Once confined to ancient cathedrals, labyrinths are popping up in unexpected places as tools for creativity, healing, reconciliation and meditation.  Using labyrinths can reduces stress, aid in problem solving, build communities and replace more static practices like sitting meditation.  The American Psychological Association headquarters in Washington, D.C. placed one in its roof top meditation garden and they’re also showing up in hospital courtyards, university campuses and traditional churches.    

The labyrinth is not a maze.  It has no dead ends and no tricks, but offers a single, circuitous path that leads to the center and then back out again.  “It’s helped me get over the death of my mother and other challenges,” says Charlotte, North Carolina resident, Kathy Mansfield who constructed one in her garden.  “Research shows that it can even help children to calm down.” She calls herself a type A personality and found it hard to meditate.  But she finds a sense of calm at the center of the labyrinth.  “As I’m walking it, all the issues and stress drain away,” she says.  “It helps me to release tension and figure things out.  It’s amazing,” she says.  “I go in stressed out and when I come out it’s gone.”

“There’s not a right or wrong way to walk the labyrinth,” Mansfield says.  She built one in the yard of her mountain home and uses a three step process of releasing, centering and reemerging.  She suggests beginning with a pause and moving the focus inward.  The process for walking may follow an initial preparation or contemplation that includes thinking of a problem to solve, a family concern to let go of or an emotional wound to heal.  The inward journey requires leaving behind burdensome worries, preoccupations and challenges.  She makes a list of what she wants to let go of and empties herself to become receptive and open to the experience.  The second part of the path entails arriving at the center.  “This is a time to be open, expectant, empty,” Mansfield says.  In the center enjoy the stillness.  Listen to your inner voice and consider the possibility of the new and miraculous transforming your life.  The return marks the final part of the journey.  Here, the walker retraces the path.  It’s a time to reenergize and gain insights into the world.  To fully benefit from the experience Mansfield encourages people to write down their thoughts and reflections once the walk is complete.  But the process is not limited to just walking.  “Some dance it or some sing it.  My son ran it,” she says.

Like most spiritual practices, this is not something that you do once and then consider it’s finished. Labyrinth walkers say that they learn something new each time they come back to it. Like most any spiritual practice, it’s something that one returns to again and again and each time brings a new experience.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.