As a part of the Walk! Festival, practitioner Mark Heiman of Carleton College led a labyrinth walking meditation on Monday, May 2nd, at the Carleton Chapel.
Labyrinth walking is an ancient form of spiritual pilgrimage that symbolically leads one into deep contemplation and then back out into the world. A labyrinth is a patterned path, often circular in form, used as a walking meditation or spiritual practice. A labyrinth’s walkway is arranged in such a way that the participant moves back and forth across the circular form through a series of curves, ending at the labyrinth’s heart or center. Because it is unicursal, meaning that it has only one entrance and leads in only one direction, one must retrace ones steps back from the heart of the labyrinth.
In general, labyrinth walking is said to benefit participants by allowing a temporary suspension of left-brain activity—logical thought, analysis, and fact-based planning—and encourage the emergence of the intuition and imaginative creativity associated with the right brain. In addition to helping people open themselves to the irrational parts of the psyche, labyrinth walking elevates cognizance of simple body rhythms.
Because labyrinth walking involves very careful physical movement, participants may find themselves becoming more mindful of their breathing patterns, the repetition of their footfalls, and the reorientation of the entire body that occurs as they move through the circular turns within the labyrinth. More particularly, the overall pattern of movement in labyrinth walking—first inward toward the center of the labyrinth and then outward on the return path—can hold deep symbolic meaning for many people.