The history surrounding Zen goes back over 20 years when Sylvia Chandler wanted to share health tips with the world…
Sylvia had been using plants, herbs and various alternative and complementary therapies all through her life and had a vision to open up a shop that could help people discover how to take care of themselves, naturally. Serenity was the first spiritual shop opened on Corporation Street, this was moved to Brindleyplace in 1995 with the name of Zen and the art of flower arranging, which was eventually changed to simply Zen. Zen has gone from strength to strength opening a Moseley branch in 1998 focusing on holistic healing with its in house therapy centre.
Sylvia has over 20 years experience in a wide variety of different fields. Sylvia’s passion for the health and well-being of the people of Birmingham, led the Zen shop into the for front of “alternative” treatments. With a selection of remedies/treatments/workshops, Zen has pioneered and revolutionised from the moment it opened, encouraging people to learn new things and also making available all the therapies.
This hands on approach means it has become a haven for support and encouragement for many people, working closely with the community (in particular Moseley Village) to work ‘with and for’ local people. This genuine consideration for others mixed with first hand experience/feedback makes Sylvia’s presentations relevant to everyone on a very personal level as well for the community.
Sylvia has an array of TV interviews discussing alternative health and urine therapy including the big breakfast, fit farm, this morning, extreme male beauty and many more. Also radio interviews including BBC, virgin, brmb and Kerrang.
Zen could be described as a home for all aspects of Spirituality for the mind, body & Soul. The incredible smells of incense are the first thing to hit you as you enter the treasure trove of beautiful buddhas, Tibetan artifacts, gorgeous handmade crystal jewellery, Wicca and Pagan wares, crystal gemstones, mind opening books, herbal tinctures and teas, aromatherapy oils, Tarot cards and much much more. The shops are full to the brim of amazing unusual giftwear, perfect for anyone who is hard to buy for! It doesn’t stop there either, Zen has built up a fantastic reputation for Tarot and Psychic Readings with both shops having Tarot card readers, palm readers and psychics available every day as well as large range of holistic massages and treatments to relax and heal. There are also many workshops and courses running from Tarot for Beginners Courses to Chi Kung, see what is coming up on the Current Events page. Zen has built up a reputation for educating and informing and never being afraid to be controversial – from urine therapy to magic mushrooms – the shops are well-known and loved by many people through all walks of life.
Expanding with time and with Sylvia’s two daughters running the company with new energy and excitement for all things Zen, they moved the Brindleyplace branch to a much larger shop in Digbeth, the emerging arts and cultural centre of Birmingham in 2010. The new home for this bustling hippy hub has proved to be the perfect home and is now host to Zen’s Psychic & Spiritual Fair which is renowned for attracting over 600 people each weekend it runs!
Zen sends everyone love, light and laughter and hopes that it can share and experience everything it holds in-store with those on the web too. Please call us if you need any help, or If in Birmingham please do pop in to say hello to one of our friendly team!
Love, Light & laughter
xx
