On a cool and breezy day in late October, I walked the labyrinth at the Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City, Michigan with a group of friends. Most came to the labyrinth with few expectations. I came with memories of other labyrinths I’ve walked.
Like A Prayer
At a labyrinth in Gayle’s back yard, I learned that you walk each step like a prayer. This was my first labyrinth, and one I walked with meditation friends watching. They held space as I walked, and I did the same in return.
Walking the labyrinth gives you time for contemplation. It is time alone with your thoughts. Your only worry is putting one foot in front of the other, one step after the other.
In this meditative walking state, the world falls away. It is, I suppose, a mystical state where each step is a prayer, an offering.
Rewire Your Brain
Some time ago, I laid out a traditional labyrinth pattern on a friend’s rural property using found branches and twigs. Friends walked that labyrinth, too. Eventually the labyrinth was removed and faded back into nature.
Walking a labyrinths is a transitional experiences. You set foot on the path, wind your way through the twists and turns.
Labyrinths are said to be able to rewire your brain. The labyrinths I’ve walked have all followed a similar pattern to that of Chartres Cathedral. You start on the outside, walk almost into the middle, then wind your way through the pattern.
The back and forth movement is said to touch on different parts of the brain. The walker, then, stimulates the entire brain, forming patterns that strengthen the connections in the brain.
The end of the first part of the walk is in the middle. We paused together, joined hands, celebrated our friendship. We threw our hands up to the sky and released that love to the world.
Then we wound our ways back and forth through the pattern again, and out into the world.
Transformation
At this labyrinth, I remembered the connection to energy that I have. I used that energy connection to help a friend through an experience.
That experience is hers to tell, not mine. Suffice it to say that I remembered how to stay in the middle – be grounded with the earth and reach up to the stars.
I found it particularly poignant that I caught a photo of a couple getting wedding pictures taken. That is another kind of transformation, echoing that which we all experienced walking the labyrinth.
Labyrinth Resources
There are many kinds of labyrinths, and just as many ways to walk a labyrinth.
- Labyrinth Locator
- World Labyrinth Day is May 3.
- Labyrinths in Michigan
- Labyrinth Resource Group
- Veriditas
Sunset As Labyrinth
We ended the day at a friend’s house near Elk Lake. We shared food, crafts, and oodles of talk.
We also took an easy walk down a quiet lane. The world hushed in autumn splendor as the sun went down. Sunrise, sunset – another day in the labyrinth of life.
Beautiful.