One of the most common ways to pray while in movement, is through the use of a labyrinth.
What is a labyrinth? Well, here is a quote from the Labyrinth Society. I can not explain it any better than they already have:
“A labyrinth is a meandering path, often unicursal, with a singular path leading to a center. Labyrinths are an ancient archetype dating back 4,000 years or more, used symbolically, as a walking meditation, choreographed dance, or site of rituals and ceremony, among other things. Labyrinths are tools for personal, psychological and spiritual transformation, also thought to enhance right-brain activity. Labyrinths evoke metaphor, sacred geometry, spiritual pilgrimage, religious practice, mindfulness, environmental art, and community building.” (The Labyrinth Society: The Labyrinth Society: Learn about Labyrinths)
For me, a labyrinth is a symbolic journey on a path into the center of my being, the center of the center of the center of my heart, that place where the Sacred resides. The journey from the outside of the labyrinth to the center is the journey inwards. When I am at the center, I AM. The journey out from the center of the labyrinth becomes the journey back outwards into ordinary reality, bringing with me what gifts and healing I have received.
There are many ways to walk a Labyrinth. You cannot walk a labyrinth wrong. That is important to understand. There is no one way to walk it. It is a journey. Everyone’s spiritual journey is unique to them.
It is also a single pathway. You will get to the center if you keep walking. You will get back out by following the path again. You may experience a sense of being lost in the labyrinth. I have. I actually stopped walking it and stood still because that sense of being lost was so strong. I stood in the labyrinth holding that emotion in paradox with my knowledge that I cannot get lost in a labyrinth. Slowly, as I breathed that lostness that had gripped me, my heart released and I was able to begin the walk again. If and when that sense of being lost comes up, it is an opportunity to heal the places in our inner and outer world where we feel lost, untethered, in chaos. Stay on the labyrinth and invite that healing from the Sacred. Breathe and lean into it. It will release. Healing will flow. This is a journey of trust. Trust and you will experience what the Sacred has in store for you.
The first walk on a labyrinth can be overwhelming. The first time I stood before a labyrinth I was unsure how to walk it. What was I supposed to do? What was going to happen? That first walk taught me to let go of my desire to be in control and trust in the Sacred’s guidance – walk toward God with an open heart.
I do realize that we sometimes need support when we first try something new. I have written about the breath prayer and last week wrote about using it while walking. Today, I am going to say that having a breath prayer with the phrases to use on the labyrinth is a helpful tool for first experiences. With each stop say to your heart the in-breath phrase, the next step the out-breath phrase. Align the phrasing to your steps rather than your breath. You may want to have 2 breath prayers: one for the walk inward into your heart and one for the walk outward back into the world. When you reach the center BE. Let the movement of the walk inward bring you into the Presence of the Sacred and into the experience of Stillness. BE.
I have had powerful experiences on labyrinths over the years. When I enter a labyrinth, time quickly shifts from linear chronos to Kairos time. The more you walk labyrinths the more you will learn how to notice that shift in your everyday life. It is a unique muscle memory to develop, one that helps you recognize when you are in the Presence of the Sacred, when you are being invited into Stillness whether through meditation or movement, when God desires to speak and commune with you. Developing that muscle memory gives you the opportunity to allow your body to alert you to the request, and give you the opportunity to consciously say, “YES, I am listening.”
I’ll share one journey on the labyrinth. I was at the Desert House of Prayer in Tucson, AZ on silent retreat. Prior to CoVid, it was an annual retreat for me, a time to get away and refresh myself. I decided to walk the labyrinth at the Redemptorist Center across the street. Their labyrinth was a Chartres style labyrinth with many turns in it. I stepped onto the labyrinth and released my control of what I wanted to experience on the labyrinth. I had not done that before. I usually entered a labyrinth with an intention. This time I entered open.
At the first turn I stopped. I stood there. Something came into my heart, something that I knew I needed to release from my body mind spirit soul, something that was holding me back. I stood. I breathed. I released. When it released I felt the urge to walk again. I continued to the next turn and stopped dead once more. Another thing in my life that had ended and I needed to let go of arose. I stood and released. Each turn, a new letting go. Halfway through, my conscious self got it! This was a journey of letting go of what was no longer serving me, of releasing all that was done and gone in my life, letting go of what I was clinging to so that I could move forward more fully into God’s Call. By the time I entered the Center of the labyrinth, I needed to experience the Arms of the Sacred holding me in all the grief that arose. There in the Center She was waiting. I felt held and embraced by the Sacred and by the desert landscapes that I love. I cried and cried until all the grief had flowed out of me. Stillness was all that was left. I stood in that Stillness, breathing it in. In gratitude, I turned to leave the center. My journey outward was filled with invitation. Each turn was an opportunity waiting for me to say yes to. By the time I left the labyrinth I was filled with hope that my dreams were beginning to manifest in my life, that the Sacred was there breaking through chronos, creating Kairos time for me to notice the gifts already in my life.
As is my practice, I deeply bowed in gratitude for that journey.
Jokingly, I say that is the longest walk on a labyrinth I have every taken. I have no idea how long I was on that labyrinth. It felt like forever to get into the center. It felt like a blink of an eye to leave. It took the time it needed to take. I was blessed, healed, and gifted by my willingness to shift into Kairos, not worry about chronos time, and be in the process of the journey.
Every journey on a labyrinth is different. I have so many more stories about all the various labyrinths I have been one. Some have been deeply healing. Others have been restful. And there have been some walks where I felt nothing happening. It was just a lovely walk. Yet, I know in my heart of hearts that something happened in the parts of myself I am not conscious to. Whether I am aware of what happens on that labyrinth or not, each walk has gifted me.
I invite you to find one and walk. The Labyrinth society has a labyrinth locator here that you can use to find one by you.
Have a blessed journey…
