Walking Labyrinths as a Spiritual Practice

My Journey with Labyrinths, in a Nutshell

Our labyrinth among trees shrouded in snow

My handheld “Dream” labyrinth, for walking in the Winter months

Greetings, Friends!

I hope that Spring has brought some fresh energy into your lives and lifted your spirits. The morning birdsong I’ve been hearing, buds emerging from the end of branches and evergreens awakening have certainly lifted mine. It’s so good to be back walking on the forest trail and labyrinth path each day!

This past Sunday morning (3/30) I shared with my UU community my journey with labyrinths ~ how walking them has supported my life over the past 18+ years. The service focused on Spiritual Practices. There were five of us who shared our practices for five minutes each. I want to share my journey with labyrinths with you here.

Labyrinths as My Creative Muse

I began my journey with labyrinths by walking the path as a portal to my creative muse. A poet friend offered to host a weekly small group gathering for sharing the in-progress creative projects we were involved in and supporting each other’s process. We began each gathering by calling in our muses as we walked the labyrinth laid out with black tape in the auditorium under St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Boston. We often moved in creative ways, with silly walks and miming, to open ourselves to the energies we were calling in.

From there, we expanded to walking the student legacy labyrinth at Boston College. That’s a larger, 11-circuit labyrinth that became illuminated at dusk with inlaid lights in the ground along the path ~ a magical experience. Another 11-circuit labyrinth is the one on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. That one has a water fountain at the center. Whenever I worked downtown each summer, I’d take my lunch hour to walk it. I often wore my sandals so I could slip them off and wiggle my toes in the fountain.

Then, in 2009 I moved to my co-housing community, where a neighbor created a labyrinth path with fallen branches, woven through a grove of trees. I was part of the group of neighbors who replaced the branches with rocks from our VERY rocky property to make it permanent. When that work was completed, the community gathered to welcome Spring by walking the path together.

In the winter, two neighbors created labyrinths of light in the great room of our common house for Longest Night/Yule celebrations, which I helped create and loved walking. One of the planners also plays the fiddle, and provided live music. I was falling in love with all the possibilities for labyrinths as a walking meditation!

The Grounding Power of Walking the Path

The appeal of walking the labyrinth for me is that it is a somatic activity that involves movement for my whole self: body, mind, and spirit. Walking a labyrinth path keeps me mindful of how my whole self is feeling in the moment, and helps each part stay connected to the others. Since the labyrinth I most often walk is outside, among trees, the energy of nature soothes all parts of me. I often walk barefoot, to take in Nature’s restorative energy through the soles of my feet. In the winter, when the labyrinth is buried under several feet of snow, I walk a handheld labyrinth (above) with my finger, usually while listening to music with nature sounds in the background.

The most important aspect of walking the labyrinth path, for me, is that the practice is a way of setting aside time to listen to myself. It’s my time to let go of all the noise of the outside world and listen to what my heart and soul have to say to me. I always walk away with something, usually a general sense of peace.

The Magic of Labyrinths

One of the magical superpowers of any labyrinth is the unicursal path that leads to the center and back out again. When we walk this path, we don’t need to worry about getting lost. We can relax and trust that the path leads us to the center and back out again. The labyrinth meets us, welcomes us and holds us where we are. When we breathe deeply, release all that we’ve been carrying, and open our hearts, we often receive a fresh perspective on some aspect of ourselves and our lives. When I’ve completed a walk, I always feel grounded, ready to return to the world.

Another magical aspect of walking labyrinths is that it’s a gift that keeps giving us glimpses of our internal world. Once we ask those deeper parts of us “what’s up?” they often keep talking to us, even after we’ve stepped off the path. I often write about a labyrinth walk experience in my journal. Sometimes I add little sketches, too. I also pay attention to my dreams after walking the labyrinth and write them down. All of these activities integrate my experiences both on and off the labyrinth path, so that they inform each other.

Labyrinths Support Me In All Seasons

No matter what is happening in my life, I make sure I walk the labyrinth every day. Walking the path helped me ease into a new relationship with my son after he came out as transgender in 2020. This practice has also kept me in one piece as a person throughout my divorce process. It is a key aspect of how I keep moving in the world, moving my life forward from what has been.

I love sharing the magic of labyrinth walk meditation with others!

May 3rd this year is World Labyrinth Day! I brought a few fliers with me today. The practice involves walking a labyrinth near you at 1pm. Know that there are many people all over the world doing the same thing ~ walking a labyrinth at 1pm their time. We send out peace for the world, so that we all create a continual wave of peace throughout the day. I offer facilitation for walks on that day at my “home” labyrinth, so see me if you want to join.

Pine needle carpet on the labyrinth path

Love & Light,

Karen XO

P.S. For all of you who’d like to walk the layrinth path with a handheld meditation tool, Veriditas offers community handheld labyrinth walks on Fridays.

If you would like a handheld labyrinth designed and created especially for you, I make them.