- I'm Madeline Hooper.

I've been gardening for over 20 years.

And of course, with gardening comes a lot of aches and pains.

So, I finally decided that maybe I should find a fitness trainer to see if I could fix my problems.

And a fellow gardener introduced me to Jeff Hughes.

After working with Jeff, it dawned on me, what would be more exciting than to travel all over America, visiting a wide variety of gardens and helping their gardeners get garden fit.

[light music] Taking care of your body while taking care of your garden.

That's our mission.

[light music] Jeff, I know I always carry on about how great all these gardens are.

But, today we are really going into a different culture.

So, before I start telling you about the garden, what did you do when you woke up this morning?

Things you can tell me.

- Okay.

So woke up, sat up, propped the pillow a little bit.

I did my meditation.

- Right.

- And that's kinda how I start my day.

- Well, I think we're going into an environment where you are definitely gonna wanna meditate.

And that is because we're going to a Japanese garden.

A Japanese garden.

- Yes, right here in America.

- So, tell me about it.

- I spoke to the owner and the creator of the garden who's a man by the name of Bob Levine.

He explained to me a lot about Japanese gardens.

I'm gonna show you something that I brought along.

- The Mary Poppins bag.

What are pulling out today?

- So here in the West, when we designed gardens, I mean, when people do them, usually they are creating walkways and alleyways with trees or plants.

The plants come first.

And in a Japanese garden, rocks come first.

Rocks being the most important feature in the garden.

And you design everything around that, as opposed to designing a big landscape.

And so, it's really a total different focus.

- It's like the opposite.

- It is, it's pretty exciting.

So, I thought I'd bring you an example, a small example of what Bob has in his garden.

- Oh.

- So, this is a granite rock, but see how it's striated?

- I see striations and all this little twinkly stuff in there.

Layers of earth time.

- A little twinkly stuffed in there?

- Yeah, and also another thing about this place is the mind, body, and spirit connection.

- Just stop.

I'm loving Bob and I haven't met the man yet.

- You'll love him.

[upbeat music] I am so excited, I can't wait to actually meet Bob.

I've spoken to him so many times on the phone, but I've never met him.

And there he is.

- Madeline.

- Bob.

- [Bob] How nice to meet you.

- It's so great to actually see you.

- I love it.

- How are you?

- I am well, welcome to my garden.

- Thank you so much.

And this is Jeff Hughes.

- Jeff, very nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Jeff, Bob Levine.

- This is just beautiful.

- Oh, thank you, thank you.

- Isn't it spectacular?

- Thank you, if you think this is beautiful, I want you to understand, you're in the world of the present now, and we're gonna move into a completely different realm in a moment.

- I'm excited.

- Ready to do it?

- Yeah, lead the way.

- Let's go.

- Come on.

- Thank you.

[light music] Wow, here we are.

Isn't it gorgeous?

- So, the sense of the environment, what I was trying to achieve here was tranquility.

And I think the marriage of texture and form and color is that kind of tranquil sense where you can feel your blood pressure dropping, your heartbeat slowing.

- You nailed it, Bob.

- How did you get to think about doing a Japanese garden?

- I've been interested in Japanese culture and Asian culture very generally since law school.

Because it was so cerebral, I wanted to extend my experience tho more physical activities.

So, I got involved with Karate.

And what I found was while I was very much interested in the martial art, the spiritual and mental side of it was really resonating with me.

And from that time on, I've had a love of Asian culture and read and studied much about it and looked to the day when I could somehow embody that in something physical.

And when I retired about eight years ago, I thought if I'm ever going to do it, now is the time.

And this is the result.

And it's a work in progress.

Gives me constant pleasure.

- So, are you picking all the different plants in terms of texture and form?

- Well, Japanese gardens traditionally primarily are stone and the ancillary aspects are the plantings, which are really intended to supplement and enhance the beauty of the stones.

The name Japanese garden in ancient Japanese means placement of rocks, placements of stones.

- That's why all these stones are placed first before you put the grass in?

- That's correct.

What we did was we started moving stones as we saw them into this space and then devoting a lot of time to placement because the placement of the stones became incredibly important.

And we tried to keep it within the ethos of the Japanese mentality where threes became important.

The stones became Buddhist stones, moonstones, they represented all kinds of mythical concepts.

This for example, is a dragon, which is a very, very positive symbol in the Asian culture.

- Oh yes.

- And on this form, you'll see that the white stone representing the pearl of wisdom because the Japanese and Asians generally look upon dragons as being a font of wisdom, as well as balance.

