[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-577817-105":59,"doc-detail-577817-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","how-to-create-a-self-sustaining-meditation-garden","How to Create a Self-Sustaining Meditation Garden","","This essay documents how honors philosophy students at Western New England University (between fall 2022 and fall 2024) established and sustained a campus meditation garden through semester-based small-group work, events, and cross-campus collaboration. It outlines the garden’s purpose for reflection, discussion, yoga, meditation, and creative expression, and explains how honors curriculum supported transformational leadership and student well-being. Evidence and examples connect meditation to reduced stress, improved cognition and memory, better heart and endocrine functioning, and stronger mental health engagement.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/how-to-create-a-self-sustaining-meditation-garden/577817/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/how-to-create-a-self-sustaining-meditation-garden/577817.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Emma Wilson","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-20","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main purpose of the meditation garden described in the paper?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The garden is designed as a peaceful space for student reflection, discussion, yoga, meditation, and nature-based creative expression, with honors students actively maintaining it and hosting events each semester.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How did honors curriculum contribute to student outcomes beyond garden maintenance?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The professor and students used the honors class curriculum to build transformational leadership skills, enabling students to positively influence themselves, one another, and the wider student body through collaboration and event leadership.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What benefits of meditation for college students does the paper highlight?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The paper describes meditation as improving mind and body health by decreasing stress, supporting memory and cognition, promoting relaxation, and contributing to well-being and self-actualization, alongside references to mental health needs among students.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},577817,1792430798,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":41},3848291630094,"https://eur-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","How to Create a Self-Sustaining Meditation Garden  \nHeather Salazar, Lydia Barrett-Miller, and Kaitlyn Parisan  \nWestern New England University  \nAbstract: This essay presents the creation and maintenance of a campus meditation garden as an outgrowth of four successive philosophy classes in honors. Authors describe the garden’s inception, execution, curricular advantages, and administration, with specific examples of the impact on student health and well-being. Authors observe the ways in which honors students attained skills in transformational leadership by collaborating to develop projects and lead events, suggesting that a meditation garden may be appropriate for any learning environment emphasizing cooperation, creativity, mindfulness, and well-being.  \nKeywords: higher education—honors programs & colleges; whole student pedagogy; communities of practice; integrative learning; Western New England University (MA)–Honors Program  \nCitation: Honors in Practice, 2025, Vol. 21: 69–80  \nBetween fall 2022 and fall 2024, four successive honors philosophy classes  \nat Western New England University in Springfield, MA, established and sustained an ongoing interactive meditation garden on campus for the benefit of the student body. The meditation garden is a peaceful space designed for student reflection, discussion, yoga, meditation, nature, and creative expression. Each semester, honors students worked in small groups and used their individual talents, connections, leadership roles, and ideas to contribute to the garden. Students maintained and grew the garden in addition to hosting an event at the end of every semester. The professor and students used class curriculum to develop transformational leadership skills to positively affect themselves, each other, and the student body. They utilized collaborations with non-academic clubs, organizations, and departments,  \nSalazar, Barrett-Miller, and Parisan  \nconsistent with current research showing that “honors programs can also demonstrate the advantages of working across academic and nonacademic units on campus”(Schlange & Burnett, 2023, p. 30) . Events introduced the student body to benefits of the garden, including meditation, yoga, scavenger hunts, rock painting, chalk art mandalas, gardening, inspirational phrases on bricks in the garden, and featured giveaway prizes such as adult coloring books.  \nBuilding a meditation garden on campus with honors students is practical and achievable on many campuses. The garden and events described herein can be completed with as little as $300–$500 each semester with funds raised or elicited from the provost’s or honors budget. Such a project can also be hugely rewarding for the faculty, honors students, and wider campus. John Baick, Professor of History and Honors College Director, called the second meditation garden gathering the best-attended and most interactive event within a small budget that he had ever witnessed in his many years at the university.  \nThis paper explains the benefits of a meditation garden for college students and shows how the corresponding honors curriculum can cultivate students’ transformational leadership skills. It guides the reader through the process that a professor and students took to establish the garden, enhance the space, and host the events. It is co-written by a professor of philosophy and two honors students from different semesters.  \nTHE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS  \nStudies show that meditation positively affects the mind and body. It contributes to physical health, decreases stress, improves memory and cognition, and aids in self-actualization. Meditation has long been known to decrease stress and increase a sense of well-being (Keng et al., 2011) . It improves immunity, enhances heart health, improves endocrine functionality, and reduces heart and respiration rates (Black & Slavich, 2016) . Research indicates that heart rate slows down during silent meditation, promoting a healthy ","cbCainJscYm32LIW","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainJscYm32LIW","pdf",199549,12,"English","# Introduction\n## The meditation garden project and implementation\n## Benefits of meditation for college students\n## Evidence on physical and cognitive effects\n## Stress, mental health, and learning outcomes\n## Self-actualization and relationships","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the meditation garden described in the paper?\",\"answer\":\"The garden is designed as a peaceful space for student reflection, discussion, yoga, meditation, and nature-based creative expression, with honors students actively maintaining it and hosting events each semester.\"},{\"question\":\"How did honors curriculum contribute to student outcomes beyond garden maintenance?\",\"answer\":\"The professor and students used the honors class curriculum to build transformational leadership skills, enabling students to positively influence themselves, one another, and the wider student body through collaboration and event leadership.\"},{\"question\":\"What benefits of meditation for college students does the paper highlight?\",\"answer\":\"The paper describes meditation as improving mind and body health by decreasing stress, supporting memory and cognition, promoting relaxation, and contributing to well-being and self-actualization, alongside references to mental health needs among students.\"}]","How to Create a Self-Sustaining Meditation Garden | PDF",1792032468]