Finding Peace
Meditation Labyrinth –
Walking the Labyrinth
Walking the labyrinth is another classic form of meditation. It works for stress relief.
Labyrinth meditation can help focus our minds in the present and relieve self inflicted stress. It can help us redirect our thoughts and attention to our inner truth. Labyrinth therapy can be simple and peaceful, like a gentle journey into the essence of one’s being.
How to walk the labyrinthAlthough walking a labyrinth is the usual form of this meditation, it can be done with equal effectiveness by simply tracing a labyrinth pattern with a pencil or finger.When walking the labyrinth, or tracing it, do it slowly and carefully, patiently, with reverence for the process and journey it provides. If you would like to try labyrinth therapy and experience tracing a labyrinth, click on the link to
download a free PDF of a meditation labyrinth
similar to the one found in Chartres Cathedral. (It will open in a new window.) Say your own prayers, or walk or trace the pattern in silence, which ever makes the most sense for you. Following the path with its turns and reversals can be symbolic of one’s spiritual path or one’s path through life. Many people find that labyrinth therapy gives them unexpected insights into their own nature, and their own lives.
Moving Through the Labyrinth
How to go to the center
And where am I now
One foot in front of the other
Just keep walking the path
Without judgments
Without preconceptions
Keep walking
Move easily along the path laid out before you
Keep moving until there is no place to go
The path ends here ...
At last
History of the LabyrinthLabyrinths have been known since antiquity. The literature of the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians made references to them. Labyrinth is usually referred to as a maze system of passageways. In the middle ages they were sometimes incorporated into the floors of the French cathedrals. The labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral near Paris is one of the most famous. But a number of different styles have been found through out history. You may wish to try mindfulness based stress reduction meditations. They also promote the experience of peace and silence. Or
explore other stress relief techniques.
For an overview of many natural approaches to stress relief
return from Walking the Labyrinth to Gentle Stress Relief home page.
Sources: labyrinth. (2009). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 Deluxe Edition. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Wikipedia, 2009. "Labyrinth." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth
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