Bergen teen creates meditation garden for the stressed-out

Ricardo Kaulessar | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Remembering Emily Desbiens of Wallington NJ Emily Desbiens, who died in June 2018, was honored with a memorial garden Sept. 8, 2019.

BERGENFIELD — Irthu Pillai saw something in her life that she wanted to remedy.

"I saw everyone going to school and going to work facing stress every day," with no readily available solution, Pillai said.

So the Bergenfield High School freshman decided to create a meditation garden at Cooper's Pond.

"I thought if there was a meditation garden there would be someplace public where people could be in peace and at one with nature," she said.

The garden is in a section of the park overlooking a flowing stream where people come to fish. It was unveiled last month during a small ceremony.

There are several rocks, a pebble surface, flowering plants and a seedling that will grow into a shade tree.

Pillai, a Girl Scout in Bergenfield, started working on the garden in late June as part of a required project to earn a Girl Scout Silver Award.

She said that early on, she went to the mayor and council to seek approval of her project. Then she met with Phil Neville, who heads the Department of Public Works, who advised her on how to design and create the garden.

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While Pillai did a good deal of work on the garden, she credits the assistance of everyone who helped get this project done, including her parents supporting her idea, local businesses that donated items for the garden, and DPW workers and others who helped her put it together.

"The fact that people would take time out of their day, without having anything to gain, to help me out, someone they don't know personally, was amazing," Pillai observed.

Since it opened, she has seen some people use the garden, and she hopes whenever it is warm, they will find it to be a useful resource in their lives.

One person who has checked out the garden is Mayor Norman Schmelz.

"I thought it was a beautiful idea. It's actually very relaxing. If you just sit there and close your eyes, you can lose yourself," Schmelz said.

Ricardo Kaulessar is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com Twitter: @ricardokaul