January 2010

walk the labyrinth to transform your life

"What lies behind you and what lies before you are tiny matters compared to what lies within you." - Emerson

People are always surprised and intrigued when I mention the power of the labyrinth to transform your life. They have heard of the labyrinth as a tool for walking meditation or prayer, or for gaining peace and clarity, but not necessarily transformation.

At the beginning of a new year, we often turn to resolutions in an effort to transform our lives. If you are like me, in the past you have resolved to lose weight, exercise more or add a spiritual discipline to your life, and the resolve lasted a week, or maybe a month, before the resolutions were forgotten, or worse, before we began to feel guilty about not following through on our resolutions.

This year, I encourage you to try something different. In addition to making your resolutions, include a labyrinth walk in your journey. You may find that your resolutions have more staying power when you include a labyrinth walk in your ongoing process. There is something about taking an intention to a labyrinth that imprints the intention on your mind, body and spirit. The labyrinth helps you internalize your resolution, and therefore creates change and yes, transformation, in your life.

This is not magic. The labyrinth is mysterious, with its anonymous origins and its geometric beauty, but it is not magic. The process of meditative or prayer walking allows you to reflect on your motivations and your inspirations. In the words of Mesiter Eckhart, "whatever can be expressed in its proper meaning must emerge from inside a person and pass through an inner form. It cannot come from outside to inside of a person, but must emerge from within." I hope that the power of the labyrinth will allow your expressions and resolutions to come from within to transform your life this new year. -Myra Smith

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DIY labyrinth brings family joy and closeness

"A highlight of the summer for our family was building a labyrinth in our front yard. Myra Smith of The Laughing Flower Labyrinth & Landscape Co. designed the labyrinth for us based on the Chartres labyrinth of France. After Myra laid out the bricks it became a family project! Matt (18) dug the trench, Mark (15) pulled out the grass, Luke (8) hauled the grass away, and I (Melanie/Mom) laid the bricks. Luke says, 'It was really fun to build it and it is cool to walk it!'

Our labyrinth has created some interest in the neighborhood, and all are invited to walk. One day Mark called me at work and whispered into the phone, 'Mom, the postal carrier is walking the labyrinth!'

Not only does the labyrinth provide walking meditation or prayer, but it is also a source of visual interest. During the fall, leaves fell on the bricks and stayed while the leaves in the grass blew away, and it looked like a labyrinth made of fall leaves! And when it snowed the same thing happened, snow stayed on the bricks while the snow on the grass melted away!

Building our labyrinth helped to bring our family closer. Experiencing our labyrinth on a daily basis has brought an increase of peace and joy to our lives. Walking the labyrinth is a great way to continually reflect, release, and renew." -Melanie Springer, M.A., Positive Psychology Counselor, howofhappiness@yahoo.com

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reuse & recycle your way to a new labyrinth

Do you have any piles of unused stuff laying around your home or property? Extra materials from a building or garden project? Then you can build a temporary or permanent labyrinth at your home, business, retreat center, school or church using the space and materials you have on hand. Using what you already have helps save unwanted items from the landfill, protects the environment and saves you money! Call or email us for a free consultation at your site. Initial labyrinth designs are also provided at no cost or obligation. You will be amazed at what beauty you can create with a labyrinth in large or small spaces, whether they are indoors or outdoors.

There is no limit to the materials that can be used to create a labyrinth! Materials should be aesthetically pleasing and fit the environment in which they are to live...but other than that the possibilities are endless and fun! Craigslist and the local newspaper are great sources for free stuff to build labyrinths. Here’s a small list to get you thinking....

• sand, flour, or cornmeal
• small shrubs
• recycled bottles
• recycled tile
• firewood – cut in small pieces or rounds
• bamboo poles
• leftover cedar shakes
• stepping stones
• cans (we have used cans of food from a food drive to measure our progress)
• sunflowers
• turf – dug up from the path and mounded up
• grass – mowed into paths
• fertilizer – (making the grass darker on the walls of the labyrinth)
• mulch on grass
• birdseed (for temporary labyrinths)
• cut flowers or silk flowers, flower petals
• paint (on concrete, carpet, canvas, grass, gravel...)
• corn
• lavender or other herbs
• roses
• arborvitae trees
• driftwood
• beach rocks or shells
• bricks
• luminaries or candles
• what else might you have on hand?...

The Laughing Flower Labyrinth & Landscape Co. is a proud member of Sustainable Connections.

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