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Archive for May, 2012

Choosing a Better Alarm Clock Can Help Eliminate Dark Circles Under Your Eyes

Choosing a Calming Alarm Clock

Choosing a Calming Alarm Clock

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

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

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

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

How to choose a better alarm clock

How to choose a better alarm clock

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

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

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

Choose a Soothing Chime Alarm Clock for Better Health

Choose a Soothing Chime Alarm Clock for Better Health

Now & Zen Headquarter Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO 80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Chime Alarm Clocks, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks


The Best Alarm Clocks for New and Pregnant Mothers – Choose the Most Gentle, Chime Alarm Clock

Soothing Chime Alarm Clocks

Soothing Chime Alarm Clocks

Soothing Acoustic Chime Alarm Clock by Now & Zen, Inc. – Boulder, Colorado

“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.  This Soothing Alarm Clock is the Best Choice for Pregnant Women not wanting to disturb their little sleeping sweeties…

Soothing Chime Alarm Clock for New and Pregnant Mothers

Soothing Chime Alarm Clock for New and Pregnant Mothers

Now & Zen’s Chime Alarm Clock  Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Chime Alarm Clocks, Natural Awakening


Clocks and Timers Can Be Used As Learning Tools

Bamboo Clocks

Bamboo Clocks

Clocks As Learning Tools

It’s playtime―or is it cleanup time? Kids can master months of the year, days of the week, dates, and the concepts of a.m. and p.m. with a multipurpose clock and flip calendar on the wall.

Kids meditation tools and timers

Kids meditation tools and timers

Meditation Tools

The Digital Zen Clock also serves as a countdown and interval timer for yoga, meditation, bodywork, etc.; and it can also be set to chime on the hour as a tool for “mindfulness.”

Using a Singing Bowl Clock helps children time their meditation practice.

Clocks Can Be Used a Meditation Learning Tools for Children

Clocks Can Be Used a Meditation Learning Tools for Children


Now & Zen

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, wake up alarm clock, Zen Alarm Clock


Set your Natural Chime Timer for this Energy Boosting Strech

seated forward bend

seated forward bend

Everyday stress can throw your entire system off kilter; your muscles tighten, your heart races, and your stomach starts acting up — again. A simple seated forward bend can activate a reserve of sustaining energy that, according to Chinese medicine, rests between the kidneys. “It calms the nervous system, gets the organs fully functioning, and clears up obstructions in the kidneys and adrenal glands,” explains Daniel Max, nutrition counselor, shiatsu practitioner, and yoga instructor with Max Sense of Self in Watertown, Massachusetts. Get your qi back in no time with this quick stretch.

What It Does
Calms the mind; relieves stress; stretches the spine, shoulders, hamstrings, and back; stimulates the kidneys and adrenal glands; improves digestion; and reduces fatigue.

How to Do It
1. Set your Zen Timer to 3 minutes.  Sit with your legs extended straight in front of you, feet parallel with toes pointing up. Press the back of your legs into the floor.  Hold for three minutes until your natural sounding chime Zen Timer gongs.

2. Inhale deeply and lift through the upper body. With your spine straight and shoulders back, pull the navel in slightly toward the spine, creating space in the abdomen. Exhale, release, and lean forward, bending from the hip, not the waist.

3. Fold forward only as far as you can (keep your knees bent if that’s more comfortable). With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso slightly; if you feel able to go further, release a little more fully into the bend on an exhale. Try not to crunch; maintain length through the spine.

4. Hold for a few breaths, allowing your body to open up. Direct your breath toward the kidneys, breathing deep into the lower back. Then inhale and sit up slowly, lifting your torso away from the thighs until your back is straight. Repeat 2 to 3 times.

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine, April 2008 by

Zen Timepiece, a bowl/gong alarm clock and timer in cherry finish

Zen Timepiece, a bowl/gong alarm clock and timer in cherry finish

Now & Zen’s Clock and Chime Timer Store
1638 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO  80302
(800) 779-6383

Posted in Yoga Timer, Zen Timers


How to Decorate with Clocks

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

How to Decorate with Clocks

How to Decorate with Clocks

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

A Zen-like Clock helps Make Living Spaces More Zen

A Zen-like Clock helps Make Living Spaces More Zen

Now & Zen Chime Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Well-being, Zen Alarm Clock


Use Your Yoga Timer with Chime by Now & Zen to Calm Yourself

yoga to calm your mind

yoga to calm your mind

Yoga is a great way to deal with stress—and research backs it up. According to a recent study by the Boston University School of Medicine, any variety of yoga may increase brain levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is associated with relaxation and lowered anxiety. If you’re struggling with an anxiety disorder, try easing it with restorative yoga—the kind that uses pillows or blankets to support your body and allow you to relax deeply in every pose.

A good source for restorative poses is Relax and Renew: Restful Yoga for Stressful Times (Rodmell Press, 1995) by Judith Hanson Lasater. Other helpful poses, says Bo Forbes, founder of the Boston-area Center for Integrative Yoga Therapeutics, include Supported Child’s Pose and Supported Reclining Twist. Practice in a dim, quiet room to cut down on sensory stimulation, and use two-to-one breathing: exhaling for twice as long as you inhale.

