Labyrinth from Cathy Zheutlin on Vimeo.

After my recent post on ways to strengthen your root chakra, I went in search of some walking-related ideas. Watching this video about Rabbi Rabi Shapiro and his story of screwing up and losing the centre when walking a huge labyrinth made me smile.

I’m very fond of labyrinths, as we ‘hid’ a simple five circuit one in way we layed the brick paving of our tiny back garden in Bristol. At its centre were some beautiful pure white pebbles picked up on a walk on one of my favorite Dorset beaches. They were embedded in sand in a 12″ square - a tiny oasis like a moment of calm in the middle of a suburban neighborhood in a modern city. I loved walking the whole labyrinth just to get there.

Used as a meditation tool, a labyrinth can help you answer some of the questions that might be bothering you. As you walk in you ask the question, then on each turn of the path, you ponder on it from a slightly different perspective. When you reach the centre, you pause and reflect, before turning and taking the outward path that is somehow completely different than the inward one, again seeing different points of view at each turn.

They are a beautiful construction both geometrically, artistically and they have been interpreted in so many physical variations – from the exquisite tiled floor of Chartres Cathedral, to more three dimensional turf mazes, and modern variations like mirrored walls and art installations. There are even miniature ones that you ‘walk’ with your fingers. In this video though, the enormous path is simply made of rocks placed on the earth and the emphasis is on the spiritual journey one might experience whilst walking it.

“I love it when I’m humiliated by my own pretentiousness…” the Rabbi says as he recounts getting lost in front of a crowd of people waiting for him to enlighten and guide them.

He’s so right – just when we think we’re making progress and we’re getting somewhere, life has a great way of reminding you that it’s an ever-unfolding journey and that actually we may not be where we think we are at all – we might actually be closer to where we started. Which reminds me of that lovely comment that if you think you’re doing ok on your spiritual path, then go back and spend a week living with your family and then see!

Well, I’ll let you know – I’m doing just that in about two week’s time… think I might walk a labyrinth or two while I’m there…

Find out more about labyrinths – how to draw them and how to use them;

Labyrinth Energetics

Lessons For Living: Labyrinths & Enneagrams

The Labyrinth Society