World Labyrinth Day is May 5, an auspicious time to pay attention to opportunities to do meditate while walking at two different labyrinths near Eureka Springs.
Labyrinths are circular webs with a walking path into the center where there is generally an altar. People walk labyrinths for prayer, reflection and relaxation.
Turtle Moon Labyrinth at Retreat at Sky Ridge Resort in Eureka Springs West is available free to the public every day all year, said Eric Studer, who with his wife, Cindy, owns the resort.
“We are right at the corner of Highway 62 and 187 South at the Beaver Dam turnoff,” Studer said. “There is about a half mile gravel road to come into the resort. The labyrinth is on the right as you enter the property, and includes benches and tables if someone wants to have lunch. It sits right on Cedar Creek which winds through the resort and goes under 62 and feeds the White River.”
Labyrinths have been used for thousands of years, with evidence found in every civilization on every continent, but there’s been a resurgence of their popularity in the past 20 years.
“You find them at hospitals, city parks or private businesses like ours,” Studer said. “Kit Shepperd, our next-door neighbor, worked with people like Rebekah Clark and Lisa Dawn who came out and helped build the labyrinth. They come out once a year and do minor repairs like putting rocks back in place and pulling weeds. Lisa Dawn holds a number of events there, including spring equinox and summer solstice celebrations.”
Studer likes walking the labyrinth to meditate.
“I tend to be hyperactive,” Studer said. “I have found it difficult to sit still for half an hour and shut my mind down. I find it mentally relaxing to be moving outside in the natural beauty of the valley we have, listening to the water. It is much more relaxing than sitting on your couch in the living room.”
Kit Shepperd (Wolf Shield Woman), a Native American Shaman, sees the labyrinth as a way to pray. As you walk through it, you are walking your prayer.
“It stops you from thinking of many other things while you are trying to pray,” she said. “Your prayer is much more realistic. I find it relaxing.”
Rebekah Clark is a local massage therapist and musician who laid out a classic design for the labyrinth at Sky Ridge and also at the Fire Om Earth Retreat Center and Botanical Sanctuary on Mill Hollow Road.
Clark, with the help of Jillian Guthrie and other friends, showed up to do the construction of the labyrinth at Fire Om Earth in the fall of 2009. Clark, Margo Pirkle and Scott Thomson built the one at the Retreat at Sky Ridge Resort during the Healing Path Expo in October 2010.
Clark said after walking a labyrinth, she feels centered and uplifted.
“There is something magic about the geometry of the pattern,” Clark said. “Being in a labyrinth holds you in a way that is hard to describe. They are a worldwide phenomenon because they work and are magic to experience.”
Clark said part of the magic is that it’s fairly simple. She found the process of building them fascinating, and chose the seven-circuit classic design for both labyrinths.
She said one way to use the labyrinth is “walking the three Rs.” Walk in and release anything that might be on your mind. When at the altar in the middle, you stop to receive. It is a listening meditation. And on the way out, concentrate on return or reflection.
“There are multiple books out there about the magic of the walking meditation,” she said. “It’s not a maze. Part of the reason you can let go is there is no way to get lost. There is one way to get in and one way to get out. Walk one foot in front of the other and no worries.”
Clark said that in some ways, society teaches us to be productive all the time, but we get guidance when we are still.
“Sometimes it helps to slow down,” she said. “The labyrinth gives you a place to go slow, but you’re still moving your feet. You’re meditating in an active way. After walking a labyrinth, I feel centered and uplifted. There is something about the geometry of the pattern. Being in a labyrinth holds you in a way that’s hard to describe. They are a worldwide phenomenon because they work.”
The labyrinth is a marvelous tool for spiritual uplifting, Exploring the Labyrinth author Melissa Gayle Smith wrote. “Whoever you are, walking a labyrinth has something to offer. If a project is challenging you, walking can get your creative juices flowing. When struggling with grief or anger, a physical challenge or illness, walking the labyrinth can point the way to healing and wholeness. If you are looking for a way to meditate or pray that engages your body and soul, the labyrinth provides such a path. When you just want reflective time away from a busy life, the labyrinth can offer you time out. The labyrinth holds up a mirror, reflecting back to us not only the light of our finest selves, but also whatever restrains us from shining forth.”