Purpose Of A Labyrinth Walk

1. A Purposeful Start

The entrance calls you to leave behind, put aside, or let go of “what is” and to be open to encountering something new. The entrance is an invitation to open up your heart and mind to step out on faith with no predetermined end. The beginning of the walk has no predetermined goal or assumption about its end. It simply is a first step. Like the walk itself, the first step is up for you to decide what it means to you.

The start of a labyrinth walk is a reflection of our life at any given moment. We are at a certain point with much that we cannot control and the next moment is uncertain. But we have to let go of whatever is holding us back and take the next step. We also have to make a commitment to move forward. Each step is a new step, a new start. Ultimately the meaning of our life and what we do with it a series of steps, and each one is a beginning. At the entrance, mental and spiritual part of you is leading to the physical action you make to take the first step.

No walk is ever the same. You enter as you are: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is an entrance of unconditional love for yourself and acceptance of whoever you are at the time you enter. You will create its meaning by adding to what “is” and therefore make it “become”. It is a microcosm of your life’s journey, this moment, this day, or an issue/concern with which you enter the path. 

2. A Purposeful Journey of Transformation

While the labyrinth path is designed to lead you to the center, the experience and meaning of your walk is always unique and solely determined by you. No two walks are ever the same! The physical environment is always changing, not only season to season, but moment to moment: sounds, textures, colors, light, movement all join to create a different space for each walk.

What you choose to do in that space is your own purposeful decision. You have total freedom to make the path your own and define how you will use it for yourself. You alone have the power to think, believe, and act as you choose in the labyrinth.

Turns are a natural and essential part of a labyrinth. This is especially true in the Chartres where turns can seem to be barriers to moving straight ahead or forward. But in reality, barriers are opportunities for new directions and perspectives. They give us time to become more open to our capacity to appreciate and act on possibilities.

The labyrinth walk is a purposeful walk toward the discovery or re-discovery of your center.

There is no predefined name for the center. It simply “is”. You will name the center and in naming it give it power in your life. As in life, you cannot run away from the center of your being, and you must be able to know that what you name as the center is in fact the true center. Often times, we are centered on something that is not the true center.

The labyrinth walk involves moving along vision points of the center. You are invited to pause and think about your relationship with the center as you journey toward it. Based on where you are on your walk, the physical, mental, and spiritual relationship with the center will be different. But ultimately you will enter the center and “be” with it. You will be with yourself at the center and within the center.

To get out of a labyrinth you must travel the same path by which you came. In returning along the same path, you are invited to walk back through your journey from a different perspective. How often we wish that we could re-live or re-do something! The labyrinth is the opportunity to walk back through your experience but this time with the benefit of having been to the center.

3. A Purposeful Exit

The last purpose of the labyrinth walk is to step back into the world actively applying your labyrinth experience. The exit is the very same entrance through which you began. This is a powerful statement about the wholeness of everything:  a beginning, what happens in between, and the end are all connected and joined. It is hard to separate them. 

A labyrinth walk is ultimately about leaving the labyrinth and going back into life. Although being in the labyrinth can be a very satisfying and lasting experience, it is meant to only be a momentary pause during which possibilities can be nurtured. The exit is never an end, but a return to the starting point. As you exit, experience it not as the end, but as a beginning - a beginning that is your own choice.

Being in a labyrinth is like being in an incubator - providing better conditions for growth - for something wonderful to be born.

Labyrinths at Good For You Naturally

Currently, two labyrinths are open as of June 26, 2011. Two more are planned by March  2012.