When I was younger, I never thought of gardening as an enjoyable pastime. But then I hit my 30s, and I found the joy in gardening. But gardening doesn’t necessarily mean that plants need to be incorporated. There are such things like rock gardens or Japanese zen gardens, which can be just as beautiful without foliage.
For one artist, Yuki Kawae, zen gardens have been an inspiration. However, Kawae has proven that miniature versions of these gardens can be quite fulfilling and provide plenty of peaceful enjoyment.
In a series of Instagram videos, Kawae shares with his followers his meditative process of gently raking and rearranging his mini zen garden.
For those who don’t know, zen gardens – also called Japanese rock gardens – are an iconic part of Japanese culture. These gardens typically consist of rocks and sand, and arranging them often becomes instrumental for the gardener to enter a meditative state.
For Kawae, his inspiration for his mini Japanese zen garden came from caring for a fiddle plant. He was in awe that caring for his plant every day was helping with his anxieties and sense of being overwhelmed. And that is when he decided to start his own little version of a zen garden.
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As he started his zen garden, he also began to document his progress on Instagram. It was an outlet for him to be in touch with his meditative and creative sides during the early days of the pandemic.
As a result, many people started following him and his page grew in popularity. People connected with the relaxation of his videos – and given the last two years that we’ve lived through – we can completely understand why.
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He also shares some videos on YouTube, and people can’t get enough of them.
Check out some of his videos below:
What do you think? Do you enjoy watching the videos of a zen garden in the making? Let us know!