And balance is such an important part of their lives and important part of this garden as well.

- You're talking my language, Bob.

This is great.

- We're always talking about balance.

- What this particular dragon represents is having achieved enlightenment.

And that really is the representation of achieving the highest level of understanding of your place in the universe.

- So, the dragon is the ultimate.

- Is the ultimate goal.

And this dragon undulates, it's a path through the vegetation, up through the tea house and into the waterfall.

And we'll walk up its back.

- This is so fabulous.

Just looking here.

- Yeah, well that's the attention.

Wherever you look, there should be some surprises.

- You wanna really just follow the path.

I mean, it's a wonderful rhythm.

- Why don't we do it?

- So, can we go up there?

- Let's do that.

- Great.

- So, let's talk about the plants.

Tell me a little bit about your thoughts and how you like to actually select the individual plants.

- Well, again, harmony is the most important consideration.

So, we have a lot of mix of deciduous plants along with evergreens.

Evergreens are very important in Japanese gardens because they sustain themselves in every season.

So in the winter, it's just as beautiful and colorful as it is in the summer.

I expanded on that a little bit by adding flowering plants as well, which is not really technically Japanese, but it's my interpretation of what they might've done.

So, it's more of a fusion of West and East that I dated to it recognizing this is not Japan, it's America, but I still respect the Japanese ethos that I try to make that as the foundational concept of the garden.

- [Madeline] That makes sense, it is your garden after all.

- [Bob] True.

- But again, I think it's the rhythm and the flow of everything that's so beautiful.

Like walking down these stairs from stone which are not flat.

- No, they're not flat and they're not intended to be easy to walk on.

They're intended essentially to keep your eyes downcast so that when you do look up, you say, wow.

- What about these three?

- Again, the circle is a very important part of Japanese culture and Asian culture generally because the circle represents energy.

You've seen the Zen symbols.

- Yes.

- The circle, these lines through it.

It's all a question of energy and all of life is energy essentially.

And if you can control it, it can be used for all kinds of good.

- It's exciting.

- You're speaking the language that I have taught Madeline.

- Really is.

- I like to hear that.

- Reinforced.

And this just knocks me out.

Your lanterns are so beautiful.

The stone lanterns are fantastic.

- Oh, thank you.

Yeah, this is one of my favorites.

It's a lantern that probably was made sometime in the late 18th century.

[light music] This is the stone garden or dry garden which has an absence of vegetation on the ground, which is also a meditative garden.

Everything essentially is stone and dry, but it creates a completely different atmosphere.

And this is a nice place just to kind of chill.

But what's particularly enchanting about this particular area for me is the view down to the lower geometric orchards, all of them have meaningful patterns that all are interconnected and have a symmetry.

And further below us is a dry river, which is also a very Japanese conception of the illusion of a river that winds through the garden and then exits into the forest.

- Don't you like that idear?

There's a rhythm.

- There's a flow here that just surrounds you.

- He got crazy with himself.

- Yeah.

I love this rock coming straight up out of the ground.

- Oh, this is a signature rock.

It could be virtually anything you'd like it to be.

I look at it as a crane.

It's rising from the center of the earth.

Other people see other things.

[light music] - This bamboo must sound incredible when the wind picks up.

- Oh, it is wonderful.

- So, this river of rocks, which is fantastic, how do you keep this weeded?

I mean, almost weeded.

- She found a weed.

- I found a weed.

- So how would you pull these weeds out?

Can you show me how you weed?

- Oh Jeff, you're gonna embarrass me.

Well, my first instinct is to do it like this, but I know that's wrong.

So, I'm more inclined to bend your knees like this.

- Okay, and then pull that weed out.

Might as well get it while you're down there.

- How'd I do?

- Terrible.

- Thank you.

- You did great, Bob.

You did great.

It gives me a reason to be here.

Bob, this has just been wonderful seeing this garden that you've created and the balance and zen.

And I know a lot of us, you have problems.

We all have these aches and pains.

What bothers you the most?

What gets in your way?

- Being a gardener I probably share the same complaints that most gardeners do and that is lower back, knees.

- All right.

I was watching you and that was my guess.

We're gonna not go with the lower back.

We're gonna go with the posture.

We're gonna do a little exercise and it'd be part of what I have you doing for four weeks, okay?

So, stand up right here.

So, stay right there and just turn sideways.

And I'm just gonna take a picture right here.

All right, so we're going to do a little exercise.

