What is the significance of having a "zen garden"?

Ahhh I LOVE zen gardens. I used to have one until my ex got mad and chucked it into a thousand peices against the wall. But anyway...

I first came across a zen garden in my therapist's office. He told me to rake the sand and put my rocks and praying monk and bench pieces and all that in it anyway I wanted to, and that he would be back. He came back and told me that he uses the zen garden before his sessions to help relax the patient before the session, help clear the mind, and also, the way you rake the sand and the placement of your rocks also reflects your current state of thought and your mood. for example: if you spend the whole session raking your sand in a particular "perfect" pattern, and your rocks are arranged in a very organized pattern, it could be suggestive of OCD. Or, if they are scattered all over the place, it could be a sign of ADD or that you are extroverted. If you place your rocks close together in a corner of your garden, it shows introversion and feelings of abandonment (you don't wanna leave your rocks alone) I know it sounds kinda silly, but it really works. It's a tool that MY therapist used to tap into the subconscious.

Real "zen gardens" are very large. The sand is supposed to represent water - the rippling waves of the sea. But it's very open to individual interpretation. You go there to meditate. It is supposed to help you to clear your mind. What the arrangement of rocks and sand means to you is totally individual.

The small ones are a cutesy way for us westerners to feel like we have a piece of Buddhist wisdom or tranquility in our lives. You do not have to change it every day, or at all. You can do whatever you want with it.

Well you are soposed to put the dirt in the box and put the rocks in with it. You then rake the the dirt into diffrent patterns. In the end the rocks and the hills he dirt made when raked are supposed to represent mountains and valley, or other things like that. Apperently Buhdist or what ever religion this belongs to put these in temples, where people could come and meditate. It is suposed to be relaxing. ANd you are suposed to change the raking form and the rocks every day.

We had one in my house growing up it was a room divider about 3' by 5' and was wonderful. I used to enjoy doodling in the sand and then wiping out the pictures and starting again. I used to talk on the phone while doing this or just stand there and doodle. Very soothing...facilitates relaxing.

it is where we foster wholiness , peace of thought,a starting point and an end it is who we are ying and yang my child now go ...?