Civilization has practiced meditation since 1500 BCE antiquity. Meditation focuses on being mindful through conscious breathing and concentrating on the present, and this allows its practitioners to reach a state of peace of mind. It can be a relaxing way to clear one’s mind; studies have shown that meditation can lower blood pressure, improve specific brain functions, and lessen physical and mental pains.
Meditation can be done almost everywhere, but suitable natural environments such as a meditation garden can help meditation be even more relaxing. The objective of creating a meditative garden is to create a relaxing, quiet, and calm place for you to meditate, but how exactly should you do this? And what are the things that you should look out for?
Look for Inspiration
To make a meditative garden, you must first imagine what a calm space for you looks like; it could be a favorite tree, plant, or maybe even a type of rock. The goal of a meditative garden is to create a space for you to be able to relax, try to look for meditative garden examples. As long as you find the area around your meditative garden relaxing, you’re already on the right path.
If you think that elegant pea gravel geometric patterns, white sand, cherry blossoms, and koi ponds are relaxing images inside your head, in that case, it is worth looking into Japanese zen gardens and try to incorporate that into your vision.
And suppose you want to incorporate a more Eastern feel to your meditative garden. In that case, you should add some fishponds, tiny bridges, stone sculptures, and pagodas into your design as this will give your meditative garden a relaxing and calm aesthetic.
There is no right or wrong way to create a meditative garden as long as you make your meditative garden as private, soothing, safe, and comfortable as possible. You have to ensure that the outside is separated from the inside. The area can be divided by setting up fences, or even via a shrub line that creates a clear separation.
The materials should be natural and straightforward and require very little maintenance.
What Should You Consider?
Size and Budget
Once you have a clear vision of what you want for your meditative garden to be, the next thing to consider is how big your space will be and how much budget you’re working with. The size of your meditative garden will dictate how much it will cost and what elements of your vision can be realistically implemented in the garden.
Silence and Tranquility
Another essential factor to consider is how silent your meditative space already is, will you need to add buffer fences, shrubbery, or other sound-canceling structures? Creating a sound-free environment will instill a sense of calm and relaxation to your garden and help you focus on your meditation.
Selecting the Right Plants
By choosing plants that inspire a sense of calm within yourself, add an extra layer of depth into the character of your meditative garden. You can also opt to have plants that emit a scent, these plants can be herbal, tropical, or flowering plants such as lavender, jasmine, and gardenia can be great to create scents known to have calming effects.
Plants also have unique patterns and colors, so keep in mind if you want to incorporate a plant that might go against your meditation garden’s aesthetic personality.
Choose the Appropriate Landscaper
You must contact a capable landscaper or gardener that sees your vision and wants to see it realized as much as you do. A landscaper with the right certificates and qualifications can help you choose plants that go well with each other and help you pick plants that are low-maintenance to ensure that the upkeep requirements don’t become a source of stress.
A landscaper will also help you sculpt the land in your garden to match your vision and make implementing that vision easier for you.
Creating a meditation garden can be a challenging task, but you shouldn’t let that discourage you from creating a safe space for you to be able to enjoy and relax. The calming of a meditation garden can help improve your state of mind.
While it is true that a meditation garden can be an incredible home investment, a meditation garden can provide moments of peace, quiet, tranquility, and a way for you and your family to bond. Meditation gardens can also help you meditate easier and help you connect with nature in your home’s comfort.
