NORWAY — A little over a year ago, Mark Wilson had never heard of a zen garden. He was seeing a counselor, who suggested he go rake in a zen garden at the office.
He said he was surprised at how easily the shallow wooden box filled with fine white beach sand and accentuated by smooth stones was able to relieve his anxiety.
“I did what she asked me to do and it immediately chill-axed me,” Wilson said. “It got me to slowing my heart rate down. It became a consistent thing I started to do when I would go and visit. I got to thinking I wanted a zen garden at home.”
A relative helped him build his first zen garden in a 24- by 24-inch blue wooden box. He made a small wooden rake to move through the sand.
Zen gardens are miniature versions of Japanese rock gardens, which are found outside Buddhist temples and monasteries as a meditation aid. In recent years, the smaller gardens have grown in popularity as office stress relievers.
Wilson’s girlfriend and business partner, Donna Gomez, said she sees zen as “a state of mind. Zen involves dropping illusion and seeing things without distortion created by your own thoughts.”
Gomez made her own box, painted with peace signs and featuring multicolor sand.
Wilson got the idea to build more and try selling them under the business name Now and Zen 4U. He recommends them to friends who need to relieve stress. He individually builds the boxes and rakes in the workshop in his Norway barn, paints and stains them in his kitchen.
What has made Wilson’s zen gardens stand out from the others available online are themed gardens. Customers can get miniature gardens with custom themes, including sports teams, cancer awareness and the TV show “The Big Bang Theory.”
A portion of the money from his cancer awareness gardens goes to the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing.
The process has been a learning experience for Wilson in several ways, including woodworking. He said the quality has improved greatly since he started.
Wilson’s zen gardens are available in Bethel and Casco and as far south as Portsmouth, N.H. They are also online at http://nowandzen4u.ecrater.com. He said he’s working on a new website that should be finished in about a month.
treaves@sunjournal.com
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- Mark Wilson and his girlfriend, Donna Gomez, owners of Now and Zen 4U, show off a beach-themed zen garden Wilson made. Wilson said his themed zen gardens are finding an audience.
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- Zen garden rakes made by Mark Wilson of Norway after after a coat of polyurethane.
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- Mark Wilson and his girlfriend, Donna Gomez, show a beach-themed zen garden Wilson made at his shop in Norway. Wilson said his themed zen gardens are finding an audience.
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