never take hold without humus and gravel. Sun-loving plants such as foxtail lilies and peonies are located on the sunny mounds. Shade-loving hostas line the flagstone walkways under giant locust trees.

“It all came together like a jigsaw puzzle,” the gardener says, with groundcovers of thyme and vinca, creeping veronica, wild strawberries and sweet woodruff. Groundcovers that can become invasive thugs, such as the sweet woodruff, were banished to the riverbank under the house, where it can duke it out with ornamental strawberries for space and light.

What’s in this garden?

• Crabapple trees (Malus spp), highly adaptable to most weather and soil conditions, have exquisite spring blooms. The weeping varieties include Red Jade, Coral Cascade, White Cascade and Louisa. Best to order from your local garden center.

• Species (or wild) tulips (Tulipa spp) have brilliant hues and hardiness. Long before more formal tulips became the backbone of Dutch gardens, miniature species tulips blanketed hillsides in Turkey. Most only can be grown in climates with winter temperatures. Order from trustworthy companies (see “Resources,” below) that propagate their own bulbs and do not harvest from the wild.

• Foxtail lilies (Eremurus spp) have attention-grabbing feathery spikes and day-glow colors. They’re easy to grow, but they do require good drainage to avoid root rot.

• Thyme (Thymus spp) may be slow to start, but once established, it tolerates some foot traffic. Best as filler between stepping stones, aromatic thymes will creep around rocks and steps, choking out weeds.

• Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp) have sweeping, grasslike foliage and arching blooms. Each blossom lasts only one day, but the plant blooms nonstop throughout summer. They require little care aside from division every few years, and only a moderate amount of water.

daylilies

daylilies

• Irises (Iris spp) are easy to grow if you choose the right cultivars for your garden. Siberian and Japanese irises grow best in moist, slightly acid soil, perhaps on the banks of a pond or stream. For alkaline soil and aridity, choose bearded irises. And if you love variegated leaves of white and green, look into Iris pallida.

• Hostas (Funkia spp), with wide, variegated leaves, add to foliage interest rather than floral displays. Lords of the shade garden, hostas can be found in a variety of sizes, some with blue-tinged or gold coloration and heart-shape leaves. All need some moisture and dappled shade.

Four seasons of splendor

In this garden, bold plants such as peonies and foxtail lilies are the prima donnas—showy and extravagant with heavy blooms. Other beauties are far smaller and require a closer look. Brilliant red and yellow species tulips—more natural looking than their formal, hybrid cousins—pop up among drifts of thyme. Delphiniums and their smaller brethren, larkspur, join foxgloves for height and extravagant color. Oriental poppies and California poppies display papery petals, popping up in mounds and drifts.

oriental poppy

oriental poppy

In early spring, the bright blues and purples of the groundcovers cluster throughout the garden, complementing the species tulips’ tiny blooms. By late spring, foxgloves and Siberian and Japanese irises dominate. Summer is golden, as daylilies offer orange, yellow and cream colors.

The garden may be at its best in winter, the gardeners claim. Japanese lanterns guide visitors down the flagstone footpath, and snow sets a black-and-white scene. Bare, weeping crabapple branches bend gracefully like sculpture. “Some of the most beautiful times in the garden are in the snow,” the homeowner says. “You see all the shapes that don’t go away: the mounds, rocks, ornaments, trellises.”

Reflecting in the teahouse

Autumn and winter usher in the garden’s quiet moments, when trowels are put away. A tiny teahouse, built of salvaged cedar siding left over after the house was built, holds sway. Once inside, a cup of hot tea banishes the cold. Sliding shoji screen doors open to the sparkling light on snow or close to keep out a brisk wind. The nine-by-nine-foot teahouse anchors this garden, a reminder that its primary purpose is to promote meditation and reflection rather than busyness.  A Zen Timepiece adornes the interior so that one can timer their meditation practice.   The naked branches of an old cottonwood tree loom over the teahouse while smaller pines and dwarf evergreens screen the street and neighborhood. “The teahouse gave us a focus for the garden,” the homeowner says, “and cut down the amount of lawn.”

In winter’s stillness, when birds are silent, only the bamboo wind chimes clink softly. The teahouse’s back wall features a round window that provides the most private views and connects the garden to the teahouse. “I wanted a big round window,” the owner says, “to bring the outside in.”

Zen Timepiece with brass singing bowl, a meditation timer.

