By thoughtfully shaping your courtyard space to promote mindfulness, you can create an urban sanctuary right at home. Follow these key elements for designing an unplugged courtyard that nourishes mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Focused Simplicity

To encourage being present, opt for simple, focused design in your courtyard. Too many decorative objects or cluttered arrangements compete for attention, causing distraction. Instead, select just a few handcrafted, natural items such as a stone Buddha, ceramic lanterns, or wooden chimes. Let negative space and clean lines allow your mind to unclench. Place elements intentionally to shape a calm flow. Simplicity clears mental chatter.

Natural Materials

Incorporate natural materials that soothe the spirit and connect you to the elements. Flowing water, rustling leaves, fragrant flowers and textured stones engage your senses, acting as meditative focal points. Choose sustainable, unpolished materials like weathered terra cotta, hand-hewn stones, rattan and linen. Avoid synthetic materials that disrupt nature’s calming essence. Surround yourself with elements from the earth and sky to feel part of the natural world.

Plant Life

Nothing ushers in serenity like living plants. Fill your courtyard with lush, leafy greens to purify the air while calming nerves. Herbs like lavender and mint please the senses with their scents. Cluster pots overflowing with flowering plants to attract butterflies and birdsong. A small garden synthesizes nature’s healing gifts—sunlight, soil, rain and life itself. Tend to plants patiently to practice mindfulness. Let their tranquility rub off on you.

Water Features

The soothing trickle of water has an instantly relaxing effect. Add a miniature waterfall or slender bamboo fountain to your courtyard to moisten the air with pleasant white noise. Sit near as the play of water washes away stress. Place vessels or hollows to catch the overflow, focusing attention on each droplet. Reflecting pools, streams and birdbaths can also impart water’s restorative essence.

Seating for Contemplation

Your unplugged courtyard should offer comfortable seating arrangements crafted from natural materials to invite rest and reflection. Position chairs and benches in peaceful spots with inspiring views. Clear space for yoga, meditation or journaling. Add wide cushions for lounging on the ground. Hammocks stretched between trees encapsulate relaxation. Curate multiple tranquil vignettes to discover through moments of contemplation.

Soothing Scents

Fill your nostrils and lungs with nature’s aromatic offerings. Grow herbs and flowers chosen for their calming scents like lavender, jasmine and lemon balm. Set out bowls of dried petals or diffusers with essential oils. Perhaps place a small censer for burning resins like frankincense or rosemary when needed. Deep breaths of soothing botanicals quiet the body and mind.

Wind Chimes and Art

Add auditory and visual details that prompt awareness. Hang wind chimes made of natural materials to trigger focus through soothing sounds. Select one sculptural artwork as a focal point for meditation. Or curate a tiny gallery with inspirational prints and spiritual symbols. Simplify the visual landscape to avoid overstimulation—just small mindful touches.

Night Lighting

As the sun sets, lighting takes on a key role in your peaceful courtyard. Use solar lamps to define garden pathways and accent plants. Hang lanterns and candles to create a serene glow. Opt for a contained fire pit or chiminea for flickering ambience. Consider installing moon garden plants that open at night. Lighting transforms your sanctuary into a place of tranquility after dark.

Eliminate Technology

Resist any urge to add television, speakers or distracting gadgets to your space. Screens and noise disrupt the tranquility. Allow human voices, wind chimes and songbirds to be the only sounds. Remove visible clocks to prevent anxiety about time. Switch devices to silent mode before entering your sanctuary space. Return to the present moment through your senses alone.

Conclusion

Crafting an intentionally designed, technology-free courtyard oasis provides refuge from the stress of modern living. Follow these principles to create a personal sanctuary that immerses you in nature’s restorative gifts. Let your unplugged courtyard be a space for nourishment, mindfulness and contemplation as you disconnect from technology and reconnect with yourself.

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These are the organic greenhouses that grow cabbage and spinach in the Silent Valley, Alchauna.

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The dooming sun will set The clouds will hide the blazing sun The ships will return to the jetty The waves will recede The crabs will move out of their sand holes This rustic wooden chair will wear out And I shall carry this souvenir of a scenery forever in my heart.

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Just like the petals of a bud slowly open to reveal the beautiful flower, The life of your dreams is also slowly unfolding.

Spotted these lovelies at the Grugapark in Essen. It is a biodiversity park housing the most vibrant flower plants which will leave you mesmerised. 

Flowers teach us a very valuable lesson – keep blossoming because you never know when your time might come.

Mountain wild flowers in full bloom.

I spotted these at the House of the Sarpanch at the Corn Village, Uttarakhand. I still am unaware of their name.  

  Nature speaks through art.

Winter flowers from Dhanaulti.

I found these wildflowers at Sahastradhara, Dehradun.

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The sun doesn’t forget to shine, So why do you?

Corbett Woods Resort at Rampur, offers such lovely corners to click and to get clicked.

The overflowing love is always difficult to capture because it has so many moods and shades. But here it is, in plain sight, on my face, in my smile.

If you are a passionate traveller, your travels are incomplete without a Safari tour or a national park/wildlife sanctuary journey. And for a Delhiite, the nearest protected reserve is Jim Corbett – a mere 6 hour journey from the national capital. Day 0: Since bus journeys are mostly uncomfortable, we opted for Indian Railways this…

Ohhh winters You are not so far away!

Hidden gems – mini cascades and their music definitely enchant on an arduous trek.

It is a dangerous business Frodo, going out your door, you step onto the road and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off. – Bilbo Baggins, #lotr Well trekking for the Kareri Lake was definitely dangerous. 

Mountain wild flowers in full bloom.

Animals too get lost in the beauty of silence.

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Pre-covid times:Finding beauty in unlikely placesSeeking peace in unknown lands In covid times:Finding beauty in the warmth of the bedSeeking peace in the storytelling of books and motion picturesAnd then frantically searching for the related memes on social media

You can actually hide inside that empty trunk of this tree.And we did try that! Spotted at Mawphlang Sacred Grove, Shillong.

Heaven is a place to be enjoyed in this life only, not after it.

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The ever flowing streams teach us that life goes on.

And you have finally reclaimed meLike the ocean that reclaims its landsWave by waveInch by inchSoul by soul.

Last summer, I finally got to open the seductive looking bottle of La Rioja, a Spanish wine that I brought from Düsseldorf airport duty free. I had expected La Rioja to be a sweet tasting wine but it was weirdly not sweet although I wouldn’t call it bitter. I paired it with cheese, pasta and…

River side happinessOr happiness at river side?

Hannibal: There are those moments when you can’t overcome your surroundings, you can make it all go awayWill Graham: Put my head back, close my eyes and wade into the quiet of stream.Caption credits: Hannibal

Love is also looking at the flowing river and basking in its airy breeze.

Water is an excellent healer!

A year without travellingWill I forget how to pose?

How in the presence of water, the inner happiness is transformed into a jolly existence.

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Just like the petals of a bud slowly open to reveal the beautiful flower, The life of your dreams is also slowly unfolding.

Spotted these lovelies at the Grugapark in Essen. It is a biodiversity park housing the most vibrant flower plants which will leave you mesmerised. 

Flowers teach us a very valuable lesson – keep blossoming because you never know when your time might come.

Mountain wild flowers in full bloom.

I spotted these at the House of the Sarpanch at the Corn Village, Uttarakhand. I still am unaware of their name.  

  Nature speaks through art.

Am I just a passing blossom to you?  Or something more?

Winter flowers from Dhanaulti.

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