“How is the n.o.w. Tone Therapy System different from/better than using a meditation app and binaural beats with headphones?”

This is a question that appears to us regularly, for good reason. Whether through sounds baths and Tibetan singing bowls, or linear digital recordings or another method, people are increasingly familiar with the idea of using binaural beats for a relaxation response. Our Tones seem a lot like other useful tones that are out there on the market, in apps, or playing on Youtube, etc. But they are in fact formed differently and offer a broader experience.

With the helpful magic of software I get to mix in a good portion of a past response to this question, also, from Michael Joly.  

First, n.o.w. is atypical in sound and brain/body reaction due in part to our patent-pending discoveries in the area of aural neuromodulation. The creation of sounds from the Tone Therapy System happens independent of Michael’s original instrument recordings to bring an experience to the listener that we can’t predict, but which has proven through our customers to bring stress and anxiety reduction; there is a shift which happens toward meditative states that appears to be quicker, easier and more effective than anything else on the market today. We have not created binaural beats for the sake of what these beats can do; instead, the beat frequencies created in the play of the System work alongside other components that happen during a listening session. Any beats are just part of the unique-each-time experience that the System is played and listened to.

n.o.w. is subtly––yet profoundly––different. We leave it up to individual users to determine their own preferences but we can say that our feedback and testimonials over time have shown us that the reasons people prefer n.o.w. over other products are as varied as those people themselves.

n.o.w. (which stands for New Origin Waveforms) is one latest development in the emerging field of “consciousness transformation technology,” and yet it sort of goes backwards in time with the use of non-digital, real instrument tones. n.o.w. is self-contained and does not use a mobile phone, or computer app. The Tones were all recorded in a quiet, open setting. They are meant to be played back into whatever environment the user is in at the time of listening so that their own soundscape or quiet environment can interact with the Tones.

The placing of the speakers––whether on the body where gentle vibrations can enhance the experience, or together on a table, or in different areas nearby, all serve to create a new and unique 3-minute experience. The Tones play for three minutes, always and only, in order to deliver a complete n.o.w. session with a beginning, middle and fade-out-to-end of the Tones. Then n.o.w. shuts itself off automatically.

What’s so great about all of this? We believe there are several things:

*Three minutes is easy to find within each day.
*The Tones are tuned to the Universal Tuning Standard of 1 (A432), and while they always sound similar they will vary forever––this will keep your brain from ever being in any anticipation or normal recall, but rather brings to the listener a present-state experience that can never be otherwise.
*Listeners appreciate the lack of gaming and self-competition, or any record of how often or long they listen––what happens between you and n.o.w. stays between you and n.o.w.!
*The vibrational component to the speakers and Tones has allowed us to bring the n.o.w. experience to the hearing-impaired.
*Being voice and music-free means that there is less opportunity for the sort of judgements that can get in the way of presence.

There are no objectives when using n.o.w., no doctrines or belief systems, no overt goals. Listening to n.o.w. and becoming aware of thoughts––and gently letting them go so as to listen to the Tones again, and again, is meant to bring the user to moments of release of their incessant, worry-plagued (or at least very noisy) thinking mind.

That is all it does. And yet, in that, there is much to be discovered. We feel the times between the listening sessions are also important (as listeners become generally less reactive to stress). The System delivers calm and relief in short doses. This is felt in different ways by different users (sometimes in the body, sometimes as waves through the brain, an overall body release of tension and “inner” relief, or as a nice sound…), and those doses string together in ways that users say produce positive life changes. The idea is that over time––be that in the immediate time or over a course of use––having more of oneself available, and more peace, will affect life in uncountable ways.

Is it “better” than binaural beats? The answer really comes down to: it is different than using plain old binaural beats because it is a System of many things that occur along with the sounds themselves. You, the listener, are of course one of those things.

The Tone Therapy System is meant to be SUPER easy so you’ll use it, and ABSOLUTELY effective so that you’ll keep using it; with that, the personal and collective discoveries of the n.o.w. Tone Therapy System continue on and on.

Thanks for letting us revisit this question!

JUST LISTEN!!! And, have a great day today. –Alene (and Michael!)

To hear a 3-minute demo of n.o.w. NOW, click here!

“Easy to use and essential for anyone dealing with stress. My n.o.w. Tone Therapy System really helps me!”

“I just LOVE the Tones. I use the System at night and first thing in the morning to be grounded and get prepared for the day ahead. It sounds beautiful, is quick and the feeling stays with me and helps calm the stresses. Thank you for a wonderful product!”

In honor of this time of year where GRADUATING STUDENTS of all ages head into their next phase of life, while their TEACHERS also transition and say many farewells, I’d like to talk a little about stress. Everything can bring it on, but change, growth and a move into the unknown are just the kinds of scenarios where stress can really strut its stuff.

