Labyrinths resonate with different people in different ways, walking it be may a joyous experience for some or a somber, thought-provoking one for others. The principle is that the very act of walking the circles alters consciousness and helps quiet the mind.
Information on walking a labyrinth:
- A labyrinth is a journey whose path is relevant and purposeful. This is not to be confused with a maze which serves to confuse and confound.
- Walking the labyrinth forces one to become contemplative, deliberate and introspective
- By design, a labyrinth encourages one to look down, a humbling gesture, to carefully and deliberately watch how one is walking. Perhaps a symbol of how one should go through life, carefully, deliberately, focused and without being rushed.
- When walking the labyrinth, one meanders back and forth, turning 180 degrees each time you enter a different circuit. As each shift in direction occurs, so does the shift in awareness from right brain to left brain. This can produce receptive states of consciousness and help to balance the chakras.
- Each person’s walk is a personal experience. How one walks and what one receives differs with each walk. Some may use the walk for clearing the mind and centering. Others enter with a question or concern. The time in the center can be used for receiving, reflecting, meditating or praying as well as discovering one’s own sacred inner space. What each person receives can be integrated on the walk out. The walk can be a healing and sometimes very profound experience or it can be just a pleasant walk.
- Walking a labyrinth is more about the journey than the destination. It is about being rather than doing, integrating body, mind and spirit.
Guidelines for your walk:
- Quiet your mind and become aware of your breath.
- Allow yourself to find the pace your body wants to go. The path is two ways. Those going in will meet those coming out. You may “pass” people or let others step around you.
- Do what feels natural.
- Think of a question or concern, clear your mind of conscious thought.
- Feel the inherent power in the sacred design and notice how you feel when you emerge from the labyrinth.
- Feel free to walk the labyrinth on another visit.
Deborah Szekely, founder of the Golden Door and Rancho La Puerta in Baja California, Mexico, was responsible for introducing the labyrinth to spas. A diviner of trends in her industry, Szekely believes that a labyrinth can be an agent of significant, even radical change. She saw her first modern-day labyrinth at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA, where she sat for three hours watching people walk. “I saw the tension disappear from their shoulders, neck, and hands, and their faces change” she says. Szekely then brought four of her staff members to walk the labyrinth and stood outside the circle watching them. “For everyone, it was quieting,” she says. She became convinced of the labyrinth’s healing power, believing that the mind could find rest and comfort in its sacred geometry.
Of course the labyrinth at the Golden Door Spa at The Boulders is available to all resort guests as well as guests with spa services that day. We invite you to come enjoy a meditative walk!
