Wake up! New research reported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows that sleep is one of the brain’s most powerful tools for learning and remembering. University of Chicago researcher Daniel Margoliash found evidence that young birds practice singing while they sleep: Brain cells active during waking hours showed similar firing when the baby birds napped. “Birds dream of singing,” Margoliash says. And after navigating a spiral maze all day, rats apparently dream of running. Matthew Wilson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that the sleeping rodents’ brains replayed electrical signals characteristic of running. In human laboratory experiments, students who were tested and then allowed to sleep before retesting showed consistent improvement.

In fact, Robert Stickgold of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported that a period of sleep between tests resulted in a 20% boost in performance without additional training, and “the more sleep the students got, the more they improved.” Says Stickgold, “Modern life’s erosion of sleep time could be seriously short-changing our education potential.” He says that “cramming all night may help you pass a test, but if you want to remember any of it after college, you need to sleep on it.”

adapted from Natural Solutions, Aug, 2002

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.

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.”

Now & Zen’s Chime

Alarm Clock Store

1638 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO 80302

(800) 779-6383

Posted in Bamboo Chime Clocks, intention, Natural Awakening, Now & Zen Alarm Clocks, Sleep Habits, Well-being