Zen Timepiece with brass singing bowl, a meditation timer.

adapted from Natural Home Magazine, March/April 2008 by Niki Hayden

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Chime Alarm Clocks, Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, teahouse, Well-being, Zen Timepiece by Now & Zen, Zen Timers


Seeking Sanctuary: Stress Relief at a Monastery

zen mountain monastery

zen mountain monastery

Across the country, hundreds of retreats, monasteries, cloisters, and abbeys located in out-of-the-way places—and some in unexpected city settings—offer sanctuary and stress relief to all who seek it. No matter which retreat you choose, one thing is universal to the experience: The tools needed to balance mind, body, and spirit come with the room.
Mark Perew, a Santa Ana, California, programmer, says he keeps returning to St. Andrews, a Benedictine abbey in Valyermo, California, because his visits change the way he views himself. “There I learned I can be by myself, but I don’t have to be alone,” he says. “The monks follow a regimen of prayer, singing, and silence. Entering into that pattern helps me get in tune with the spiritual presence.”
Although the motivations of sanctuary visitors are as unique as their personalities and histories, those who host them notice a common theme. “A word we often see written in our registry book is peace,” says Brother Raphael Prendergast of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky.
The quiet, often remote settings allow for introspection, reconnection, stress relief, and a flowering of inherent wisdom. “Here guests get themselves back,” says Ryushin Marchaj, a senior monastic at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, New York. “People recognize their own strength, their vastness, and their foibles.”
Most Zen monasteries begin and end every day with zazen, several hours of sitting meditation. Guests who have few opportunities for silence in their regular lives find this very powerful. Leslie Farmer, a journalist who stayed at Green Dragon Zen Monastery in Sausalito, California, says the meditation aspect gave her the sense she’d stepped into another culture. “This place had a peaceful atmosphere you can’t find at a hotel,” she says.  Remeber to bring your Zen Timer for your mindufulness practice.
green gulch zen monastery

green gulch zen monastery

Finding Sanctuary

ABBEY OF GETHSEMANI
Trappist, Kentucky
(502) 549-3117; Monks.org
Thomas Merton spent twenty-seven years writing and becoming a spiritual master at this monastery in the Kentucky hills. Monks make meatless meals for guests at this silent retreat (speaking is permitted only in designated areas). Accommodations include private room and bath.

CASA DE MARIA
Santa Barbara, California
(805) 565-9062; LaCasaDeMaria.org
Two retreats in one, the interfaith center includes El Bosque and Ladera, both nestled in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Dormitory and private rooms and meals are available.

HOLY CROSS ABBEY
Berryville, Virginia
(540) 955-4383; HolyCrossAbbeyBrryvlle.org
At this Blue Ridge Mountain monastery, members of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance of Trappist Monks bake fruitcakes and make preserves, creamed honey, and fudge. Guesthouse accommodations are available.

PENDLE HILL
Wallingford, Pennsylvania
(800) 742-3150; PendleHill.org
This Quaker center for study and contemplation is set among woodland that includes 150 different tree species, an organic garden, and a straw bale greenhouse.

SAINT ANDREW’S ABBEY
Valyermo, California
(661) 944-2178; Valyermo.com
This Benedictine monastery and self-directed retreat center offers rooms and home-style food shared with the monastic community (silent breakfasts and dinners). Guests are welcome to join the monks in prayer and chanting.

ZEN MOUNTAIN MONASTERY
Mt. Tremper, New York
(845) 688-2228; MRO.org
Located on a nature preserve in the Catskill Mountains, this monastery offers several levels of visitation, from weekend introductions to Zen Buddhism to monthly meditation intensives. Guests must join the monastic community and are required to participate in all activities.

Zen Chime Alarm Clock, zen meditatin timer

Zen Chime Alarm Clock, zen meditatin timer

adapted from Natural Home Magazine, Jan/Feb 2005 by
Judith Stock
Now & Zen
1638 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO  80302
(800) 779-6383

Posted in Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, mindfulness practice, Well-being


Stress Relief: Melt Stress with One Yoga Pose a Day – Saturday

yoga, loosen up pose

yoga, loosen up pose

Saturday:  Loosen Up

The sun’s out and the day’s wide open. Savor your Saturday by twisting away any residual tension in your back. It’s a delicious way to wake up — or even wind down after running around town.

Supported Reclined Twist
What It Does
Helps the whole body (hips, spine, digestive system, nervous system, shoulders, chest, etc.) unwind. Promotes digestion and detoxification.

How to Do It
Set your Zen Yoga Timer to gong after 5 minutes.  Lie on your back, dropping your left knee across your body to rest on a pillow or blanket. Shift your hips right to avoid over-twisting the lower back.