That’s why I’m so thankful to hear from customers like the one quoted above, who is receiving benefits for life’s stresses. I chose this one as my graduation-gift to readers, because nothing says “I care about your future” so much as a great PRESENT. I’d like us to step together into the present moment, here and now, for the space of a few minutes. Stress, you can scram!

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could command stress to beat it whenever we wanted? That requires a couple of things, and one is just being aware of your stress—but, that’s like being aware you have skin! Stress can be such a normal state that we become inured to its existence—it just is, like you’ve been tasked with carrying a huge rock around with you everywhere. When we are aware of it, this can lead to resistance, self-judgment, further feelings of despair. Big or small, stress never, ever feels good. But isn’t it fun to inspect it some more, think about it and pick it apart? No, as a matter of fact, I just realized this is not fun at all. Some present.

Now, then, for something completely different.

To teachers everywhere, I thank you so much for working as hard as you do! What an interesting world a dedicated teacher can make. You show up and guide learners, and you do this in whatever capacity possible. Art teachers, thank you. History and math teachers, who I tried hard to resist, thank you for showing up every day to help us “get it.” Teachers of Special Education, you are shining lights because absolutely everybody matters and you help us remember this. Gym teachers and kindergarten teachers and professors to our computer scientists and dancers and doctors and nurses and the teachers who teach the future teachers, well ALL of you ALL, a big giant hug!!!

What an incredible mission teachers have chosen, and what an accomplishment each day, and each year, to move it all forward. It must be hard to say goodbye! And it must feel like your own graduation, too, because the work you’ve done is now about to spread even farther.

And to the students: they say you are the future, and that is true in a sense. But more astoundingly you are the NOW, right here today. To open the door to increasing your knowledge helps everyone, everywhere in the world. Doing your homework has increased the chance for you to have just what you need in situations you haven’t considered yet. You’ve shown up to school and applied yourself as much as you can, increasing integrity for all of us. You students help your teacher’s sense of accomplishment, you’ve helped your peers be part of a collective, and you are helping now to bring hope to this very moment. You don’t even need to be more, just keep being you. I love students!!! Thank you for caring as much as you know how, so that you can increase who you are by learning what you didn’t know before. The vulnerability into possibility into confidence, and even more trying of new things only happens because you opened yourself to being taught. The efforts you’ve made will lead to directions that are meant to surprise you.

THANK YOU STUDENTS!!!

Seriously, I’m inspired: let’s all be students of this world, let’s all begin to listen more, to engage, and to draw forth what is good. Let’s bring ourselves to a million little personal graduations in every year, advancing the cause by showing up and taking in a bit more of what is around us.

We can talk about stress all day, or we can be the student of our own teacher-selves and begin to write a new report for the class, just like the reviewer at the top of the blog who shook me away from starting to dissect, once again, tedious old stress—which is where this blog was quickly heading—and into sincere thoughts of gratitude.

Use whatever is at hand to come into presence and leave the blech behind! Sometimes it can be to sniff a flower or a chocolate piece and just let that settle into your mind, it can be a listen to music, a yoga posture, pondering the light and shadows, a breath, a smile while gazing out a window. Teach yourself these new tricks, tiny ones, just like how a teacher starts—we do not get calculus in 1^st grade for a reason, we do not write a book report before reading the book. Be kind to you and start small—the results will build.

And one more time:

Thank you. To everyone who is moving forward into another grade, another job, a graduation of any sort, or simply into another day, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

You’re awesome, and I’m so glad I got to celebrate you today. Thanks for coming to my party.
–Alene    

For a tiny but full 3-minute listen to the wonders of n.o.w. Tone Therapy, click HERE.

The 3-Minute Question is our most frequently asked, and the answer takes many forms—grab my hand and come explore with me!
PLUS, an exciting announcement at the end!!!

“Three minutes is not enough, can we have more?”
Sometimes the question comes from a non-meditator who is surprised by how they feel when experiencing the Tones, and they want the feeling to continue. Often it is long-term practitioners of meditation who recognize the potency of the Tones and would like to use them for longer sitting sessions. Beyond that, there are those who would like to listen while drifting to sleep, or rocking a newborn, or giving a massage, or during acupuncture; really for any situation where beautiful sounds can apply. 

n.o.w. is something new, and it is different, and it will remain that, every single time you listen, into forever. And keep in mind something that has surprised us from the beginning: n.o.w. often reveals its brilliance, genius and functionality later. What can sometimes sound like high-handed concepts that we built into the System are only revelations and discoveries we’ve had as a result of having built it. We the makers of n.o.w. remain in awe, and we trust every component, or seeming lack of component.

