Labyrinths

The Path
​Labyrinths are designed to lead a walker along a clear yet meandering path on a journey to the centre and then back out again. This permits the traveller to experience “letting go” of concerns and allows for clarity and mindfulness to enter. This process seems to encourage heightened intuition, balance and a sense of wellbeing.

In the past 30 years there has been a worldwide renewed interest in Labyrinths that is attributed to the desire for a personal spiritual practice as well as a tool for self-awareness and growth.

Today, Labyrinths are found in hospitals, schools, churches, community gardens, prisons, cemeteries, retreat centres, and
​in back yards.
Historical
A Labyrinth is not a maze, where we expect to get lost. Mazes conjure up images of high hedges, a hidden pathway that has all sorts of choices that ultimately lead a person into endless tangles or dead-ends. Quite the opposite, a Labyrinth traditionally has a unicursal path, one way in and one way out. 

​Labyrinths have been built out of a variety of materials and have been found on all continents and in almost all cultures in the world dating back thousands of years. We can still walk Labyrinths that were built in the 14th century! There are literally hundreds of Labyrinth designs around the planet. The Classical or Cretan Labyrinth, over 4000 years old, is a favourite as well as the famous Chartres design. 
Health and Wellbeing
​Medical research indicates that walking or tracing a Labyrinth balances the left and right hemispheres of the brain. People have experienced improved mental clarity, memory and calmness in dealing with grief and trauma, release of pain, and a deeper connection with their own inner resources.  Children say that they just feel better after walking a Labyrinth and use it when they are worried or sad.

​In all cultures the Labyrinth represents the three-fold path of nature - that of Life, Death and Rebirth. Following such a pattern is a dance that engages us on a cellular level, returning us to a felt sense of the body walking the path of life. It is a pattern to be experienced and encountered as we seek wholeness in an increasingly fragmented world.