While cycling in Jutland, between Copenhagen and the German border I came across a dreamlike castle with some stone steps to an observation deck overlooking a boxwood maze, something reminiscent of “The Shining”, but with a much cooler vibe. It had been a long, magical day cruising through swirling wheat fields, and I was excited to find a place to rest and explore as the late summer sunshine was dipping down into the horizon. Egeskov Castle, on the isle of Funen, Denmark is Europe’s best preserved Renaissance water castle with four Labyrinth hedge mazes. Labyrinth walking is an ancient practice to find center via a serpentine path, first depicted in early civilizations that can be found on the grounds of churches and spiritual retreat centers. The serpentine path is an ancient symbol of wholeness and a metaphor for life’s twists and turns. Life’s journey is rarely one straight path directed toward our goal. Unexpected events can take us in directions that may surprise and even stress us. The journey on a single spiral path to your own center and back again into the world has long been used as an active form of meditation to help free you from thoughts and behaviors, allowing you to focus attention without navigational challenge. Unlike a maze, there are no dead ends or blind alleys. The path twists and turns on itself many times before reaching center. Once at the center there is only one way out. Like the journey of life, the end brings you back to the beginning.
Following a simple flowing pathway, without a puzzle, allows you to focus on the meditation as you walk slowly to quiet the mind. Having only one path in and one path out takes all choices and distractions away so you can truly go inward. This allows your analytical, thinking, logical mind to rest and to go into a more mindful awareness, awakening your senses and focusing on the process of taking slow and deliberate steps, centering and connecting to Mother Earth. Focus on your breath, inhaling with one step and exhaling with the next. With each exhalation, release your stressors, burdens, and pressures. Upon exiting, absorb the experience with continued reflection, leading to new sources of wisdom, change and renewal. Labyrinth walking is calming and clarifying. Intentional walking on a set path allows for a level of focus that may be difficult to find in a busy life. Create your own labyrinth with stones, sticks, or draw a path in the sand. Once you master the art of meditative walking, you may apply this to all the steps of your life.
There is no correct way of walking the labyrinth as a meditative practice, but here is a suggested approach.
Entrance:
Begin in silence. Walk slowly with an open mind and heart. Become aware of your breath and let go of thoughts, judgments, and internal commentaries. Allow yourself to find the pace your body wants to go. Just be in the present moment and breath mindfully throughout.
Three Stages of the Walk
I. Purgation (Emptying): Walk slowly as you empty yourself of thoughts, burdens, and distractions. This is the time to open your heart and quiet your mind. Become empty like the great circle at the labyrinth’s center.
II. Illumination (Receiving): When you reach the center, stay as long as you like. This is a place of meditation and prayer. Imagine yourself as an empty vessel being filled with love and peace.
III. Union (Returning) : As you leave, follow the same path out of the center as you came in. In your departing, you become more empowered with each step to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for.
All movement is good movement yet moving mindfully is the most effective way to get the most out of physical activity.
When the mind and body are one, thoughts and feelings come and go with ease, and the mind is completely engrossed in the moment, and everything just clicks. Learn to flow with your rhythm and incorporate mindfulness in your daily activities. All living things must be in equilibrium to thrive. To truly flourish, awareness and continuous regulation of this balance is especially critical in the turbulent seas of adversity. Mindful meditation is a practice that allows you to become more presents in life. Pause throughout your day and ask yourself if you are truly present and aware of your breath, thoughts, and sensory experience. You can live in a domain that is independent of mind-body and situation or circumstance. To be fully awake as a non-judgmental witness of your own self is the highest intelligence. Finding the perfect balance in each moment is what puts a fulfilling life of discovery, joy, and adventure into clear focus. Where awareness goes, energy flows!
