The labyrinth not only invites you in,
The labyrinth can welcome you back to who and what you really are
Dr Jean Houston
The labyrinth is currently being used as a tool for healing, meditation, calming the mind and quieting the spirit. Because the labyrinth is a archetype, an ancient symbol found in all traditions, it can be used in a wide variety of settings by both secular and faith based groups and communities.
Walking the labyrinth allows us to focus our thoughts and gain clarity and insight about our personal and professional lives. The labyrinth can also provide the opportunity to re-vision goals, assess talents and abilities, make decisions and evaluate progress. Currents projects using the labyrinth include schools, prisons, hospitals and hospices, spas and retreat centres, as well as religious centres and seminaries.
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Guidelines for the walk
The guidelines for walking a labyrinth are very straightforward; enter the labyrinth when you feel called to do so, and approach the threshold with openness and intention.
There are 3 stages to the walk; The walk inwards, arrival at the centre, the walk back out again.
These 3 stages are often named Releasing, Receiving, Returning.
The walk inwards is a time for releasing, for letting go of the details of your life, and for shedding thoughts and distractions. Follow your breath, slow down and drop into your body, feel your feet on the path, and find your own pace. This is a time to open the heart and quiet the mind.
Once you reach the heart of a Chartres style labyrinth you will find the Rose at the centre, with 6 semicircles, known as petals, laid out in front of you. These are sometimes said to symbolise the unfolding stages of creation; mineral, vegetable, animal, human, angelic and Spirit. Your time in the centre is a time of receiving. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Stay there as long as you like, and receive what is there for you to receive.
When you feel ready to leave, you turn and walk back along the same path you travelled in on. You are now entering the third stage, which is the journey home, returning back to the threshold carrying your experiences with you. The path has become a two way street and you may meet others journeying towards the centre. This is a simple and powerful metaphor for the spiritual journey at a human level; we’re all walking the same path, and although we are walking it alone, we’re also walking it alongside one another. Pilgrims once walked the Chartres labyrinth as a symbolic journey to Jerusalem, a way of re-entering their spiritual home.
For me that ancient practise of pilgrimage is a symbol for our search for healing and wholeness. The journey outwards to the sacred place is a mirror for the journey inwards towards our own spiritual centre, bringing with it an opportunity to return to our daily life reconnected, renewed and replenished. When we walk the path of the labyrinth we are also walking our daily path through life.
There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth. You can dance it, walk it, crawl along it, or rest a while and sleep on it. Whatever way you are called to move along it, do it with soft eyes, an open mind and a welcoming heart.
The labyrinth can welcome you back to who and what you really are
Dr Jean Houston
The labyrinth is currently being used as a tool for healing, meditation, calming the mind and quieting the spirit. Because the labyrinth is a archetype, an ancient symbol found in all traditions, it can be used in a wide variety of settings by both secular and faith based groups and communities.
Walking the labyrinth allows us to focus our thoughts and gain clarity and insight about our personal and professional lives. The labyrinth can also provide the opportunity to re-vision goals, assess talents and abilities, make decisions and evaluate progress. Currents projects using the labyrinth include schools, prisons, hospitals and hospices, spas and retreat centres, as well as religious centres and seminaries.
Guidelines for the walk
The guidelines for walking a labyrinth are very straightforward; enter the labyrinth when you feel called to do so, and approach the threshold with openness and intention.
There are 3 stages to the walk; The walk inwards, arrival at the centre, the walk back out again.
These 3 stages are often named Releasing, Receiving, Returning.
The walk inwards is a time for releasing, for letting go of the details of your life, and for shedding thoughts and distractions. Follow your breath, slow down and drop into your body, feel your feet on the path, and find your own pace. This is a time to open the heart and quiet the mind.
Once you reach the heart of a Chartres style labyrinth you will find the Rose at the centre, with 6 semicircles, known as petals, laid out in front of you. These are sometimes said to symbolise the unfolding stages of creation; mineral, vegetable, animal, human, angelic and Spirit. Your time in the centre is a time of receiving. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Stay there as long as you like, and receive what is there for you to receive.
When you feel ready to leave, you turn and walk back along the same path you travelled in on. You are now entering the third stage, which is the journey home, returning back to the threshold carrying your experiences with you. The path has become a two way street and you may meet others journeying towards the centre. This is a simple and powerful metaphor for the spiritual journey at a human level; we’re all walking the same path, and although we are walking it alone, we’re also walking it alongside one another. Pilgrims once walked the Chartres labyrinth as a symbolic journey to Jerusalem, a way of re-entering their spiritual home.
For me that ancient practise of pilgrimage is a symbol for our search for healing and wholeness. The journey outwards to the sacred place is a mirror for the journey inwards towards our own spiritual centre, bringing with it an opportunity to return to our daily life reconnected, renewed and replenished. When we walk the path of the labyrinth we are also walking our daily path through life.
There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth. You can dance it, walk it, crawl along it, or rest a while and sleep on it. Whatever way you are called to move along it, do it with soft eyes, an open mind and a welcoming heart.