I happened to have some rubber bands.

Here's what I want you to do.

Go all the way, yours is a little shorter than mine, so go all the way to the end and give it a nice wrap around your hand.

Now, go all the way to the other end and the same thing.

Give it a wrap.

All right, now I'm gonna make mine at the same length as yours.

All right, now just kind of aim this way now.

There's rules here.

You have to keep your elbows locked.

All right.

And then you want to try to elevate your chest right now.

Keep that chest elevated.

And all I want you to do is keep that distance and bring your arms up and you're gonna run into your shoulder.

Just like you felt me do.

Now, push against a little bit, push it back there.

You're feeling that stretch, right?

Now, when you bring your arm down, leave it there for a second.

When you bring your arm down, I want you to leave your shoulder here.

Don't let it fall.

So, keep your elbows straight, lock them out and bring it down right to there.

All right, now, take it back up again.

Run into your shoulder again, little bit more.

Push it back.

Good, now hold it there and just bring your arm down in front of you.

Keep this arm straight and pull your face back a little bit.

Keep it back there, good.

And one more time.

Take it back.

So, what we have done is just incrementally push those shoulder blades back three times.

Get that chest out there, bring those arms down and keep this arm straight.

Now, what I want you to do from here is bring that band out, all the way out and around your body, keep going around your body.

Keep going until it goes around your body.

So, you felt your back have to kick in to get it around your body.

Keep this here, keep that chest out, and just hold back on it as it comes in so you're keeping that resistance.

Keep going.

Now, back out again.

Three times, we did three up, three out, around the back.

Feel that squeeze back there.

One more.

Take your time, way back.

Way back, now really hold that resistance on the way in.

Take it up one last time, as high as you can go.

Now, slowly bring it down to your hips and pull your chest up.

So, this is going up.

This is going down.

All the way there.

Don't move.

But be relaxed.

Don't feel like you have to hold that stiff.

All right.

I want you to look at the difference between that guy, and that guy.

- That's remarkable, isn't it?

- I'm just gonna fix this real quick.

When you're standing, I noticed how you, you sit into your knees and sit as actually stand up.

There's nothing wrong with that, unless you do it all day long, every day.

And after awhile, it's really hard on your knees 'cause what you're doing is you're making this one up here just wanna slide off instead of sit on top.

So, you need to stand up nice and straight.

Now, we're gonna pick some weeds.

When you were picking the weeds, you did it two ways, which was beautiful.

I couldn't have asked for better way to do it.

The first time you bent over, okay?

Obviously all your weights here.

And then when you go to pull the weed up, it's like adding 20 pounds to your body weight because it's pulling back, right?

So, then you fixed it all by putting your feet next together and doing this.

You had the right idea.

You wanted to bend your knees to get down.

Know going in that if you bend, your knees are going apart from each other, they can't stay next to each other.

So, go ahead and plan ahead.

Have your feet apart then your knees don't move.

You go down inside your knees.

All right?

Which hand do you like to pick with?

Let's just pick one.

- Right hand.

- All right, so put that foot a little closer to what you're gonna pick.

There you go.

- Okay.

- Just drop down and put your arm right here.

Now your back's not holding you up anymore, right?

And you got a foot here so when you lean over it's holding it, grab that weed.

And when you come up, come on up.

How do I do this with the 10,000 weeds I've already picked?

Well, grab your bunch.

You can move around a little bit in that.

And then, you can switch.

- Makes sense.

- Walk your way around.

- It makes absolute sense.

- What I want you to do is practice weeding that way and try to be as heavy as you can with your forearm on your leg, really push it and try it a couple of times, go wide with your feet.

All right, so we know what we're doing for four weeks, right?

- You got it.

- I need a promise from you.

Four weeks.

You're gonna do the band every day, three times a day.

When you're picking those weeds, embrace everything I've taught you.

We got a deal?

- We have a deal.

- All right, excellent.

- [Bob] To be able to pull the weed without pain, very exciting.

- [Jeff] It all made sense, right?

- Absolutely.

- It's hard to do it all the time right now, but as long as it makes sense then your body starts to accept it.

I see you sitting up straight.

So, it's starting to take effect, right?

Your body's feeling it.

- In four weeks, we were gonna come back and see what's new in the garden with no weed farm.

So, go slow.

- There you go.

- And actually get it, just kinda.

- That's right.

There's the garden and the fit right there.

You're gonna be fit with no weeds.

- [Madeline] So, Bob, that was an experience.

I loved his garden.