For even better results, follow your restorative practice with eight to ten minutes of relaxed, even breathing from your diaphragm (be sure to set your Zen Yoga Timer so that you know when to end your practice), suggests yoga expert Rolf Sovik, Psy.D., director of the Himalayan Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., and author of Moving Inward: The Journey to Meditation (Himalayan Institute Press, 2005). “Breathing calms the nervous system and decreases the impact of anxiety.”

The perfect position for relaxed breathing is Crocodile Pose, Sovik adds. If you have a blanket, roll it into a “Tootsie Roll” shape, fold that into a long horseshoe, and prop it so when you lie on it, chest down, the round end is under your chin and the sides are propping up your chest. A pillow can go under your forehead. This should allow your abdomen to remain relaxed, your lower back to rise and fall, and your rib cage to move freely. Set your Yoga Timer from Now & Zen to chime in five minutes and continue your breathing until it sounds.

adapted from Natural Solutions Magazine, November 2007 by Ben Kallen

Zen Yoga Timer in Bamboo with Natural Acoustic Chime

Zen Yoga Timer in Bamboo with Natural Acoustic Chime

Our Yoga Timer with Chime also serves as a countdown and interval timer for yoga, meditation, bodywork, etc.; and it can also be set to chime on the hour as a tool for “mindfulness.”

Now & Zen’s Yoga Timer Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in intention, mindfulness practice, Well-being, yoga, Yoga Timer, Yoga Timers by Now & Zen


Zen Alarm Clock Correspond to the Vibrations of Nature

Therapeutic Chime Alarm Clocks

Therapeutic Chime Alarm Clocks

Pythagorean Tuning

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

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

Zen Clock Store in Boulder, Colorado

Zen Clock Store in Boulder, Colorado

Now & Zen Headquarter Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, wake up alarm clock


Snooze News from The Clock People in Boulder, CO

snooze news from Now & Zen, Inc.

snooze news from Now & Zen, Inc.

New research shows that getting a good night’s rest can do more than help you feel your best the next day—it can also reduce your risk of developing diabetes. Scientists at the University at Buffalo found that people who sleep fewer than six hours a night during the work week are 4.5 times more likely to have elevated levels of blood sugar than those who snooze six to eight hours.

Why? “Inadequate sleep activates the sympathetic nervous system, which can lead to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance,” says Lisa Rafalson, research assistant professor at the University at Buffalo and author of the study. “Lack of sleep may also cause us to eat more, and being overweight is a strong risk factor for diabetes.”

adapted from Natural Solutions, August 2009

Chime Clocks for a Natural Awakening

Chime Clocks for a Natural Awakening

Now & Zen’s

Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO  80302


Posted in Chime Alarm Clocks, Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, Natural Awakening, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Progressive Awakening, Well-being


Wake Up Your Body in the Morning with A Gentle Alternative to Your Beeping Alarm Clock

wake up your body in the morning

wake up your body in the morning

Start Your Morning with Some Simple Stretching to increase your circulation

Together, movement and breath will increase circulation, stimulate your nerve centers, and bathe your body in the oxygen that it needs to feel alert. You can’t hurry the process of getting the body ready to move in the morning, however. According to Maas, your internal temperature is lower in the morning and can’t support intense aerobic activity right away. Rather, go with simple exercises designed to get your energy flowing. Adds Novie, “The goal is to align your breath with your body by making movement and breath simultaneous.”

Breathe with abundance. Active breathing uses a faster paced, more intense breath, says Novie. “This method of breathing is said to purify the blood. It gets the fire going in the body.” Novie suggests beginning with three rounds of bellows breathing, in which the length of the inhalation equals that of the exhalation. Start out slowly if you’re new to this kind of breathing, gradually working up to a faster pace. Try for 15 breaths, but stop if you feel light-headed.  Eventually set your Zen Timer with Gong for 5 minutes and breath for this amount of time and then gradually increase the time.

Open up the body with a cat/cow exercise. Begin on your hands and knees. Moving slowly and carefully, lift up your head, sway your back (like a cow’s), and take a deep breath through your nose, filling your lungs with air. Then drop your head and round your back like a cat, pulling your belly in and exhaling. Return to cow position and then slowly drop back on your heels and exhale into Child’s pose, resting your torso between your knees, forehead on the floor. Return to your hands and knees to inhale, and repeat.

Stretch out with a half sun salute. Begin in Mountain pose, standing with your feet together and arms by your sides. As you inhale deeply, bring your arms up over your head. Then as you exhale, bend your torso forward, sweeping your arms down until your fingertips rest on the ground just in front of you (or on your calves if you can’t reach comfortably). Now straighten your spine and look up, taking a deep breath in; then exhale and drop your head down again.

Once you experience the Zen Timepiece’s progressive awakening, you’ll never want to wake up any other way. It also serves as the perfect meditation timer.

adapted from Body + Soul Magazine, March 2006

Zen Timepiece with brass singing bowl, a meditation timer

Zen Timepiece with brass singing bowl, a meditation timer

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

Posted in Natural Awakening, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, sleep, Sleep Habits, Well-being


Alarm Clock for the Heaviest Sleeper

Gong Alarm Clocks for the Heaviest Sleeper

Gong Alarm Clocks for the Heaviest Sleeper

Gong Alarm Clocks Awaken Even The Heaviest Sleepers…

“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.



Boulder, Colorado

Boulder, Colorado


Posted in Chime Alarm Clocks, Japanese Inspired Zen Clocks, Progressive Awakening, Zen Timers


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