Waking Up With Verilux Rise And Shine Natural Wake-Up Clock

Waking up in the morning can be tough, especially when it's drab and dark outside, and bed is warm and cozy. I've been known at various points in my life to turn off alarm clocks in my sleep, attempt to snooze humans, and attempt to bargain for more time, claiming that I solved the problem of the space-time continuum. Clearly, I need a better solution than the average alarm clock. I was excited by the idea of the Verilux Rise and Shine Natural Wake-up Clock, a clock that claims to align the body's natural circadian rhythms so that you make up more gradually and naturally.

About 15 minutes before you set the alarm for, the clock/light begins growing brighter, while adding sound. The sounds (all four options) make me want to stab things (you can listen to sound samples on the website to see how you feel). The nature sounds, alone, aren't so bad, but the new-age spa music causes violent urges. Thankfully for me and those who need to be around me in my daily first waking hours, there is an option to turn off the sound, so that you are only brought to waking by the gradually increasing light. Though that means you can't squeeze out maximal sleep to the last minute, it does make a difference in feeling less groggy. 

I enjoy that the alarm clock can also function as a bed-side lamp, albiet one that looks like a gazing ball from the Star Trek Enterprise. While aesthetically it won't be a centerpiece for many bedroom decorative schemes, it's clean and modern. With this clean modern look, it's rather complicated to program. Fortunately, it has two alarm pre-sets that it will remember and you can switch between, so you don't have to monkey around with settings every night. As someone with a constantly changing schedule, though, I still find myself needing to reset an alarm often. Basically, if you are gadget-phobic, don't bother. Otherwise, you'll be able to muddle through with some help from the manual.

The Verilux also has settings to help you drift off to sleep by gradually decreasing the light, simulating sunset. It turns out, if you've slept well, it it's much easier to get up in the morning. I have to be careful not to start it going too soon, planning to read for a while, because it does grow too dark to read fairly quickly. Still, so nice to be able to drift off, and much healthier than hitting oneself over the head with a brick.

The shiny wake-up box lists on Amazon for about $99. We still think that it's is a great idea, but are less thrilled about a few of the points of execution. We'd keep using it, but hope that they'll provide options for less hippy-spa music in the future. It's also not recommended for people overwhelmed by the concept of programming a microwave. Still, it does wake us up feeling more refreshed- so for $99, for the right people, it's worth it.