Ikebana: what it is

Ikebana is an ancient Japanese art of arranging flowers and natural elements  combining effortless concentration , typical of Zen philosophy and meditation, harmony and artistic expression of oneself.

The evolution of Ikebana consists of various practices , each coded in a different way: from rikka , to shoka and nageire .

Each of these schools favors one form rather than another, a different quantity of branches, flowers, colors and ornaments (including vases).

Ikebana’s compositions are not only beautiful to the eye , but also significant and representative of those who composed them .

The purely minimalist style is full of references: there is always a floral element with a long stem , representing the tendency to rise towards more ethereal dimensions, a floral element with a short stem , symbolizing the rooting with the earth from which it comes, and finally a intermediate floral element connecting the two, a symbol of the human being who is acting on the composition. 

In the West, Ikebana arrived as a purely aesthetic discipline, to then become a path of self-knowledge and self-expression .

It is taught with less strict rules than those of Japanese schools, for which Ikebana has very ancient and deep cultural philosophical and religious roots .

Ikebana teraphy: what it is

The Ikebana teraphy courses , starting from this millenary philosophy, are structured as a real therapy in which concentration and self-observation are taught , and with the intent of helping introspection and promoting an activity that can bring calm. and concentration.

Ikebana teraphy thus becomes an artistic practice , which brings the same benefits of meditation itself , whose goal is to restore calm and concentration.

The first important task of this practice is, in fact, to find the time necessary to carry it out: an action as delicate as that of composing flowers according to one’s feelings cannot in fact ignore the mental and temporal space to carry it out.

Another principle on which the Ikebana teraphy is based is the precise use of flowers , usually in the initial phase of their development, to celebrate the unfolding of life , as can be observed from a bud to withering.

Each flower represents – for the structure with which it was formed, part of the plant from which it comes, geographical origin and seasonality – its own principle linked to the sky , to the earth or to man , and must therefore respect, within the composition, the its own nature and its own message.

Finally, the decorative elements , such as vases or stone, must be chosen for the evocative harmony, of simple manufacture, so as not to overwhelm the message of the heart of the floral composition.

Learning this ancient art opens unimagined doors to your own creative expression , allowing you to produce harmony outside yourself starting from an inner mood of depth and calm.

It is not necessary to create large and elaborate works, on the contrary: more often the minimalism of the Ikebana manages to better express the essence of those who have chosen and combined the flowers and the elements of which it is composed.