Traditional Japanese Zen gardens are a awesome sight. These unique garden areas were originally developed to assist the Buddhist monks with their everyday meditation and self-questioning. The sand was raked by the Monks each day to preserve its distinct pattern & to prevent any plants growing in the garden. The Monks would also spend time in certain areas of the garden & practice meditation, observe & reflect
Lots of individuals these days like to have a tabletop zen gardens on their desks at work or coffee tables in their homes to be able to have a mindfulness break during the day, and to also offer guests a relaxing activity they can do. The process off rearranging the rocks & using the rake to create patterns in the sand will help with increasing your mindfulness, and helping you to unwind during times of high stress and anxiety, and even successful periods.
What Are Karesansui Gardens
Karesansui gardens are dry landscape gardens or sand zen gardens. As the traditional zen gardens didn't have any water or plant features so that they would achieve abstraction and therefore promote inner feelings of tranquility and calm within the monks. This is why in a zen garden the positioning of the stones, as well as the patterns in the sand have a lot of significance and intent.
Even though creating a zen garden this way is the traditional approach you do not need to stick to using only the same components for your garden. Many modern-day mini zen gardens feature other components such as ornamental trinkets, mini trees and even coloured sand. Feel totally free to include a couple of ideas of your own to make it your special mini zen garden, but do remember that you are trying to create what should be a mindful & relaxing area and therefore whatever you include should help attain those feelings.
The Basic Components Of A Mini Zen Garden
- A Mini Rake - In some local craft stores you can purchase mini rakes that are made specifically for a mini zen garden. There are some other options that you could adapt to use as your rake such as: skewers, forks, mini back scratchers & toothpicks it all depends on the appearance that you're trying to attain. You can also create your own mini rake.
- A Container - The style of the container you use for your mini zen garden really depends on your own individual taste. The standard mini zen garden consists of a wooden box. Whereas if you wanted an elegant style of zen garden then a glass container would be fantastic.
- Sand - The finer the grain of sand you use the patterns you create will show better. You can likewise add a bit of twist in your garden by using coloured sand.
- Plants - A popular plant choice for a zen garden are air plants as they don't need soil to enable them to survive and grow. Some other plants that are popular are plants such as moss, succulents & mini trees. So they do not look out of place you should choose the types of plants that don't grow too high. When purchasing plants you will need to check the specific plant's care guide to make sure that the plant can thrive in your mini zen garden.
- The Stones - These are among the most crucial elements of your mini zen garden. The stones can be positioned far apart or grouped in one corner of the garden. Take a while to think of what you'd like your stones to represent and how their placement impacts on your patterns in the sand. You can use any types of stones that you find outdoors on a beach etc but always clean them before you placing them in your mini garden. Some craft stores also sell polished stones and gravel specifically for this type of project. A popular modern-day option because of their energy increasing and healing properties is to use geodes & crystals in place of the traditional stones.
- Using Essential Oils - To help improve the relaxation benefits of your mini zen garden you can also add a few drops of your favourite essential oils to the sand.