- I love Bob.

- I really enjoyed listening to you and Bob talk about Eastern philosophy, meditation, martial arts, balance.

I know that's all a big influence in both your lives and it is in mine now too because you taught me how to meditate.

And you kind of gave me an understanding of strength through balance.

So, is it all about the basis for ying yang?

- Well, yeah, it is, Madeline.

Ying yang is like the ancient, epic, Eastern philosophy of dualism, the opposites, light and dark.

And when you bring them together, it's balance.

- Well, Bob certainly understands that because in the way he's created his garden, Jeff, the way he has plants placed, the way he puts his rocks in a position, and certainly his geometric shapes all reflect balance.

- Bob's major sources of pain were his lower back and his knees.

And believe it or not, these two are related.

So, I decided to give him a strength routine to change his posture and change the way he uses his lower body.

And if you put those two together, it'll give him a little bit of strength down there and they'll begin to just naturally guard themselves.

- That makes sense.

- I have a demonstration I've been thinking about showing you.

- You do?

- And it kind of really relates to what I taught Bob.

And a typical- - Broomstick?

- Yeah.

So, what I want you to do is just hold your hand down.

- Okay?

- All right.

I want you to just hold the stick right there at the very end.

And I want you to hold this out level.

- Let go.

- All right.

- How's that feel?

- It's getting heavy.

- Yeah.

It's just broomstick.

You're holding it with your hand.

- Yes.

- Okay, so what are you holding your hand with?

- My wrist.

- Ah.

And what's holding your wrist?

- [Madeline] My arm.

- And what's holding your arm?

- My shoulder.

- And what's holding your shoulder?

- My shoulder blade.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So, time's going by.

- It's getting heavy.

- And even though you're holding with your stick, you're starting to feel something upstream, right?

- I am.

- Where is it right now?

- Really, it's past my elbow.

It's going right up my arm.

- All right.

I'm gonna take the stick away now.

- [Madeline] Thank you.

- Now, I want you to really register how you feel, where are you feeling this?

- Yeah.

- All right.

- Down this whole area.

- Now, what I want you to do is hold your other hand out and your finger.

And I'm going to set this in here.

I have a little balance point.

I think I can get that right set.

And I just want you to hold that right there.

You can use your thumb just in case it rolls for a second.

- Okay, all right.

- Now, very gently take your thumb off.

Let it balance out.

And how does that feel?

- So much lighter.

- Lighter.

- It feels like a different stick.

- It feels lighter.

- It does.

- What if I told you it's the same stick?

No matter where you hold it, it weighs the same.

It doesn't weigh any more or any less, no matter how you're holding it.

- The difference is amazing.

- The difference is very, very grand.

- But when you held it out of balance, you felt the chain of pain all the way somewhere other than where you were actually holding it, just like Bob feels it in his back when his head and shoulders are out of balance.

So, when you held it balanced, you felt more powerful.

- I did.

- Yeah, balance equals power.

I'm good at this, aren't I?

- Yes.

So, when we go back, we're gonna see a whole new Bob.

- Yeah.

[light music] Oh, hey, wait.

You know what?

I've been thinking about this the whole time.

I said to myself, when I come back, I'm doing Bob's garden barefoot.

- By the way, what's up with your hair?

- This is samurai look, we're at a Japanese garden and I wanted to have a little something going on.

- We are at a Japanese garden.

And Bob said, if we get here early, we could really go around the garden.

So, I think we should go meditate.

- All right, let's do that.

[light music] - Welcome.

- Bob.

- Surprise.

- Bob.

- I'm sorry to disturb you.

Wow, it's so nice to see you.

- Hi Madeline.

- How are you?

- Nice to see you as well.

Jeff.

- How are you?

Just kind of made ourselves at home.

- Well, that's what this is intended for.

- We took your word for that.

- How'd it feel?

Pretty good?

- It feel great.

It's a wonderful space to meditate.

- How do you feel?

- I feel great.

I have to tell you, this four weeks that we've not seen one another have been transformative to me.

I really have evolved from somebody who was in constant pain to somebody who has mobility that I haven't had in years, literally.

- So good to hear.

- My upper back because of the stretching.

Now is no longer is painful.

My neck moves with great mobility and very little pain.

My lower back, the pain is almost gone.

My legs feel terrific all because of the exercises and the way you taught me to weed has changed my life.

- I notice there's less weeds coming in too.

- There are less weeds.

- I spent a lot of time, literally, crouched in the position you taught me weeding and it's been absolutely terrific.

