Japanese people are known for their calmness, tranquility, and wisdom. We’ve all seen movies in which their culture is showcased in the best possible way, and many people find this very appealing. As soon as you grow a bit older, you realize that life isn’t about the buzzy and noisy cities, but it’s more about the connection with nature, calmness, and tranquility, basically anything that will give peace to your soul.
There is a reason why a lot of people want a holiday often after just some time spent in the city. Humans aren’t made to endure all of the modern-day stress that we face daily. We find peace in nature and the sounds of wind, trees, and animals, not in computer screens and digital content.
Unfortunately, that’s just the way life goes, and since technology is advancing every single day, we cannot really avoid being influenced by all the modernization, but we can still find out own corner to meditate and be surrounded by nature.
In Japan, these places are called Zen Gardens. Unfortunately, they only exist in Japan, but you can replicate the same thing in your backyard as well, and if you keep reading until the end, you’ll learn exactly how to do it.
What is a Zen Garden?
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We all know that the word Zen means complete peace in your mind and balance between the energy in your body and soul. This is usually achieved through meditation, but you cannot meditate at any given place or time, you need a location that you feel a spiritual connection with, such as a Zen Garden.
A Zen Garden is a place where you can sit and completely drift away with your thoughts. It’s not noisy, and the only sounds that you can hear are from nature. You are surrounded by nature, you’re hearing and feeling nature, and you become one with nature. Every Zen Garden looks different, but in most of them, you will find a small pond, sand on which you can sit, some mindfully placed stones and a bunch of trees and flowers all around.
But, I don’t have a Zen Garden
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This is what we are here to help you with, a Zen Garden is not as easy to make, especially if you don’t have an entire field that you own right behind your house. Most of us have a regular backyard and that’s not nearly the size of a real Zen Garden, but worry not, we have a solution.
You don’t need a lot of space to meditate, and you can have a smaller version of these gardens that will still do the job when it comes to relaxing you and allowing your mind to drift away for some time. The hardest part of creating a smaller version in your backyard is buying trees, but you can easily do that as well, without breaking your entire economy, according to treeservicecentrevilee.com.
Sand is easy to find, decorative stones and flowers are also available in many local shops, so if you are dedicated enough, you’ll be able to make your piece of heaven in your backyard. A private spot for you to focus on your thoughts without being interrupted.
How can this help me?
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Meditating and spending some time alone with your thoughts is a great way to find yourself once again and set your focus only on things that matter a lot in your life. We tend to stress a lot about everyday stuff that is completely insignificant, and we lose ourselves on that road, eventually ending up depressed and unsatisfied with our existence. When you clear your mind off all the things that are not as important as we think they are, we are only left with our goals and what matters, and this is achievable by meditation.
It’s a great habit to spend at least twenty minutes in a Zen State every single day, and after you do it for a while, you’ll notice all of the benefits for sure. Here are some of them.
- Discipline
It is a well-known fact that people need to have some type of a daily routine that they follow religiously, simply to keep their mind and body trained and in the “right tempo” at all times. Discipline is very important, and it’s the first thing that they teach you about in the military, or in sacred places such as the Shaolin temples, where meditation is of huge importance.
- Stress Relief
It is scientifically proven that you can sleep better, think better and relax better after a successful meditation session, and as far as we all know, all of these things are required for our well-being. When our bodies are rested and not under stress, we can perform better at work, make quicker and smarter decisions, and have better success overall in our daily life.
- Improves Creativity
If you are some kind of an artist, or you simply want to be more creative with the things you do, spending some time alone in your Zen Garden will be of huge help. This is because you are reaching far into your soul and un-tapping that creativity that has been trapped beneath all the unnecessary thoughts that were clouding your mind.
- Slows Down Aging
Before thinking that we went too far with this one, hear us out. Doctors say that one of the main reasons why people start getting white hair and aging lines on their faces is because of stress and anxiety.
If you manage to eliminate these two things, you will be able to feel better about yourself all the time, and with this, you will slow down your aging process. Have you ever seen a ninety-year-old Shaolin Monk? They look like they are in the late twenties, and not to mention their physical performance and abilities.
So, a Zen Garden is a great “investment”, both for your body and your soul, so if you have the free time, space and will to better yourself as a person, don’t miss out on all the possible benefits.