The n.o.w. (New Origin Waveforms) Tone Therapy System, when used, is meant to create a specific result: the freeing from thought into mindfulness, more quickly and more deeply. We hope for it to open the doorway for you into timelessness and presence. There is a reason presence is a sought-after commodity in our lives—whether you see it as a bit of calm, or you see it as a bit of the eternal, bringing it into your life can make a world of difference (and can even make a different world).

n.o.w. is structured on pure simplicity, and it defies every attempt to make it more complicated. It aims to do its one thing: bring peace through sound, and it does this by providing an anchor to its particular tonal experience. Just listen and let the Tones be your wordless guide into wordless moments.

Before I head too far in my trip down Reverie Lane, here are governing principles that apply to n.o.w. and its 3 minutes:

• The n.o.w. System has to be so easy that there are no barriers to regular use.
• The n.o.w. System has to be so effective that it serves its purpose, which is to help people lead better lives.
• The n.o.w. System has to be so beautiful in sound that it makes using it something that you don’t do just because it’s good for you, like swallowing a vitamin pill, but you do it because you want to–like it’s the juiciest gummie-bear vitamin ever.

These are not just good ideas, they are parts of what make the whole System work.

Beyond that, there is a fundamental reason for the 3 minutes, which is to fit full Tone sessions—beginning, middle and end—into ANY life, EVERY day, twice a day ideal, and as many times as you’d like beyond that. You can listen for hours if you want, even overlapping, but you have to turn them back on so that the system plays fully each time. More on that in a sec.

Our self-created, perceived “issue” is that the 3 minutes can be so constructive, yummy and magical, that people want more. We love the Tones too. But can it work as the n.o.w. System if it plays at longer durations?

The answer is no. I swear.

The Tones, played long, would certainly work as meditative sounds in which to bathe your subconscious, they would be calming and very helpful, or create beautiful background, but lost would be the larger potentials of awakening and connection—connection to oneself, connection to all, connection that comes as a result of regular moments in true presence.

Regular use enhances the effectiveness of the System for the user, and then also more people regularly using the System enhances a collective consciousness. It makes sense! If you are more peaceful in your day, you have more peace to share, and the more people sharing peace make for a dandy snowball effect. Let’s add to this a weighty component: What shakes peace to the core—but is more a part of life and our connections—than the reality of death? Yet, from all evidence, we need death to have life. Reflectively, the n.o.w. Tones fade at the end of their minutes of swelling composition, to decay away until fully off (ready or not), in order for the life of the tones that came before to be all they can be. I have come to see that listening to n.o.w., with its end, becomes a practice in acceptance, which is a practice in peace.

The use of the Tone Therapy System is cumulative, just as any regular mindfulness practice is cumulative. The real miracle in using the System is not how you feel at the time of use, but what happens as a result of bringing yourself to this type of stillness, regularly. That part of you who sits outside of the worry and thoughts gets a chance to put the pieces together for you, to increase the ability to find your answers. Regular doses of stillness are just that good.

There really is nothing else like n.o.w. It is a lot like a very functional tool and it is a lot like art, but is something else altogether. We learned during development to stay open and inspired, and to avoid burdening the experience with clever ideas. In fact, while recording the Tones, creator and founder Michael Joly brought himself repeatedly to a “no-mind state,” deleting any sessions where he’d had thoughts occur, or if he felt he’d tried to be influential or musical.

When I think of the making of n.o.w. and also its time length, a story often comes to mind that is attributed to Michelangelo carving David. With investigation I found the following (thanks go to quoteinvestigators.com):

 In 1858 in “The Methodist Quarterly Review” was an essay comparing the methods of sculptors and poets.

“It is the sculptor’s power, so often alluded to, of finding the perfect form and features of a goddess, in the shapeless block of marble; and his ability to chip off all extraneous matter, and let the divine excellence stand forth for itself.”

In other words: in the creation of a thing simply remove all that isn’t the thing, and when all the things that aren’t the thing are removed, there you have the thing, revealed in its perfect form.

Our belief is firm that, when a person has the opportunity to release thought and step out of the world’s time-based mind structures, even if it’s only a few seconds, those few seconds share in the same timeless eternity that minutes or hours share in. To that end, time means nothing. I like to know that we kept chipping away to form as much nothing as possible.

Holy lol! This dang thing that is n.o.w.! Our partner Ruane likens the Tones to our core Universal Self and feels that is what we are hearing and why we yearn deeply to hold on, and I think she’s right.

Myself, I like to call it God in a Can.

Stay in Wonder!  —Alene

AND HERE IS The solu announcement:

Now that you’ve learned the basic “whys” of the 3 minute n.o.w. Tone Therapy System, I’ll let you in on the news that solu IS MAKING A NEW TONE EXPERIENCE and a revolution yet again. It is not n.o.w., but will be its own kind of awesome, and yes, with varying listening times. Stay tuned! (Enjoy that pun for no extra charge.)

For a full 3-MINUTE n.o.w. Tone Therapy System demo, click here.