As spring blooms, we naturally turn our desires and attention to our outdoor spaces. Here are some ways to create a calming, intentional outdoor oasis.
A backyard or outdoor oasis provides unique opportunities to connect with nature and its healing power. The smell of aromatic flowers, the chirps of birds, the feel of grass underfoot… our outdoor spaces can envelope all our senses and literally ground us in the present moment.
In this article, you’ll find tips to help you:
- Conceptualize your outdoor oasis
- Avoid overwhelm in your designing and implementing
- Create energetic balance and sanctuary space
How to Start Designing an Outdoor Space
This is a wonderful exercise to help you get clarity on how you want your space to feel and function:
- Sit in your outdoor space. Close your eyes and get comfortable. Use a third eye-aligned crystal-like apophyllite, azurite, iolite, or moldavite for extra insight.
- Imagine walking into your space in its ideal state. What do you see? How does it make you feel? What are you doing? Where are you spending the most time?
- Visualize living in each area of the space as if it’s your outdoor living room.
- Take notes on your experience and including any feelings that may come up.
Once you know what you want, you’ll be able to prioritize and tackle your projects or have meaningful discussions with consultants.
Manage Your Workload and Expectations
It’s important to plan your space so that the space feels cohesive and supportive throughout. The plan should include what you want in the space and how you’ll maintain it.
Outdoor spaces need maintenance and care. Pick designs and plants that support the level of work you want to do. An English rose garden is a huge commitment compared to a xeriscape. Creating a “perfect” landscape that you won’t maintain is a recipe for disaster. (Even if you’re using landscapers, ensure that the plan accounts for ongoing maintenance!) If you love to cook, consider an outdoor kitchen. Is a hot tub imperative for relaxing? Really consider what calming tools you can implement in your outdoor space.
If you’re not sure about maintenance, make your comprehensive landscape plan, then start with a small project—like a sanctuary spot. See how maintaining the small areas goes, then tweak your plans accordingly.
Get Knowledge and Help
Bend has amazing resources for planning and implementing your outdoor projects, from expert horticulturalists to landscape designers. We also have resources from Oregon State University Master Gardeners, which provide classes and offer a wealth of knowledge on these topics.
Take a deeper dive into these resources for inspiration and consultants; the upfront legwork will pay dividends. If you’re living in the High Desert, it’s important to remember that there can be roadblocks. The high desert’s climate presents unique gardening challenges and connecting with local know-how will save you time, money, and headaches.
Create Moments of Balance and Healing
Regardless of your overall design, consider adding design elements that give you moments of balance and healing in a dedicated spot or throughout your space. These small projects have a big energetic impact on your space, so they’re great places to start.
The ideas listed below are just touchstones. As always, trust your intuition and explore with a joyous heart spiritual and aesthetic choices that work for you!
Creating an Outdoor Oasis
Just like an indoor calming corner, you can create an outdoor meditation space for quiet contemplation. Find a spot with clean sight lines that’s away from noisy or high-traffic areas. Think of adding:
- A comfortable seat
- Aromatic plants
- Soundscape features like running water, outdoor speakers, or chimes
- A table to hold any crystals or sacred objects that support your sanctuary atmosphere
Balancing the Five Elements
A simple way to harness some of the powerful energetic benefits of Feng Shui outdoors is to bring balance in the Five Elements:
- Fire
- Wood
- Water
- Earth
- Metal
Your outdoor space might be filled with plenty of wood from plants and earth from the soil. You can add metal elements alone because metal balances out wood and wood naturally balances out earth. You can incorporate metal by adding patio furniture or metal sculptures. For fire, think fire pits or triangle shapes, especially in shady spots. Lastly, water can be highlighted with water features, birdbaths, and dark grey or blue tones.
Another option includes hiring a Feng Shui practitioner to offer precise recommendations tailored to your space.
Incorporate Crystal Healing Energy in Your Outdoor Sanctuary
You can infuse your outdoor zen space using crystal energy. Adding a bowlful of tumbled stones to a tabletop is the easiest option. Also, consider adding crystals into enclosed lanterns or crystal wall hangings. When using crystals in the backyard, always be sure that your crystals can handle outdoor conditions. And, remember that super clear crystals can spark fires, while some can’t get wet. Lastly, keep in mind that all crystals can be damaged by the cold. So, it’s important to bring them inside when it gets cold.
Some crystals that I love using for outdoor harmony and healing:
- Clear quartz: the go-to master healer and amplifier and great for meditation spaces.
- Moss agate: supports all gardening efforts and connecting us with nature.
- Celestite: super calming stone.
- Rose quartz: this rosy stone aids in connecting our hearts to Mother Nature’s love.
How you design your outdoor calming corner, zen garden, or even a backyard meditation space is ultimately up to you. You can incorporate your home decor to create your outdoor meditation area, use crystals outdoors near calming wind chimes, or simply allow your love for specific colors and textures to influence your garden design. The most important thing to remember is to create an outdoor oasis or sanctuary that best fits your needs and comfort, and ultimately resonates with you.