Rest your arms, elbows soft, on the floor over your head. Turn your head in whichever direction feels most comfortable and breathe into this gentle stretch for 5 minutes on each side, until the gong chimes.

adapted from Body + Soul, 2010

Zen Yoga Timepiece in Maple

Zen Yoga Timepiece in Maple

Now & Zen
 
1638 Pearl Street
 
Boulder, CO  80302
 
(800) 779-6383

Posted in Chime Alarm Clocks, Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, Well-being, Yoga Timer, Yoga Timers by Now & Zen, Zen Timepiece by Now & Zen, Zen Timers


Stress Relief: Melt Stress with One Yoga Pose a Day – Friday

yoga, sooth frazzled nervse pose

yoga, sooth frazzled nerves pose

Friday:  Soothe Frazzled Nerves

As another hectic workweek slows to a close, it’s time to downshift — and ramp up your self-care.

Friday’s pose quiets your mind and nervous system, restoring your inner resources so that you can fully enjoy the weekend ahead.

Supported Child’s Pose
What It Does
Releases the muscles in the back, gently opens the hips, boosts your energy.

How to Do It
Set your Zen Timepiece to gong after 5 minutes.  Sit back on your heels with your legs folded under you and the tops of your feet on the floor. Open the knees wide and bend forward at the hips.

Rest your forehead (or your chest) on a pillow or blanket and keep your arms slightly bent. If your buttocks don’t reach your heels, place a blanket under your thighs. Relax and breathe deeply for  5 minutes, until your Zen Yoga Timer gongs.

adapted from Body + Soul, 2010

Zen Timepiece with brass singing bowl, a yoga timer

Zen Timepiece with brass singing bowl, a yoga timer

Now & Zen
 
1638 Pearl Street
 
Boulder, CO  80302
 
(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Chime Alarm Clocks, Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, Meditation Timers, Meditation Tools, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Well-being, Yoga Timer, Yoga Timers by Now & Zen, Zen Timepiece by Now & Zen, Zen Timers


Stress Relief: Melt Stress with One Yoga Pose a Day – Set Your Yoga Timer

yoga, clear out the gunk pose

yoga, clear out the gunk pose

Clear out the Gunk

What if I don’t get this done in time? Why hasn’t she called? Worries have been accumulating — and they’re cluttering your head. Left unchecked, even the tiniest stressors will inhibit your best ideas from coming through.

Treat yourself to a few moments of stillness with this pose, and watch your inspiration re-emerge.

Supported Pigeon
What It Does
Opens the hips and groin, lets go of stress and pent-up emotions, quiets the mind, and promotes emotional release.

How to Do It
Set your Zen Yoga Timer for 5 minutes so the the chime with end your practice in a calm way.  Sitting cross-legged on the floor, swing your left leg around, extending it straight out behind you, tops of the feet and toes against the floor. Fold forward at the hips.

For added support, put a folded blanket or pillow under the right hip. Rest your forehead on a cushion or blanket and relax into the pose 5 minutes until your Zen Timer end with a chime. Repeat with the other leg.

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine, 2010
Digital Zen Yoga Timer in Walnut Finish

Digital Zen Yoga Timer in Walnut Finish

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.

Now & Zen – The Yoga Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO  80302
(800) 779-6383

The Zen Yoga Timer and Alarm Clock Store

The Zen Yoga Timer and Alarm Clock Store

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Yoga Timer, Yoga Timers by Now & Zen


Stress Relief: Melt Stress with One Yoga Posa a Day – Wednesday

yoga get grounded pose

yoga get grounded pose

Wednesday:  Get Grounded

If a midweek slump has left you out of steam, get back on track by carving out a moment of calm. This easy reclining pose does just that, with an ultra-relaxing stretch that helps you get out of your head.

Supported Goddess
What It Does
Releases tight hips, stretching the groin muscles; connects you to the grounding energy of the root chakra, located at the base of your spine.

How to Do It
Set your Zen Yoga Timer for 5 minutes so that the chime will end your practice peacefully.  Lie on your back with the bottoms of your feet touching and knees splayed to the sides, resting on pillows or rolled blankets. Feel your spine on the floor.

Place your palms on your belly or rest your arms out to the sides, palms up. Let your belly slowly rise and fall with each breath. Remain here for 5 minutes, or however long you like.

adapted from Body + Soul, 2010

Digital Zen Yoga Timers

Digital Zen Yoga Timers

Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, mindfulness practice, Well-being, Yoga Timer, Yoga Timers by Now & Zen


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