Zen Garden - Relaxation & Meditation DVD

I really love this disc because it gives me the choice of having music, or just the natural sounds of the garden. As I prefer nature sounds and nothing else, this was for me. Earlier I had picked up a zen garden disc through Target and then realized that if I wanted to cut out the music on the disc, and chose the "without music" format on the disc, it took out ALL sounds, which of course included the nature sounds I bought the disc for. So I was disappointed with that.You won't be with this disc if you like nature sounds--- you have to choose to take the music out, but there are two settings that you can choose through your remote. The price was a little more than I wanted to pay, but it was worth it to have a disc in the zen garden with nothing but nature sounds.

This Zen Garden DVD has made quite the impression on me. When it first arrived, I was surprised by the fact that it plays automatically without even as much as a menu to get in the way of my relaxation time! And relaxing it is, I find myself looking forward to enjoying it's peaceful sounds and after a long day of shuffling about and being a busy Mommy of a very active toddler! It's endless loop of calming, serene varying scenery gradually changes, which I love, and somehow despite there being many different types of scenes (water, landscape etc) they play long enough to satisfy my need for variety but without my anticipating a scene change, does that make sense? The transitions are timed so well I don't even notice the scene changing, I am that relaxed. It's like my left brain just takes a nap, lol. True to it's zen personality if you will, you can switch on the nature sounds with very holistic music/sounds accompanying, or just the nature sounds themselves with the audio button on the DVD remote without having to stop playing the loop. It took me a short while to figure this out, since I have never come across this feature in a DVD before and don't know what 99% of my DVD buttons are for to begin with! I actually contacted the company (Zenchantment) by email about this and received an almost instantaneous response back with the solution to my confusion, along with a warm note of thanks and appreciation I did not expect. I went to their website after receiving their email and being shocked at how kind and genuine they were, and found they have many more titles I wasn't aware of, such as a California Lighthouse DVD that shows the ocean and varying times of day with lighthouses, Cherry Blossoms "Zen Garden 2" which is one I must get soon, a really neat Golden Gate Bridge time lapse video again, that I want to get and others that I am now very interested in after contacting the company about the audio feature and realizing they not only make products that help us in our daily lives, but really want to be a positive force in the world, and it shows in how they conduct themselves. They were as true to their nature as could be, a company that truly practices what they preach. A great product with a unique identity if you will, and a company that deals with it's customers using the principles of their product: relaxed, uncommon, beautiful and calming. I am really satisfied with my purchase, and because of this encounter, will go out of my way to try their new products in the future! Thank you Zenchantment, for your care and warmth. ~J

This DVD is a one hour continuous looped film that plays continually.The scenes are not that interesting or diversified.Compared to the DVD named "Japanese Gardens"...it is a bit of a boor.Look for "Japanese Gardens" for a real thrill!

Scenery beautiful but would like to see these types of DVD's with the nature sounds forward and the music distant. Japanese gardens are about nature and peace. If they could develop one that puts you INTO the scene to meditate, that would be nice.

The music is very mellow. The shakuhachi is mild and sweet, but it doesn't drown out the sound of the water. I use this sometimes for meditation, and sometimes while reading.

I was not as happy with this relaxation DVD as I thought I would be. Some of the music is actually irritating after a while, and the pictures are on the boring side. I wish I had bought something else.

Anything that can help me relax in this world today helps. I love to have this playing while I am doing my cleaning, or ironing. When people come to my house and see it playing they want one too.

I bought this, along with another meditation DVD for a friend who is going through life changes. She tells me that she enjoys it very much!