How To Create Your Own Relaxing Zen Corner

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What Is A Zen Corner?

A zen corner is a small area of your home to can go to when you’re feeling overwhelmed, upset, or wanting to relax a little. Ideally this area will be a place that makes you feel at ease as soon as you’re there. It’s good to have a comfortable seating area, some kind of light, and items that relax you. Here you can meditate, read, journal, listen to music, or just sit in peace. Your zen corner is yours and you can design it as you see fit. Continue reading to find out what’s in my zen corner and maybe get some ideas for your own.

Cozy Seating

As I mentioned before, you want to have a comfortable seating area. That can be a chair, a beanbag, a bunch of pillows and blankets thrown together, etc. I purchased a meditation pillow early this year when I started meditating and I love it. I’ve got a furry pillow and small blanket nearby as well. When I was starting to build my zen corner I had the idea of putting a papasan chair there (I’ve always wanted one). Currently I am thinking about moving my large lounge chair to the space because that would make it more comfortable to read for a long period of time. Keeping the vibe cozy is key.

Lights

A key part of a relaxing environment is the lighting, at least it is in my opinion. And nothing says relaxing like fairy lights and candles. I purchased the cutest fairy lights from Amazon a couple of years ago and they have been working great, even when my husband vacuumed part of one up. These lights have several settings, but I typically keep them on and not twinkling.

Candles add a certain warm and cozy vibe to any room. Right now I am burning a special candle with rose quartz crystals in it, of course I found it at TJ Maxx. I like this one because rose quartz is good for calming anxiety so I burn this candle when I meditate. My zen corner is also right by a window that faces the backyard, so during the day time I get some nice daylight but it’s not too strong because of all the tree coverage.

Relaxing Items

What do you need to feel relaxed? I’m just getting into crystals and learning about them so I’m not as knowledgable as I want to be. I started with a rose quartz crystal and a jade heart. My jade heart came with an Abundance affirmation card and I recite this while holding the jade heart before meditating. To give my space some life, I decided to added plants that would hang from the ceiling to avoid taking up floor space. I found these great plant hangers on amazon and added plants from Lowes to tie it all together.

Right next to my zen corner is a small bookshelf and on the bottom shelf I keep my guided journals and a pen. I have found that guided journals are great for when I need a little help writing. CGD London, Happiness Planner, and Amazon have great guided journal. I’ll do a separate post on my favorites. I also have a plain notebook for when I need to put everything in my head on paper. If I really need to focus, I like to have classical music playing on my JBL Speaker or in my AirPods; I use to listen to a meditation mix on Apple Music when I meditate, now I use the Calm app.

I also keep my smudging items nearby because I like to burn sage for some of my meditation sessions. There are lots of benefits to burning sage, scientific studied benefits, like that burning sage eliminates bacteria from the air. There are other benefits to burning sage that some believe, for instance, it drives away bad energy. I don’t know enough about smudging to give too much information on it yet. I recommend doing your own research on it and trying it out.

The Calm App

At the end of last year I decided to try out the calm app, I signed up for the 7-day free trial, and of course forgot to use it and cancel it before the week was up. Once I saw I’d been charged for a full year of use, I decided I better start getting my money’s worth. I started out with The Daily Calm, which is +/- 10 minutes of guided meditation. I’m use to doing 15 minutes a day so The Daily Calm was easy to take on, I could stop my busy work day for a 10 minute break to recharge.

After a few days of The Daily Calm, I decided to try out the other daily meditation options, The Daily Jay and The Daily Trip–there is also The Daily Move, which I’ve tried once, but I try to get outside on a mile walk everyday for movement and fresh air, so I usually skip it. In total, the 3 “Daily’s” take about 30 minutes. I don’t always have time to get in 30 minutes of meditation so I’m not too hard on myself when I need to skip a day, but I have come to really love those 30 minutes of peace in my day.

How I Use My Zen Corner

You might be wondering how you can use this area in your home. Here’s how I use mine:

• Meditation – I sit on my meditation pillow, light my candle, and pop in my AirPods for a 15 minute mediation session. You can read more about my meditation journey here.
• Read – The area is quiet enough and has good lighting for any time of the day or night. Having classical music playing quietly on my speakers helps give me some noise.
• Journal – If you’re new to journaling, I would recommend finding a good guided journal. I find writing things down really helps me process what’s happening.
• Practice Yoga/Stretch – I have a basket with my yoga mats right behind my meditation pillow for easy access. I have found that 10-15 minutes is very refreshing for my body.

So what do you think, have I inspired you to create your own zen corner? Let me know how it turns out. Is there anything you would add to your space that I didn’t mention? I’m always looking for new ways to chill out and calm my anxieties.