In fact, one of the really most significant changes was that I stopped studying and performing my Tai Chi Chuan for about two years because of the back pain and discomfort that I was suffering.

And now with these exercises, I've gone back to that believe it or not.

- Oh.

- And it feels absolutely wonderful.

- That's great.

That's you.

And it's so great that you could go back to that 'cause that, I know that issue.

- Indeed.

- [Madeline] That's fantastic.

So Bob, now that you're new, what's new in the garden?

- Well, as you can see, Madeline, the garden is absolutely exploding with life and vitality.

We've had a lot of rain and there's been a tremendous change in the foliage and the colors and in the size.

And in fact, I have a little surprise for you down there.

- Great, I love surprises.

- I love surprises.

- Let's do it.

- We'll follow you.

Bob, these apple trees got so big since we've been here.

- I know the foliage is absolutely explosive, but what's interesting is the fruit is approaching being ripe.

I give it another two weeks or so.

And we'll have apple sauce from these trees.

The pears are just covering the trees and the peaches are more than I can remember in past years.

So, in a period of time, I guess people will be coming with bushels and just taking the apples away.

- I guess so.

What kind of apples?

- These are McIntosh apples, which make great apple sauce.

- They do?

- Terrific apple sauce.

Absolutely.

- They are kinda my favorite apples also.

And I also think that again, the rhythm and the way you've done the squares around the trees inside a big circle.

Isn't that interesting?

- But actually, you're absolutely right, Madeline.

And what it represents essentially are geometric forms that are interlocked throughout this portion of the garden, where you've got circles in circles and squares, all of it coming together to be a very, very interesting geometric pattern, which could probably be best seen from 20,000 feet.

- We're gonna come back, we're gonna meditate.

We're gonna eat some apples.

But right now, I really wanna know what our surprise is.

- I do to.

- Come with me.

- [Madeline] Okay.

- Madeline, Jeff, what I'm gonna try to achieve is a physical manifestation of everything you've seen in this garden.

And I think it can be represented by Tai Chi Chaun which is really a Chinese phenomenon, but its applications certainly relate to the Eastern ethos and I think what this garden is trying to intend to achieve.

Tai Chi Chuan is a marriage of all the elements of your existence, which is to say your body, your mind, and your spirit.

And in those three items, the tri-harmony, you've covered the essence of your very being.

And Tai Chi Chuan will respond to each one of those elements.

So, the first thing we're gonna do is align yourself as straight as you can and move your left foot a little bit more than shoulder length and simultaneously move your right leg 45 degrees to the right.

Put all your weight on the right leg and move your toe to the side of that leg.

With your hands, hold the large medicine ball.

Step forward and as you move your hands, straighten your back foot to 45 degrees in perfect balance.

Breathe very, very gently and clear your mind of all thought.

You're gonna be in a state essentially of mushin, which is no-mindedness.

You now know Hai Tai Chi - That felt great.

- Thank you, sir.

- Thank you.

- [Bob] But, I have a surprise for you up here.

- [Madeline] You do?

- More?

- Indeed.

- [Madeline] Here we are on the steps again.

- I really like the idea of these uneven steps.

You explained it that first visit that- - Keeps your eyes cast down.

- Yes.

- Oh, sushi.

- Oh my goodness.

Oh, this looks so beautiful, Bob This is just lovely of you.

- This is great, Bob.

This is a great surprise.

- Yes.

- This is a nice way to say goodbye, isn't it?

- This is a nice way to say goodbye.

- So tell me about your bare feet, Jeff.

- I just, all the time you said you spent placing those stones and really trying to make something out of this garden.

I didn't wanna miss that this visit.

- I love that.

- I think this whole garden is a zen well.

- By you saying that it makes me feel wonderful because that's the intention.

But I must say, the experience that I've had is equally profound.

You guys have really done something very special for me.

- Thank you.

- It was just a fantastic experience.

- Watch this.

Feet apart.

- [Jeff] There you go.

- Well done, thank you so much.

- Bob.

- Jeff.

Lay it on me.

- Thank you very much.

- You're very welcome.

- [Jeff] This has just been such an incredible experience.

- [Bob] Before we start, how about a toast?

- Good idea.

- Absolutely.

- [Madeline] Here's to your beautiful garden.

- [Bob] And back at you, thank you.

- [Madeline] Cheers.

- [Jeff] Oh, that's good sake.

- Oh.

- Wow.

- [Bob] Very nice.

[light music]